Why Is My Cat Throwing Up Undigested Food. Undigested food in vomit indicates that the cat is suffering from an upper gastrointestinal disorder meaning the food never made it past the stomach and into the small intestine.
If your cat is vomiting undigested food, this could be caused by an allergic reaction, obstruction, or irritation of the upper gastrointestinal tract.
It’s also important to note if your cat has eaten recently as this could reveal more about why your pet is vomiting.
Why Is My Cat Throwing Up Undigested Food
If your cat vomits undigested food, see if you can figure out if it’s due to a hairball. Hairballs and internal blockages are two of the most common feline health issues. Certain eating habits, such as swallowing food too quickly, consuming too much food at once, not chewing properly, being constipated, and parasite diseases and poisonings, can all cause cats to vomit.
The idea is to figure out why your pet is throwing up its food so you can come up with a few different treatment options before seeking medical assistance if the condition is significant.
Regurgitation
It’s said by many pet owners that when your cat regurgitates on a carpet or couch it’s never a good thing. Your cat will stop eating, throw up and become lethargic, but can happen for no apparent reason.
The problem is that there are no visible signs as to why this might be happening. It just happens, so you shouldn’t really freak out.
Sometimes it happens because the kitty tried to swallow something inappropriate like a Christmas ornament for example. But most cases are due to the pet eating something too fast.
Food Allergies
Some cats may eat too quickly, as stated above, or have a food allergy. If your cat is a habitual ‘munch & throw up’ cat, or if they have intestinal sensitivities, that may be causing them to vomit up partially digested or undigested food.
If your vet has ruled out other medical issues and thinks that what your cat is vomiting up is actually food, they may want you to try a commercial, sensitive systems food with your cat.
If your cat is still struggling with vomiting food on this special diet, they may then want to put your cat on a strict hydrolyzed protein diet.
Hairball
Cats are meticulous when it comes to cleaning themselves. And their tongues have small hooks all over them which can catch and hold on to loose hair.
The hair gets collected in the cat’s stomach, and this is what creates a hairball. Most of the time hairy manage to pass through the digestive system with no problem but occasionally they get trapped in cats’ stomachs which may contribute to vomiting undigested food.
Gastritis
If your cat likes to get into things and has eaten something, it’s possible that they have irritated their stomach. When this happens, you may see them vomiting undigested food as well as bile and/or blood.
They might notice a decrease in appetite, appear depressed, or experience lethargy.4 If it’s gastritis that has everyone’s stomach in knots, know that your vet is the best person to trust with the many things on your mind about why your cat is vomiting.
Grass Eating
You might have noticed your cat bringing you dead animals left as presents or eating grass outside. However, there’s no way to know whether they feel sick or whether they simply enjoy it.
Although some people believe cats will eat grass when they feel icky, there’s no way of knowing whether this is true or not.
Cold Food
Feeding a cat is much like feeding yourself. Just because you’re in a rush doesn’t mean it’s alright to eat anything at all that could just as easily stay in the fridge overnight and be perfectly safe to consume.
Cats love eating from plates, and hopefully, your pet will feel loved when served its meal at room temperature.
Otherwise, you risk seeing your baby vomit after ingesting something warm which means things have gone terribly wrong and it would be best for everyone to really improve this step.