Review with your vet what you’re seeing in your cat and determine the best way to proceed. There are many underlying medical causes of both vomiting and regurgitation and it’s best to rule these possibilities out before assuming a behavioral cause is to blame. If you’re not sure if your cat is vomiting or regurgitating, it’s best to start with a veterinary exam. When at-home changes are made and your cat is still frequently throwing up undigested food, it is time to visit the veterinarian. Take your cat to the vet to see if this is the case. Generally, if regurgitation occurs more than two or three times a month and these home remedies aren’t effective, there may be an underlying medical cause. This is especially so if your cat is throwing up food because of food-eating behaviors, stress, or anxiety. Megaesophagus can also develop secondary to another cause like a stricture, foreign object, a growth/tumor, or neurologic disease affecting the muscles.įortunately, there are some simple remedies to use at home to help with many common causes of regurgitation. These include trauma, ulceration, and metabolic or endocrine/hormonal disorders. Other acquired diseases of the esophagus: There are many other medical causes of esophageal disease.Megaesophagus is the biggest one, where the esophagus becomes abnormally dilated and its muscles cannot function properly. Inherited diseases of the esophagus: Some animals are born with inherited disorders of motility, or motion, of the esophagus, predisposing them to regurgitation.Stomach acid from recurrent vomiting can ironically cause esophagitis, leading to regurgitation as well. Inflammation of the esophagus: Esophagitis inhibits the forward motion of the esophagus, which helps food move down into the stomach, leading to spasms of the esophagus. Your cat drinks too much water : A lot of water consumed before or after eating reduces the allowed volume of food in the stomach.Your cat is stressed : If a cat is fearful or stressed, especially because of competition for resources with other pets in the home, this often leads to rapid eating and scarfing down food.Excess air in the stomach and esophagus then leads to food being expelled. Your cat eats too quickly: Eating fast and gulping food also leads to gulping air.Your cat eats too much : if your cat overeats and surpasses their stomach’s capacity, additional food sitting in the esophagus will come back up.If your cat is regurgitating undigested food, there are several possible causes. The bolus of food expelled often has a cylindrical or tube-like shape.īy and large, if you see your cat throwing up undigested food, they are actually regurgitating, not vomiting.Īlso Read: How to Clean Up Cat Vomit In 5 Simple Steps What Are the Possible Causes of My Cat Throwing Up Undigested Food? Always occurring shortly after eating, regurgitation involves a more passive expulsion of food that looks very undigested though possibly covered with a little mucus.Ĭompared to the spasms and drama of vomiting, regurgitation is often accompanied by a little cough or gag, but it otherwise appears as though the food just sort of popped out. It only truly involves food being expelled from the mouth, pharynx (throat area), and esophagus. Regurgitation looks a bit different from vomiting and is typically less dramatic. Vomiting occurs shortly after eating, or even a couple hours later. Some cats also vocalize and make odd noises prior to vomiting. Their stomach will start to contract in and out, which is very noticeable in cats, often resembling a series of full-body spasms before retching and ejecting their stomach contents. They’ll act anxious or on edge, sometimes lick their lips, then hunker down towards the floor. When cats vomit, it’s usually a pretty dramatic event. It is also typically accompanied by bile, a yellow or green fluid that is part of digestion in the small intestine. Vomit usually contains some amount of at least partially digested food. Vomiting expels the contents of the stomach and of the early small intestine. Are you seeing vomiting or regurgitation? Vomiting Regurgitation: Which One Am I Seeing?īefore getting into what to do about your cat throwing up undigested food, it’s important to first know the difference between the two types of throwing up. Frequent regurgitation may indicate an underlying health problem and needs veterinary attention.
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