My new kitty started this a week ago after being fixed. The vet says Feline calicivirus. Ulcers inside her mouth and now on her nose causing foaming at the mouth and a "tick" like smack that's pretty constant.

I agree Shannon that the calicivirus can cause this lip smacking nom nom bit, but with my cat he's outgrown getting the virus and still does this. He would get such horrible ulcers and the drooling was horrible. I believe there are many reasons for why our cats are doing this nom nom mouth smacking bit on a fairly non-virus frequent basis. Many times, my cat will do this by my merely picking him up to hold him ... sort of like a nervous tic. I hope your cat's immune system develops an immunity for this virus as mine has. My cat will get mouth ulcers, too, from a flea allergy, so don't automatically assume that all the mouth ulcers your cat gets is from this virus. The only way to know for sure is via lab tests with each occurrence/outbreak.

I have often wondered about the nausea factor, too, but don't think nausea plays into each and every time my cat does this mouth activity. Due to his FLUTD, I know nausea plays a role in his padding through the house with a sad-sounding almost painful type of meowing, which I somehow believe is due to nausea. I just wish I could convince my vet to prescribe some anti-nausea medication for me to have on hand when this occurs. I do wonder at times when I pick him up that just this mere action causes his insides some distress since he does this mouth smacking almost immediately after picking him up.

trooper805510, have you considered trying pepcid for your kitty’s nausea?

Kate ... wow, tonsilitus!! How interesting. I'll check with my vet on this as well. Corker has been acting like he's trying to tell me something, but I just don't know if it's just his usual behavior or not. So, maybe I'll have the vet check his tonsils. Maybe they can check the tonsils at the same time of doing his teeth the next time I take him in for dental cleaning? Did his chewing motion decrease a bit, though? I'll look up the symptoms of tonsilitus online.

By the way, I was told by my vet that giving a cat a lot of turkey is BAD for our kitties. It's okay now and then, but not on a constant basis. A cyber person I know was planning to do the raw food bit which most recipes are for primarily turkey and she looked up about this and found out that my vet was correct about turkey not being good on a constant feeding theme. Another friend of mine told me, too, that turkey was the cause of her cat having gotten seriously sick and her vet indicated the same thing to her as mine did about turkey. Also, beware the temptations treats as well ... been reading a lot of negatives about these treats online (as well as other pet treats for both cats and dogs, too).

Also, no, I haven't tried pepcid for Corker's nausea. He tends to get constipated as it is and since he's an indoor/outdoor buddy, knowing when he has constipation is hard enough to know about as well as know when to counter with adding pumpkin to his food. Will ask the vet about pepcid and if it is something he can take, how much and how often.

I guess the chewing motion still remains a mystery. I've at least ruled out gum or tooth related diseases ... knock on wood.

My almost year old kitty does it after she eats. She doesn't do it very often but after eating she'll 'fake chew' like she wants to eat more haha. No signs of problems with her at all. Just a little after dinner habit :)

My cat Jessy James started doing this a year ago. Cocking his head to the side and making about 5 chewing sounds, then break 20 seconds, then repeat usually 4 or 5 times. He seems real healthy and I'm sure there may be different reasons different cats do this, but I have always suspected he had a long human hair wedged in his teeth that he has swallowed and can't remove it. Odd assumption, but who knows, eh? Would be interesting to know if we have long-haired owners on here. Hey... just thinking out loud :-)

My cat, Corker, is a semi-long-haired Bengal and even after he upchucked a long hairball yesterday he did this chewing motion off and on throughout the day. The vet's office seemed to have lost my appointment for his dental, so will have to wait some months for another appointment, but before I do I want to explore the tonsillitus. Just another curious thing to toss out here with a question. My cat doesn't really purr. He DOES purr, but it is so mild that you can barely know if he is purring. Would the tonsils may have something to do with this slight purring and chewing action I wonder?

My friends cat does this and it is really confusing. probaly just a cat thing

My sweet girl Kiwi started doing this (what looked like chewing bubble gum) a few months ago. Yesterday we had to let her go as she was having cluster seizures. The vet informed us that the chewing was a form of seizure also. I'm not sure if we had of known sooner what was going on with her, if it would have helped prevent the cluster seizures. Please let your vet know if your cat is doing this, they can at least check into it. I would have never thought to mention it to anyone, just figured her teeth or gums were bothering her.

