Hello,
Two nights ago, my 1.5-year-old orange tabby Max started doing this weird thing occasionally where he turns his head to the right and chews, like he has something stuck in his teeth. Later, a few hours after dinner, he threw up. At first I thought it was just because I fed him and my other cat some stale, expired treats earlier, and they gave my other cat a hacking/coughing fit a few minutes after eating them. (They were soft salmon treats, but they were hard and the last ones in the bag.)
Max seemed fine all day the next day, ate breakfast like normal. We fed them a half dinner at their usual time while we went out to dinner ourselves, and when we came back, we noticed a small bit of throw-up in the kitchen. We decided it was a hairball because it had quite a bit of orange fur in it (other cat is mostly white) and not much solid food, although Max has never had a hairball before. They ate their other half of dinner with no issues, and no biting motion.
This morning and today he was perfectly fine again. This evening, however, Max started doing that chewing motion to the right side again right before dinner and sometime after, about once every 15 minutes or so. He hasn't thrown up (he's napping in the cat tree right now), but I decided we should probably take him to the vet since I tried looking in his mouth and don't see anything very apparent stuck in there, though he doesn't let me look for long.
His behavior is still mostly normal, and he still has an appetite. He doesn't seem to be in any excruciating pain, and this behavior is only occurring at night.
Before I go to the vet though, does anyone know what might be causing this? I've seen a few theories online, some mild and some downright scary. He has had an ear infection before, so that seems the most likely cause, but I just want to hear from others too.
Two nights ago, my 1.5-year-old orange tabby Max started doing this weird thing occasionally where he turns his head to the right and chews, like he has something stuck in his teeth. Later, a few hours after dinner, he threw up. At first I thought it was just because I fed him and my other cat some stale, expired treats earlier, and they gave my other cat a hacking/coughing fit a few minutes after eating them. (They were soft salmon treats, but they were hard and the last ones in the bag.)
Max seemed fine all day the next day, ate breakfast like normal. We fed them a half dinner at their usual time while we went out to dinner ourselves, and when we came back, we noticed a small bit of throw-up in the kitchen. We decided it was a hairball because it had quite a bit of orange fur in it (other cat is mostly white) and not much solid food, although Max has never had a hairball before. They ate their other half of dinner with no issues, and no biting motion.
This morning and today he was perfectly fine again. This evening, however, Max started doing that chewing motion to the right side again right before dinner and sometime after, about once every 15 minutes or so. He hasn't thrown up (he's napping in the cat tree right now), but I decided we should probably take him to the vet since I tried looking in his mouth and don't see anything very apparent stuck in there, though he doesn't let me look for long.
His behavior is still mostly normal, and he still has an appetite. He doesn't seem to be in any excruciating pain, and this behavior is only occurring at night.
Before I go to the vet though, does anyone know what might be causing this? I've seen a few theories online, some mild and some downright scary. He has had an ear infection before, so that seems the most likely cause, but I just want to hear from others too.
