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My cat keeps throwing up undigested food and wants to eat more.

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 7 years old

My cat is vomiting undigested food, but he goes straight to the food bowl again afterwards. What's going on?

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5 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT

Licensed Veterinary Technician

Published on June 25th, 2016

This is a common occurrence if Alphonse eats his food too fast. Discontinue free feeding or grazing. Feed him at regularly scheduled mealtimes. Feed using a[ slow feeder bowl]() for dogs and cats or feed multiple small meals throughout the day. If the vomiting continues, see your vet for a complete exam.

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73Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Other Answers

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    One reason cats throw up food right after eating is that they eat too fast. Your cat's esophagus is horizontal rather than vertical. Food can slap against the lower esophageal sphincter and cause regurgitation of whole, undigested food several minutes after it's consumed. Alphonse could also be vomiting from a GI disease, foreign body, or other illness. At this point, I'd recommend taking away his food for 12-24 hours and see if that stops the vomiting. If it does, I have a simple trick for getting him to eat slower. Take a mini muffin tin, and fill each cup with a bit of his food. That forces him to eat slower as he moves from cup to cup. If taking away the food doesn't stop his vomiting or if he becomes lethargic, develops diarrhea, and/or stops eating and drinking, take him to your vet right away.

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    Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    I am assuming you are feeding dry food to Alphonse. Many cats eat dry food way too fast. The food then expands in the stomach as it absorbs moisture from the stomach. This in turn activates pressure receptors in the stomach which then tell the stomach to empty itself. This is why Alphonse goes back to the bowl...he is still hungry after that and maybe even a glutton! One way to avoid that is to feed canned food (1/2 a 3.5 oz can twice daily) or split up his daily dry food ration into at least 3 feeds.

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    Answered By Shaneez Wallani, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on October 23rd, 2018

    It’s great that the slow feeder bowl helped! An indoor hunting feeder like the one listed below may be a good choice for Midnight: https://docandphoebe.com/ . If he continues to throw up his food I’d follow up with your vet in case there is a cause for it other than eating too fast. Vomiting could be caused by parasites, change in diet, toxin ingestion, infectious viral diseases, blockage in the intestines caused by ingestion of a foreign body, or a mass/growth in the gastrointestinal tract. Please make an appointment to have Midnight seen by a veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment if the changes to his feeding system don’t resolve the issue.

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    Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 1st, 2019

    That depends on why it is happening. Most often this is happening because they eat too quickly. The pet will eat the food very fast and then vomit within a few minutes and the kibble looks basically the same as it did in the bowl. If this is the case for Bella, you can purchase a special food bar called a slow feeder and this will help to slow her down. Also feeding her smaller but more frequent meals can address the problem as well. If she is not exhibiting this scenario, I recommend to have her examined by her veterinarian for other causes of regurgitation or vomiting. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

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