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- Dec 1, 2021
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Hi all,
My cat did something this afternoon that puzzled me. We were both together on the couch - he was fixing for a nap while cleaning himself on my chest, and suddenly he had a bit of a... gagging episode, sort of? I'm not sure what that was, so I'm wondering if anyone's seen their cat do that. Basically, while he was laying all comfy, he started having some contractions similar to what happens when cats are about to throw up - only they were much softer, and his mouth was closed. He would lightly move his neck forward and all. I was confused because of how mild it was, and also by the fact that he didn't try to get off the couch, he was super calm. In an actual vomiting/hairball/coughing incident, he would have leapt and done that with his mouth open, neck moving towards the ground... In this case, it lasted about 10-20 seconds, and when it stopped he smacked his lips a couple of times. It didn't seem to affect him in the slightest, and he immediately went back to cleaning himself. This was about 40-50 minutes after he ate his lunch, so I wonder if maybe it was some sort of indigestion?
He is perfectly fine, by the way. Has been eating normally all day, is playful, alert, cuddly, has peed and pooped, etc, so I don't think he's nauseous or has a hairball stuck somewhere, for instance. I had just never seen him do this, so I wonder if the behavior would ring a bell to anyone else.
For context:
- My cat isn't a puker. He used to have a hairball every 4-5 weeks, but in the past half year we've managed to lower that number to once every few months
- He's never regurgitated food
- He "gulps" shortly after eating (like 5-10 minutes after), his vet says it's because he ingests air. It's not hiccups, it just looks like when humans burp with their mouths closed. I've asked the vet about acid reflux, but apparently this isn't considered a symptom. It doesn't happen every time he eats, but it's happened often since he was a kitten
- We've recently transitioned to a different food recipe, and so far he's had no reactions (transitioned started 1 month ago, he's been eating only the new recipe for the past 2 weeks)
Thoughts?
My cat did something this afternoon that puzzled me. We were both together on the couch - he was fixing for a nap while cleaning himself on my chest, and suddenly he had a bit of a... gagging episode, sort of? I'm not sure what that was, so I'm wondering if anyone's seen their cat do that. Basically, while he was laying all comfy, he started having some contractions similar to what happens when cats are about to throw up - only they were much softer, and his mouth was closed. He would lightly move his neck forward and all. I was confused because of how mild it was, and also by the fact that he didn't try to get off the couch, he was super calm. In an actual vomiting/hairball/coughing incident, he would have leapt and done that with his mouth open, neck moving towards the ground... In this case, it lasted about 10-20 seconds, and when it stopped he smacked his lips a couple of times. It didn't seem to affect him in the slightest, and he immediately went back to cleaning himself. This was about 40-50 minutes after he ate his lunch, so I wonder if maybe it was some sort of indigestion?
He is perfectly fine, by the way. Has been eating normally all day, is playful, alert, cuddly, has peed and pooped, etc, so I don't think he's nauseous or has a hairball stuck somewhere, for instance. I had just never seen him do this, so I wonder if the behavior would ring a bell to anyone else.
For context:
- My cat isn't a puker. He used to have a hairball every 4-5 weeks, but in the past half year we've managed to lower that number to once every few months
- He's never regurgitated food
- He "gulps" shortly after eating (like 5-10 minutes after), his vet says it's because he ingests air. It's not hiccups, it just looks like when humans burp with their mouths closed. I've asked the vet about acid reflux, but apparently this isn't considered a symptom. It doesn't happen every time he eats, but it's happened often since he was a kitten
- We've recently transitioned to a different food recipe, and so far he's had no reactions (transitioned started 1 month ago, he's been eating only the new recipe for the past 2 weeks)
Thoughts?