My cat drools when i put a flea collar near him?

I have a male cat that is at least 5 years old and he has fleas so we got some drops, we put them on and he didn't lick the area but he started to drool profusely so we washed it off and got a collar. We started to put the collar on him but he started to drool again so we got rid of the collar and got a different kind, as soon as I took the collar out of the package near him he started drooling again. Should I put the collar on him? He has quite a few fleas and i don't want him to be itchy all the time.