Is it normal to let animals eat their vomit

I heard one of the kittens I’m watching throw up this morning and thought I will clean it up when I get out of bed in a few minutes. I caught another kitten eating vomit yesterday so I kinda figured she might get to it before I do but I didn’t feel like stopping her. sure enough there was no vomit to be found when I got up.

I didn’t know that cats even ate vomit, thought that was more of a dog thing. Last time I visited family their dog threw up on the carpet and I ran to grab some paper towels and by the time I got back the dog did a better job cleaning up than I could have anyway.

is it normal to not give a crap about animals eating vomit? I mean it’s gross but who am I to interfere with nature

Voting Results
63% Normal
Based on 19 votes (12 yes)
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Comments ( 3 )
  • Boojum

    Yeah, they do that.

    I've had lots of cats over the years, and I can't recall them ever licking up the totally liquid stuff they up-chuck while they're trying to clear a fur-ball. Nor are they interested in fur-balls themselves. But if any half-digested food appears, they're happy to clear that away.

    Our dogs also clear our cats' litter tray of any solid bits if they get half a chance, and they eagerly explore the back yard searching for any poop our cats have buried and excavate it. It's disgusting, but it doesn't seem to do them any harm. It also prevents our neighbours from getting annoyed by our cats crapping in their garden, since they always have areas of loose soil available closer to home.

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  • RoseIsabella

    I used to have a three-legged tabby cat that just loved the Puppy Chow that our Sheltie puppy ate. Well, one time the puppy threw up on the carpet, and before I could clean it up the three-legged cat was hobbling over quite briskly, and purring like crazy getting ready to gobble up that Puppy Chow vomit.

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  • LloydAsher

    There is an evolutionary adaption for this. Since we humans have the knowlage to when our food will come from next we have the ability to decline our own bile. Animals on the other hand will not know if they are going to be fed and hey that's some free food on the ground!

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