Gag reflex question (I think?)

[gabicards]

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?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I've known my cat to occasionally gag but have never actually pinpointed any one specific reason. But, her gagging is with an open mouth, so not the same thing really.

If this has gone on a long time, which sounds like it has, and nothing negative has arisen from it, I am not sure it would be something I would be terribly worried about.

It does sound like it could be from a bit of indigestion though. But, if he isn't doing it after every meal, it wouldn't seem that the food is necessarily disagreeing with his system. Perhaps those times that he does this is when he has eaten too fast, either gulping air, as the vet suggested, or overloading his stomach with too much food too quickly. This could just be another thing that he does, just like when he gulps.

The longevity of it suggests it is not a serious issue, so all you can do is monitor it and see if it becomes more frequent.

 

[gabicards]

Hi. I've known my cat to occasionally gag but have never actually pinpointed any one specific reason. But, her gagging is with an open mouth, so not the same thing really.

If this has gone on a long time, which sounds like it has, and nothing negative has arisen from it, I am not sure it would be something I would be terribly worried about.

It does sound like it could be from a bit of indigestion though. But, if he isn't doing it after every meal, it wouldn't seem that the food is necessarily disagreeing with his system. Perhaps those times that he does this is when he has eaten too fast, either gulping air, as the vet suggested, or overloading his stomach with too much food too quickly. This could just be another thing that he does, just like when he gulps.

The longevity of it suggests it is not a serious issue, so all you can do is monitor it and see if it becomes more frequent.

This has only ever happened once, that I've seen it. I'm around for his meals more often than not, so I think it would have been hard to miss, to be honest.

It wasn't the same as when he "gulps" after eating... when he does that, it's just once. This time, it went on for a little bit (10-20 seconds, like I said). Though I guess it could be a similar thing, specially since, just as when he gulps, there wasn't any actual reaction from him. I feel like when he coughs or vomits (which he's only ever done due to a side effect to medication), it freaks him out before it happens. He jumps from wherever he is and makes sure he's on the ground for it, and there's always those loud gagging sounds that come before he gets anything out. He cares less about hairballs, though, I feel he understands what's going on when it happens, whereas with other things he doesn't. Today it was like that, he just did it and continued cleaning himself as if he hadn't done anything. There was also no sound, I just felt/saw the contractions on his stomach (I think it was his stomach?) because he was laying on top of me.

I don't think it's anything serious, I was just curious as to whether this is something that happens to other cats or if maybe there was a clearer explanation to it... given it was less than an hour after he ate, I'll assume indigestion for now.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Oh, I misunderstood; I thought he had done it before - as he has with the gulping, only this time it was longer between when he ate and when he 'gagged'. Nonetheless, maybe it was just a one time thing. So, I'd still monitor him to see if it starts happening with any frequency. The fact that it doesn't bother him, as with the gulping, is good.

Funny that you mention what he does when he vomits - it is the exact same thing Feeby does. Wherever she is, she immediately stands up and moves to the ground before she throws up. I always said she wanted to make sure she hit the carpet! (Cuz she has even moved from hard floor surfaces to the carpeted areas too).

Although she rarely has a hairball, and mostly if she does, she never throws them up - she merely acts like she is going to cough up a hairball and then doesn't. I have decided she is 'dislodging' it and then it moves on through her digestive tract - just my way of explaining why she doesn't actually cough them up. I didn't think about it, but it is a bit slower process than when she is going to vomit and she doesn't always have her mouth open. Maybe this is your cat's 'new' version of something very similar?