Puppy sudden excessive drooling

by C N
(USA)

I have a 2.5 month old cockapoo who started drooling suddenly. She was playing around and then wound down to go to sleep, she moved from the floor up onto the couch and onto my lap, she layed on my lap for a while sleeping, when i lifted her up to move her a bit her head was waving back and forth, she stuck her tongue out (which she will do after yawning) and her back legs were twitching.

She moved over to another side of the couch and went to sleep, i got up to do something in the kitchen and she came in and sat on the tile, I noticed a drop fall from her mouth so i checked her out and her mouth was wet, I thought this was from her drinking but there wasn't enough time for her to get water from the time I heard her get off the couch (she has a bell so we know where she is) to the time she got in the kitchen. When i got back into the living room i noticed a small wet spot on the couch. I picked her up and held her and there was a lot of drool on my arm.

We don't feed her human food, and we make sure there is NOTHING around that she can eat that could make her sick. She had pooped a few hours before and it didn't seem different. Should i be worried? Could the shaking and drooling be because of a seizure? Or was the twitching because she was woken up and the drooling because of teething? She hasn't made any whimpering noises or anything to show she is in pain. What should i do? Please help.






Hi CN
This is a tricky question because if she seems perfectly fine other than a short episode of drooling, it's quite possible that the drooling is due to her teeth, and the movements she was making while asleep are just normal puppy 'twitching' etc. Puppies are very restless sleepers and can breathe very fast or erratically and twitch, whine, bark etc. while sound asleep.

However, if she is showing any other signs of not feeling well (ie lethargy, loss of appetite, loose stools, vomiting etc.), or is still drooling more than normal then I would definitely suggest having your vet take a look at her to make sure everything is okay.

Very tiny dogs like chihuahua's can also suffer from hypoglycemia (a sudden drop in blood sugar) and this can cause weakness, disorientation, even seizures. Occasionally it can be fatal. Making sure that she eats often (at least 4 times a day at this age) is the best way to keep blood sugar levels steady. Having some Karo syrup on hand to give her if you feel she may be having this type of issue is always good.

With puppies it's always better to be safe than sorry because they can get very sick, very fast, so if you're still concerned talk to your vet. He (or she) will be able to help you.

Best of luck, hope she's doing better now.