Kerry, did your vet indicate if there was any type of treatment that could have been given to Kiwi if she had been diagnosed earlier? Also, how old was Kiwi? One of my cats, Squirt, never did this chewing action (at least not that I noticed), but developed seizures when he was 19 years old and the seizures worsened over a short period of time as well into grand mal's, so I had to put him down as well. Did your vet indicate what was causing the cluster seizures like a tumor, etc.?

I commented on here about my cat doing the same thing. We took him to the vet. He had really bad teeth and needed several removing. He was fine. He has since passed but that was old age he was 18.

Yes, I have a savannah cat, 1 of my 4 cats that I discovered has a chewing on nothing ‘issue’. She is young and healthy.. one day I discovered it was related to certain noises she hears and when she hears a certain noise she makes the chewing motions with her mouth. When I first observed it I was using packing tape for moving boxes.. the sound of the tape Coming off the roll of tape made her react by those chewing motions. (Only when tape noisily coming off the roll and was being applied to a box). Just now I used a noisy protein bar wrapper .. made crinkling noises with it and she would make those chewing motions.. I’d stop the noise and she would stop the chewing motions. Apparently repetitive noise triggers her to make those chewing motions only. (Chewing stops when the noise stops). Is very strange observance In only 1 of my cats.

My cat is 8 and has been doing this for years. She only does it when she’s hungry though so I fee it might be acid reflux or something. The vets didn’t have an answer for me. so She’s hungry but sometimes won’t touch her food even though she’s doing it. Wish I knew the answer.

My cat felix is almost 3 and he has always done this. He is neutered but still does this weird sexual kneading with his front and back paws and he smacks his lips/ fake chews three times every so often when he does that. He also does it (always 3 times,) when he is excited looking at a bird or squirrel out the window. the vet says he’s completely healthy, just a little quirk I suppose! Lol

My wee chihuahua makes this motion as if she's chewing something, when she's not eating anything, smacking lips. Why do you think that she's doing this? She's been doing this for about for 2 weeks .

My 12 year old cat began doing this chewing motion (like chewing gum) and salivating while she does it on Saturday and by midnight she had additional symptoms like loss of balance (wobbly walk,) lack of appetite, lethargy and eyes slowly darting back and forth.

Took her to the vet on Sunday morning. She had xrays and bloodwork done, got IVs in her (as she stopped eating, drinking by midnight Sat,) and had a physical including looking inside her ears and mouth.

Nothing wrong with mouth. Nothing stuck in digestive tract. Nothing visible in ear (but could still be ear infection inside.) All signs point to vestibular disease. This could be cause by ear infection (among other possibilities.)

Got prescribed antibiotics and she seems to be responding to. I am writing this on the Monday, so she’s only had 2 doses of it so far (3rd one to follow tonight; it’s a twice a day medicine.) So far her appetite is back, she’s drinking water, using the litter. She’s doing some exploring although slower than normal and still a bit wobbly. The chewing motion has minimized 80% and no more salivating. I don’t see her eyes darting back and forth anymore.

We get her bloodwork results later on today and then we can hopefully find out if there is an underlying cause. Hopefully this course of treatment continues to work well so she can be back to normal soon!

Exactl what my cat does. since he was put in a shelter for a few days without my permission

my cat is 8 months old, I was sitting on my computer and she started doing a biting motion and then foamy like drool came out of her mouth. She ran away to hide in a corner. do you get what is happening?

My cat started doing this a couple of months ago every day at the same time. He is a healthy 3 year old, we had his mouth checked and everything was fine. We just got news that it may be seizures. We are getting bloods done on Friday.

My buddy just turned 2. About a month ago we got a new kitten. He was curious at first but decided he doesn't like the kitty. He stopped eating for a few days and just growled and hissed at everyone (including the dog) so we separated the cats at night, Bj has his own cat tree and food area and there are multiple litter boxes. Buddy started to eat again a day or so after this but not nearly as much as he used to. He continuously makes that "chewing" motion with his mouth and just over the past day developed this awful smell..im preparing to take him to the vet but because of money issues I am looking to see if anyone else has experienced this..

My cat does this too, apparently it's because they are getting sent of there surrounding that what I was told.

My cat (like the one on the avatar) does it too. I guess it's normal for cats. I mean, they do stuff much more weirder...

Yes!! My cat Gus does this & I don't know why!!

