why do cats puke so much?

Question

this is just a general question. my cats are healthy, fit etc and i only mean this in a general sense. seems like the hurl at least 2ce a month, every cat i've ever had has done this. anyone know the reason?

ps. and i'm not looking for "take em to the vet" ;)

in lieu of the responses; no, they're not long haired, they're standard short haired black halloween cats.

after all the responses (all of for which i'm quite grateful, thank you all), i'm inclined to believe they just snarf their food too fast. i have 2 boys, brothers, one is "mumfasa" and one is "scar", and "mum" is just an alpha male hog; hes bigger more aggressive and more "male" than his bro, and hes the primary puker. i think he just needs to slow down a bit.

Answer 1

most of the reason i have found that cats puke so much is they are eating to fast or hairballs. That is the only thing i could tell you. I have a cat that once or twice a week i have to tell him he is not a digger because he will scoop the food and swallow it whole. He will dig his bottom jaw through the dish and tip his head back to swallow it whole. Hair balls are really common.

Answer 2

Cats can vomit around 3 times a month without concern. Cats have the ability to regurgitate, it is a leftover from their wild days. It enabled them in the past to clear out their digestive tract. They would eat what they could when they could, so say they caught a mouse, they would eat it, the mouse wasn't so good but they didn't know where the next meal was coming from or when it would be. They trot on down the track and oooh there's a yummy looking bird, has to taste better than that mouse did, so they catch the bird, regurgitate the mouse and eat the bird.

It also enabled them to throw up bones in the food if they accidentally swallowed one or if after eating the food it made them feel off (possibly had some contamination or they ate too much) they'd hurl it. Some cats still do this and some do it more than others. They could also cough up fur and feathers from things they ate and hairballs from grooming themselves.

Answer 3

I agree with Nikki06. A vet once told me that cats can pretty much puke at will. I have noticed that they prefer to hack up hairballs in the early hours of the morning, when their stomachs are otherwise empty. This is a natural way for them to rid themselves of hairballs and is probably more healthy than encouraging the hair to go down into the intestines. Also, it is the traditional way for them to rid themselves of the bones or feathers from their prey. Owls will hack up little balls of fur or feathers, too, as a way to clean out their stomachs of undigestible stuff.

Another time they will up-chuck is right after they eat. Technically, this is called regurgitation and the food is undigested. I believe this is one means by which a mother could pre-process food or carry food back to her kittens. If this happens once or twice a month, I wouldn't worry. Sometime they just eat too fast. If it happens every day, there may be something about the food that disagrees with your cat and you may want to change brands.

The puking you need to worry about is on-going. If your cat is vomiting well-digested food, bile, blood, or colored substance--yellow or green, black--this is a problem that needs your vet's attention.

Otherwise, it is--as you observed--a fairly natural process for cats. We have 27 and finding a bit of white foam or a small hairball on the floor isn't cause for excitement around here.

Answer 4

I don't have this problem anymore with my cat since I make sure to have her on a hairball food formula. I feed mine the Science Diet hairball control formula and it has made a big difference. The only time that I might run into this problem is if she gets into the grass and eats at that. The indoor formula doesn't seem to help keep them away from the green grass either. The best thing that I do is to make sure the grass is trim real close to the ground so that she is not interested in it for nibbling.

Answer 5

Usually cats vomit up hairballs or vomit food if they've got a hairball obstruction somewhere. Try giving them some Laxatone a couple of times a week to dissolve it, and/or hairball-reducing diet (there are special foods particularly for this). Vomiting stresses out the body and over time will cause other medical issues, so best to try to limit it. All cats do it, but twice a month seems high.

Answer 6

Are your cats long-haired? Do you brush their hair every day ro every other day especially when they are malting (shedding hair)? If not, they could be retching a lot because of hairballs.
Do you see to it that their food bowl is very clean before you put food in them and that you do not leave (wet) food out in the bowl all day? If not, they could be retching a lot becuase their food is spoiled.

Are they wormed regularly? Worms can make kitties vomit.

Do you let them out and they eat a lot of grass? Cats often vomit after eating too much grass.

I don't mean to put you down or anything, but I have two cats and they hardly ever vomit. The only time they retch is if they have ingested too much grass. And this happens very rarely - maybe twice or thrice a year (mostly in the spring when the grass is tender and yummy).

Answer 7

Most cats vomit hairballs. They lick themselves clean constantly and the hair builds up in the intestines, then they chuck it up. There are hairball remedies available at all pet supply stores, or you can use Vaseline. Just put a small glob on their front paw about once a month, they will lick it off and this will keep hair balls from forming.

Answer 8

This is perfectly normal as long as they're not barfing blood. Cats eat alot of weird stuff and when they lick their fur, they sometimes take in hairballs as they lick their fur and fur sticks to their tongue and they swallow it, which is extremely gross. A cat's stomach can't take in a everything a cat swallows and if a cat can't digest everything, what must have come in, must go out. It protects the stomach from taking in anything it can't digest or doesn't need, or doesn't find useful for the body. When cats barf or puke, it's just a way of filtering their stomach of the bad stuff.

Answer 9

Cats normally do this. Hairballs, and other things could cause this. Don't feed them "people food" but make sure they have a proper diet. Also dont feed them too much. Put out food for them at certain times of the day, or only give them certain amounts.

Answer 10

Hairballs are often a culprit. Sometimes cats eat their food too fast. Using Hairball Remedy or a Hairball Control food might help.