We often refer to cats spitting out things from their mouths as vomiting, but in fact it can also be subdivided into three types: "reflux", "vomiting" and "coughing" based on the vomit spit out from different parts of the body. These three types represent completely different conditions and diseases.

Reflux

Reflux means that food is vomited out of the cat's esophagus for some reason before it reaches the stomach pouch. This is often caused by diseases such as esophageal stenosis and obstruction in cats. Because there is no gastric peristalsis, cats do not have an obvious gag reflex when refluxing.

Vomiting

When food or something is in a cat's stomach and the cat's stomach is stimulated by some kind of stimulation, a vomiting reflex will occur. The stomach and intestines will spit it out from the mouth through strong squeezing and peristalsis. Therefore, when a cat vomits, You can see the obvious special movements of the gag reflex.

Cough up

Coughing up does not occur through the gastrointestinal tract. When cats have thick phlegm or foreign objects in their trachea, they will stretch their necks, make strong chest surges, and try to cough up the objects. Generally, cats will have this reaction when they have pneumonia or accidentally inhale foreign objects into their trachea, which is very dangerous.

Different vomiting means different countermeasures

When spitting out gastric juice

Sometimes cats will vomit a viscous transparent liquid with a little white foam, which is the cat’s gastric juice. Sometimes the gastric juice will also be a little brownish-green, which is caused by excessive vomiting.

Solution - Eat smaller meals more often

Don’t leave the cat’s food bowl empty for too long. The feeding method of early meal and late meal is actually not suitable for cats. It is best to eat small meals frequently to maintain the cat’s normal gastric juice secretion level.

Undigested food

Sometimes cats may spit out undigested food, such as whole cat food pellets. Vomiting is in the shape of long and thin strips, which are squeezed out of the cat's esophagus. There is less gastric juice in the food, which means that the food is spit out before it reaches the stomach, which is a reflux condition.

Solution - Soft food and wet food method

Cats with this problem must eat refined food. It is best to feed wet food that is completely mashed into a paste, and they must feed less each time to allow the food to pass through the esophagus and into the stomach bit by bit..

Indigestible food

It often happens that a cat has just finished eating and spits out the food very quickly within a few minutes. The spit out food has not been fully digested and there are still many formed particles. Sometimes the cat even eats cat grass and is very chewy. Soon the whole stick or lump will be spit out.

Solution - prescription food

If your cat has food intolerance, it is best to feed it a hypoallergenic prescription food. It is important to note that cats with food intolerance are also prone to producing soft stools and require special attention.

It turned out to be a hair ball

Vomiting hair balls is a behavior unique to cats. When the fur licked into the stomach becomes clumped to a certain extent and irritates the stomach, they will spit it out. Hairballs are usually mixed with gastric juice. Sometimes they are just a few light hairs, and sometimes they are compressed and hard in texture.

Solution - comb hair often

Whether it is a long-haired cat or a short-haired cat, you can comb out the excess hair through regular combing to reduce the amount of licking into the coat.

Solution - hair ball removal products

Keep some high-fiber hairball foods or hairball remover creams and healthy oils (such as olive oil) at home. Occasionally feeding your cat can lubricate and decompose hair balls in the body.

Vomiting after swallowing foreign bodies

Once a cat swallows non-edible objects, it may cause serious problems. Cats are very curious animals. When they see some small items, they will sometimes put them in their mouths to taste them, no matter whether they are delicious or not. In addition to this small probability of accidentally eating, there are also some cats who suffer from pica and especially like to eat some inedible things.

Although some foreign bodies cannot be digested themselves, they can often be excreted from the body through the intestines. After some foreign bodies are swallowed, they absorb a large amount of water in the cat's stomach, swell and become larger, blocking the cat's intestines during the downward digestion process, causing other things in the digestive tract to reflux and cause vomiting.

Which types of vomiting require immediate medical attention?

Sometimes cats’ vomiting will be accompanied by other symptoms. If it is serious, they will need to be sent to the hospital.

1. Severe vomiting several times a day or over a longer period of time.

2. Vomiting every day for several days.

3. Accompanied by severe diarrhea.

4. Accompanied by fever.

5. Do it oftenVomiting without being able to spit out anything.

6. Lack of energy and loss of appetite.