My cat ViVi does this mostly when she is relaxed. I have been told that she is familiarizing herself with her surroundings.

my cats that too

My cat does that. I thought he did it when he was hungry but I've seen him do it other times too. I have no idea why. He's a year and a half old and seems to be very healthy otherwise. Anyone have any experience with this?

Mine does it when he's hungry/begging for food. He's 3 & has recently been to the vet & has seemingly no other health issues either.

Still don't know what/why this is. .

It's good to know that other cats do the same thing. Mine is not the only one. Thank you.

My cat's been doing the chewing-thing for months now. Vet said nothing appears wrong. Cat does this at random times throughout the day/night. My perception is that he "chews" more on one side than the other. Just in the last 2 weeks I think he's squinting his eyes somewhat when doing it, which I think could mean he's in pain or discomfort. He doesn't have bad breath, he's always eager to eat and activity level is normal. He's 14 yrs. old. We'll go to the vet again. I hope it's not anything cat-astrophic (sorry-- couldn't resist that one, haha).

My cat used to do that chewing motion when he was hungry. He would sit and stare at me while doing it until I fed him.

He does not do it so much anymore. I do not think there is anything wrong with him.

I read a post above that ended up sadly being accurate. the chewing motion ended up being large cell lymphoma. ultrasound found it, followed by a biopsy. hopefully this helps someone in thr future catch it early. 6 weeks ago the cat was throwing up and having some diarrhea so the vet thought blockage. we didnt end up persuing an ultrasound which i wish we did

Hello, YES my Cat sits and chews to! He is just about 2 years old. I've noticed him doing that lately! He's not eating anything; just chewing away! I thought maybe it is some kind of seizure!!??

He is a short hair Persian!

WHAT???? Lymphoma? OH NO! His Dad just passed away two weeks ago, Out of No where! OH NO!

I'm surprised and happy to see that a lot of cats do this chewing when they are not eating. I was worried that Henry was the only one with a weird habit. Henry is 2 and he's been to the vet. He's very healthy otherwise. I noticed he does this mostly in the morning. He comes and sits next to me in bed and does this until I get up and feed him. I don't see it too much the rest of the day. I hope all our cats are well

@HU-727360988 That is exactly what my 4 year old Gus used to do!! After switching to a different cat food, it seemed to stop after a couple of weeks!

@HU-445590789 OMG I LOVE HIS FAAAACE!!! Oh my goodness he is beautiful! What is his name?

Yes my cat does the same thing everyday I don't know

I've noticed my cat, Henry, doing it also but I'm pretty sure he only does it when he's hungry. In the morning when he wants me to get up and feed him and at night when he wants his dinner.

The answer to this is probably a petit seizure. Google this and it describes it exactly!

My Henry used to do this all the time, especially if he was hungry. Now he wakes me up in the morning by sticking his paw in my face. I changed his food a couple of times. So far he has stopped doing this. Henry is 3 years old. I don't know if age has anything to do with it but so far so good.

This is

My dog do the same thing, its normal

My cat does it. It looks like he is trying to get fur dislodged from the back of his tongue. It looks distressing when it is bad as he grimaces and turns his head to the side and kinda licks the air/chews?? I started to give him soupy cat food when I see it happen and it took awhile for him to realize if he took a drink it would stop. I put the bowl in front of him now, he takes a drink and it stops immediately. Seems it's a fur problem but I do not know for sure.

My Henry does it too and at first I thought he was hungry because he usually wakes me up in the morning making that sound. Now that you mention it, it could be from hair on his tongue or in his throat. I never thought about giving him a drink. Thank you for the suggestion. I will try it.

I guess you could try milk. I just use his wet food with water added. It stops the problem immediately.

Hi first time cat mom I got my baby when he was about almost 1 month and now he's 3 months he has a habit of when he play fights and he starts to fight he chew on what seems like nothing and I taken a look inside his mouth I'm not sure if he's chewing on his gums or his tongue or the inside of his cheek but I just want to make sure it's not and internal problem or anything that is a health risk to him so if someone could help me that would be such an appreciation I wasn't sure if I should take him to the vet so they can get a good look at it but I just wanted to make a post and see if anybody could help me out with it.

My cat ,Henry, is 4 years and he's done that chewing thing ever since I've had him. The vet checked out his mouth and teeth and everything seems to be good. It seems like he only does when he's hungry. Usually in the morning when he wants me to get up and feed him.