Has there ever been a study done why cats will puke on the carpet when a hard surface — a more easily cleanable surface! — is only a step or two away?
I was unable to find such a study. However, I have been doing informal, observational, studies for decades now.
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For cats, carpet is preferred to a hard-surfaced floor, but it’s not to be extra annoying. Throwing up is so unpleasant because it violently engages a lot of different muscle groups. It’s bad enough getting sick; we would not choose a slick, slippery surface to do it on, either. So cats dig their claws into the carpet to have some control over what is happening.
It’s hard enough merely walking on a ice rink, to give the idea of how cats (with claws out) react on a tile or linoleum floor.
It’s possible that they could hurt themselves if they lost their footing during such a physical reaction. In nature, cats would be prompted away from smooth, open spaces, such as the top of a boulder, and onto sandy or grassy ground where their paws can grip.
This is why cats will leave the kitchen… and throw up in the living room.
We are naturally exasperated, but we are only thinking of the “cleaning up” part. They are only thinking of the “throwing up” part. It’s nothing personal.
It’s part of the dim prompting of instincts from the wild. This is what urges them to a tangled tuft of grass where their hairball will blend in better. In our homes, that would be expressed in a tendency to throw up on the fringes of rugs, instead of the rug itself.
It also explains the attraction of electrical wires. How else to explain the way they will seek under desks and tables for a place to throw up, and manage to hit the cord tangle dead center?
Our cats don’t mean to cause trouble. There have been a few times when Mr. Bond is stricken with a hairball reaction while on the bed. I (carefully!) move him to the floor, and he looks up at me with gratitude. He doesn’t want to throw up on the bed. But at such a time he’s helpless to come up with a better place; immediate concerns take over his actions.
Moving our cat during such times is a delicate operation; we must be careful not to hurt them. We should move during the window of opportunity between the spasms. If this is too daunting or difficult, slipping a paper towel under their head at the right time can be helpful to us.
But, as always with the cat’s wild instincts, we have limited ability to change millions of years of genetic programming. So I’m philosophical about this limited downside of cat companionship. We can minimize its necessity by feeding a proper diet, offering kitty grass as a natural fiber supplement, and establishing a grooming routine.
Hairballs are the way nature deals with the cat’s constant grooming. However, if a cat starts throwing up with frequency, or there isn’t a hairball there, this is a symptom which cannot be dismissed as part of the cat’s routine. We need to find the source of the stress; whether mental or physical.
When it comes to hairballs, I’d rather have it on the carpet making trouble; than having it cause trouble inside the cat.
- For more on this subject, see There Will Be Hairballs.
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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.
In 10 & 1/2 years of being cat-owned, I’ve only seen one hairball. Plenty of puke, though.
Fortunately, when Ms Kill Kill (aka The Einstein Cat) decides to hurl, she actually runs to the bathroom. In fact, her real goal is the tub, and how much easier to clean up can it be than to turn on the shower? Sometimes she only makes it as far as the bathroom, but on the tile would be my second choice.
Why does she do this? For about 5 years I had some weird gastric problem that caused me to puke at random several times a day (thankfully, it went away). Out of curiosity or concern, she’d follow me into the bathroom when I had to barf, and I think she made the vomit=bathroom mental connection. She doesn’t puke much.
UN-fortunately, Byron pukes a lot, as he wolfs down his food. Sometimes his ejecta is still kibble-shaped, meaning he’s swallowing rather than chewing. And he’ll puke wherever he is. Frequently a chair. That’s a great way to come home after a hard day’s work; plop down unwittingly into a chair full of cold cat sick. I’ve learned to leave a towel on my chairs for easier cleaning. More than once he started gagging in bed right next to my head. But I can’t move him and risk him choking like Jimi Hendrix, so I gently push his face in another direction.
I highly recommend Viva paper towels. They’re expensive, so I reserve them for cat vomit clean-ups. Strong, and so thick you don’t to feel that “fresh from the stomach” warmth.
This is absolutely the most times I’ve used synonyms for “vomit” in 1 post.
hey bill…. excellent job on the synonyms…. and the Viva hint…[although i usually wait till it cools]
and pammy… thanks for ‘bringing up’ the subject…. excellent post
I have never thought about where the cat is throwing, up just worry about why they throwing up. Some of my cats to go to the bathroom to throw up and I think that is because that is where the litter box is. They want to keep the mess all in one place. And then some of them do throw up on the carpet. Either way it is not fun to clean up. But I have some older cats that do throw up quite a bit.
.-= Marg´s last blog ..My apologies, this is a sad blog. =-.
Mine throw up a lot. They won’t eat kitty grass, or that malt laxative stuff, or even enough “hairball control” treats to make a difference. They will readily eat fresh catnip, but I’m not sure if I should be giving them that much, or if it has enough fiber to make a difference.
I used to feed them “hairball control” dry food and it seemed to help a little. But now I have to feed one of them a prescription kidney food, and the rest a high protein food for urinary infections. So now I’m cleaning up a lot more puke.
Thank you for the advice about moving them. Khaki, my most frequent puker, often throws up on the bed and I’ve felt bad that I sometimes move her. Better on the carpet than the bed, but not by much!
If, when my wife’s cat starts to puke, we move him to the linoleum floors, he will stop his gakking, walk back to the carpet, and start up again. It seems he is in full control of the process. At least he has never thrown up in bed or on any other furniture.
I googled “hot to stop a cat from throwing up on the rug” and ended up here. Great point in the OP about needing the rug/carpet as leverage. In fact after reading some of the comments, perhaps I am much more pleased that he chooses the $15 rug as apposed to my bed or couch..almost appreciative actually, lol.
I think I will try and purchase one of those rubber grass-like rugs and leave it in the living room where he normally hurls. Maybe he’ll make the connection and use that instead and I can just hose if off afterwords. I can always put it away when we have company.
This is a wonderful article. I’ve seen a lot of hair balls over the years and always wondered why my cats will almost always cough one up on the carpet and not our mostly hardwood floors. This makes perfect sense and now I finally know WHY after all these years!!
Thanks!!