Home cat ate thrown up food in the yard

[Antonio65]

Half an hour ago, when I was leading my cats out in my yard with harness and extendable leash, I lost the control on one of them, while I was trying to check what the other one was doing.
They always go the opposite direction when they are outside, they really drive me nuts, and I think it's a planned strategy so that at least one of them is feeling free to do what she wants.
Anyway, I was trying to understand what Freya was doing behind a plant, and Giada took advantage of this to sneak behind a flower pot. She was sitting there, or at least I thought she was, but then I realized she was eating the thrown up wet food of one of my outdoor cats. They rarely throw up, and never in that spot, behind the pots, but this time it happened, and Giada ate up some of that!

Of course I don't know how much she ate, but judging by the time she stood there and by the speed she usually scarfs down her own food (3 oz in just 50 seconds), I believe it was nearly 2 oz of thrown up food.
Now, as far as I know these outdoor cats are healthy (FIV and FeLV wise), but this is a source of concern for me right now.

I will keep an eye on her, but, hey, I can never look away for a moment with her.
She's always hungry and I don't know what to do with this issue.
And you know what? She had the face to ask me for food as soon we came inside right after this incident.

What should I expect from this incident? What should I tell or ask the vets?

 

[vince]

As long as it didn't sit for too long, your cat having an unexpected snack shouldn't be a problem, gross as it seems.

I have a "scarf-n-barfer." He'll push the others out of the way, gorge himself on their food, then go somewhere and puke it up. I can't always sit and police them at mealtimes. The others will often find the vomitus and will eat it. I view it as "helping" me and don't discourage it. Then, I don't have little to do other than to spray the area with some mild disinfectant and wipe it up. I've had other cats do the same thing.

I have been told it's a normal behavior across the cat family. Apparently, it keeps odors down so as not to attract predators and helps conserve water for their systems (at least in domestic cats, where they supposedly descended from desert cats that had unreliable sources of water).

 

[Antonio65]

Thank you V vince , I don't think that the thrown up food had been sitting there for long, it was still rather wet, but also it was in a shaded area and outside it isn't warm today, around 55°F I'd say.
I washed it away with the garden hose.

My concern arises from the fact that the food was coming out of another cat's stomach rather than having been there for long time.
I don't know what kind of issues this may lead to.

One of my previous cats had the same problem that you described, where she would scarf down everything in seconds, then move a few steps and puke.
At first, I would clean up as soon as I could. Then I learned that she would have come back and re-eaten it. But it was her own, not another cat's...

 

[vince]

Thank you V vince , I don't think that the thrown up food had been sitting there for long, it was still rather wet, but also it was in a shaded area and outside it isn't warm today, around 55°F I'd say.
I washed it away with the garden hose.

My concern arises from the fact that the food was coming out of another cat's stomach rather than having been there for long time.
I don't know what kind of issues this may lead to.

One of my previous cats had the same problem that you described, where she would scarf down everything in seconds, then move a few steps and puke.
At first, I would clean up as soon as I could. Then I learned that she would have come back and re-eaten it. But it was her own, not another cat's...

Mine all are indoor cats that live together. They must have the same flora in their guts I figure, so there's little chance of eating it that would cause illness. Besides, the one piglet got all their food--it gives them a chance to get back some of what they missed.