Oh pirate what's what's this you ever just carry your cat on your shoulder and then suddenly you
feel a little line of something wet hitting your neck or maybe brushing against your ear
and you reach up and you're covered in cat drool well mr pirate the world's most famous
shoulder cat is here to help me explain this phenomenon to you my dear viewer but before
we get going please remember to hit like and subscribe pet that bell notification icon and
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behind the scenes cat photos and videos featuring mr pirate claudia and lancelot and myself
as well as the good feeling of knowing that you're supporting worthwhile work so having said that
let's get into understanding why cats drool on your shoulder i am going to bring a little bit of
neurophysiology into this discussion because what conversation isn't better with a little bit of
neurophysiology added there are two components to our autonomic nervous system which is the nervous
system that is in charge of functions we are not consciously in control of such as digestion how
dilated our pupils are our blood pressure there is the sympathetic and the parasympathetic component
the sympathetic component can be easily seen in claudia it is the fight-or-flight response
it is what happens when somebody claps their hands behind you and you jump out of your skin
and your blood pressure spikes through the roof it is the response to threats and imminent danger
the opposite of it is the parasympathetic response it is the engagement of soothing
music on a beautiful evening it is the feeling of fullness from a really really delicious meal
it is the sense of well-being and calm that lowers your blood pressure and it is also what causes
drooling in cats when they are relaxed because you notice this phenomenon usually when a cat's
on your shoulder or cats in your arms or maybe they're on your chest when you wake up from sleep
they are super chill super relaxed and their parasympathetic nervous system kicks in
and for some reason in cats there's some crosstalk between the cognitive perception of relaxation
and the portion of the parasympathetic nervous system that deals with digestion which promotes
a secretion of gastric acid and saliva so the good news is when your cat drools on you it's
because they're really happy and relaxed which of course is awesome because knowing that a cat is
happy and relaxed around us is probably one of the best feelings a human being can experience
okay i might be overstating the case but it's pretty darn good right
of course if your cat does not drool on you it does not mean they're not relaxed and happy around
you just some cats are more prone to this than others pirate for example only drools on me when
he is high on painkillers and when he and he's only started doing that in the last few years
so this is also something that can develop throughout life now there could be other
reasons why a cat drools on you of course that's very very different from what i'm talking about
what i'm talking about is a cat who does not normally drool but seems to drool on you whenever
you pet them carry them around on your shoulder or sell them in on your chest for a little
petting session or an app and you can see mr pirates settling in for a nap right now
and it might get drooled on so don't worry about it there's nothing pathologic about it
although in some cases it can be quite profuse and quite frankly a little bit
annoying if you have like a big wet spot on your shoulder every time you pick up your cat
but you know that's just the price of having a really happy little shoulder cat in your life
so that is why and how cats drool when relaxed i hope you found this interesting and for more
videos like this as well as some that are actually useful and explain serious health conditions
in cats and dogs in much more detail than you're likely to get your local veterinarian please check
out the other videos on my channel and follow me on patreon thank you and have a good day
you