Cats usually explore their environment with many sense glands, organs, and other natural behaviors. Usually, cats’ noses are naturally wet, which increases the sensing power of picking up the scents and smells.
However, a wet nose isn’t always normal. There are certain occasions in which a cat’s moist nose may indicate health issues that need to be concerned.
In this article, we will discuss in which cases a cat’s wet nose will be considered a natural phenomena and in which case it will indicate a health issue.
Is it normal for a cat to have a wet nose?
In 90% of cases, a feline wet nose is supposed to be normal. Cats usually wet their nose when they purr, to attract the scent smell or to regulate body temperature. Because the wet nose helps a kitty expose its environment and pick the scents easily.
The hairless nature of the nose keeps the sweat glands active compared to other body parts. Therefore mostly Cats’ noses appear to be wet.
If you don’t observe any illness symptoms along with the moist nose, then this is a natural phenomenon, and you don’t need to be worried.
When to worry about a cat’s wet nose
Don’t think that a kitty’s moist nose will always be a natural occurrence. Sometimes a watery nose will indicate a health issue that needs to be treated.
If you notice any of the below symptoms, along with the damp nose, make sure to contact your veterinarian because your pet is in trouble and needs proper medical attention.
Symptoms of abnormal feline wet nose are:
- Fluid discharge from the nose
- Wet nose with dripping
- Yellow mucus
- Fever
- Change in the nose color
- Excessive licking or rubbing the nose
- Sneezing or coughing
Why does a cat’s nose get wet?
Normal Reasons
1) Natural Phenomena
It is a common belief that cats having wet and cool noses are considered healthy. In the majority of the case, a moist the feline nose is a commonly occurring issue and will not be considered a concerning issue.
2) Grooming
Cats are neat and clean pets. Their habits of grooming keep them in the cleanest pet category.
Felines usually groom themselves many times a day, and you may sometimes also observe your kitty grooming his nose by licking with the tongue. This makes his nose wet.
3) Enhancing the power of smell
According to the researchers, Cats having a moist nose will have enhanced power of smell as compared to felines having a dry nose.
The reason is that scents particle in the environment will be easily and efficiently attached to the moist and can be traced with the nose snout.
A cat moist its nose with several means to enhance its smelling power.
4) Moist due to purring
Purring is a common feline behavior. When a cat purrs, several ducts inside the head region, including the mouth, the eyes, and the nose, become moist.
While purring if you notice tiny moisture on your kitty nose. Don’t worry, it’s normal.
5) Regulating body temperature
Cats don’t sweat like humans and nor pant like dogs. They regulate their body temperature through sweat glands present in certain body parts, including paws and nose.
Once the sweat moist appears on the backside of the paws and nose, it evaporates, that help to regular the feline body temperature.
Read More: How much heat can cats tolerate?
Abnormal Reasons
If you observe that your feline nose is wet and dripping, its means that there is a health issue. Following are some of the Abnormal Reasons for feline wet noses dripping.
6) Upper Respiratory Infections
URI Upper Respiratory Infection in cats is the same as flu and cold in humans. URI compels your kitty into a very uncomfortable situation.
A dripping and moist nose can be a symptom of Upper Respiratory Infection in cats.
Other symptoms are:
- Sneezing
- Dripping Nose
- Red and runny eyes
- Fever
- Restlessness
- Lack of appetite
- Sound in Breathing
- Weakness
- Lethargy
7) Nose Injury
Nose injury can irritate your pet in many ways. Besides other reasons, sometimes, the pus from the internal nose injury may appear on your kitty nose and will appear wet.
Other symptoms of internal nose injury are swelling in the nose and face, Blood and pain.
8) Presence of Foreign Object
Cats can play everywhere, inside or outside. Sometimes a foreign object gets stuck inside your pet nose, and you don’t notice.
A foreign body will disturb the normal respiratory behavior and will cause an infection in the nose. This infection will make yellowish snout inside the nose that can drift to the top of the nose.
These objects can also affect the body temperature regulating system of feline.
9) Eyes Issues
Certain feline eye illnesses lead to excessive drainage of tears. This excess drainage can reach the nose directly from the eyes or inside via the eyes and nose ducts.
The feline nose will appear to be wet if their eyes have a problem with excesses tears drainage.
10) Reaction of Medication
Certain medications, especially the use of steroids, bring lots of changes physically and internally in the feline body.
Certain medications can increase the internal body temperature, and to regulate the body temperature, your kitty will sweat through sweat glands, and hence their nose will appear wet.
You May Also Like To Read:
FAQ:
If your kitty recently drank water from a bowl and his nose appears moist, then you don’t have to worry – it just has a wet nose!
A dry or wet nose does not indicate any behavioral problems or facial expressions. However, cats with a wet nose will stay calm and in happy mode as compared to felines who have dry noses.
Yes, in the majority of cases, a wet nose is considered normal, and it can be considered a sign of a healthy cat. However, there are some reasons that are briefly discussed in this article above that need to be concerned.
If you have any further questions please write to us in the comment section. One of our team member will respond to you shortly.
