Can horses (or other animals) throw up?

January 11, 2005 5:49 AM

Someone at work has just asked me a bizarre question that I can't find an answer to - can horses (and in fact any other animal) actually throw up? (+)
posted by longbaugh to Pets & Animals (30 answers total)

Horses, I don't know. Probably. Other animals? Sure, my cats and dogs yak all the time.
posted by RustyBrooks at 5:50 AM on January 11, 2005

Response by poster: If an animal is on a boat can it get seasick? I assume that animals would have the same inner-ear layout as ourselves so can anyone tell me - do animals vomit?
posted by longbaugh at 5:53 AM on January 11, 2005

Well, cows ruminate, wherein they swallow lots of grass quickly, then spit it back up later on to chew it (cud). Just found out it's so they could venture out to unsafe pastures, eat lots of grass, and then return to their protected field to actually eat the food.
posted by Alt F4 at 5:55 AM on January 11, 2005

Dogs and cats do throw up (hairballs and other assorted goodies) and do experience motion sickness .

My in-laws Schnauzer's loves throwing up (usually on me) while on car rides.
posted by icontemplate at 5:57 AM on January 11, 2005

Horses? No.*

*No offense but that was a really google search.

And you must not be a pet owner or you’d know that not only can some animals throw up, but they also have uncanny senses of timing and placement, usually bad. :)
posted by boomchicka at 5:58 AM on January 11, 2005

Best answer: from this websheet:

Horses have a band of muscle around the esophagus as it enters the stomach. This band operates in horses much as in humans: as a one-way valve. Food freely passes down the esophagus into the stomach as the valve relaxes but the valve squeezes down the opening and cuts off the passage for food going back up.

Horses, however, differ from us because their valve really works. Humans can vomit. Horses almost physically can't because of the power of the cut-off valve muscle. Also, the esophagus meets the stomach at an angle which enhances the cut-off function when the horse's stomach is bloated with food or gas. Then the stomach wall pushes against the valve, closing the esophagus even more completely from the stomach. Normally, the mechanics are such that the horse's stomach ruptures before the valve yields.

If material does pass from stomach out the esophagus, the horse is dead or nearly so. That's why horses can't vomit. But, sometimes they do. Rarely, to be sure.

I can't believe you had me googling horse vomit.
posted by glenwood at 5:59 AM on January 11, 2005

aw dammit. sorry for the fouble link boomchicka.
posted by glenwood at 6:00 AM on January 11, 2005

Rabbits also can't vomit, hairballs (they clean themselves like cats) for them can quickly become serious if not dissolved.
posted by tommasz at 6:02 AM on January 11, 2005

Not rats....
posted by Pressed Rat at 6:20 AM on January 11, 2005

Response by poster: Please accept my apologies glenwood (both for not finding it first and then making you search for the horse vomit sites). My colleagues thank you for the research.

Me? I'm wondering if special facilities were required on the Ark.
posted by longbaugh at 6:41 AM on January 11, 2005

Special facilities? Heck, it's a buffet line for dogs.
posted by icontemplate at 6:47 AM on January 11, 2005

also, don't a large amount of birds and other animals feed their young by regurgitating their food?
posted by spicynuts at 7:00 AM on January 11, 2005

I have personally witnessed a horse die from throwing up. Not pleasant at all, I can assure you.
posted by ewagoner at 7:01 AM on January 11, 2005

FYI the inability for rats to vomit is one of the keys to the success of poison as a control--as long as they ingest it in sufficient quantity, they will die. It makes it much harder to develop a tolerance, so those rats that are genetically slightly tolerant won't pass that on to the next generation.
posted by plinth at 7:49 AM on January 11, 2005

Dogs and cats throw up...my dog's preferred puke spot is on a pile of laundry.
posted by SisterHavana at 8:20 AM on January 11, 2005

also, don't a large amount of birds and other animals feed their young by regurgitating their food?

Yes. At least for pigeons, mother and father (they take turns) will eat seed, partially digest it, and then regurgitate it back into the mouths of their young.
posted by sbutler at 8:39 AM on January 11, 2005

I have personally witnessed a horse die from throwing up. Not pleasant at all, I can assure you.

blimey... how on earth did you come to witness such an event?
posted by derbs at 8:46 AM on January 11, 2005

Someone turned 21 on the ranch?
posted by yerfatma at 8:51 AM on January 11, 2005

hup . . hup . . . hup . . . huppBLEeaaAhkk!
posted by petebest at 9:19 AM on January 11, 2005

Anyone ever dissect "owl pellets"? Here's a "virtual" owl pellet for you to dissect, although it only appears to work in IE.
posted by Alt F4 at 9:28 AM on January 11, 2005

I can actually send you proof that cats vomit, if you'd like.
posted by goethean at 9:31 AM on January 11, 2005

blimey... how on earth did you come to witness such an event?

Live out in the country with animals, and you'll see all kinds of birthin' and dyin'.
posted by ewagoner at 9:34 AM on January 11, 2005

Wolves are known for bringing back food to their young in their stomachs.

[ That has to be so gramatically incorrect. Hell if I can figure it out. ]
posted by deborah at 9:48 AM on January 11, 2005

Response by poster: How about other mammals? Apparently whales and dolphins can vomit (ick!) which must be a really fab experience to watch (especially underwater).
posted by longbaugh at 10:44 AM on January 11, 2005

The whale spat up Jonah.

And Pinocchio.
posted by Alt F4 at 10:54 AM on January 11, 2005

and ambergris
posted by plinth at 5:48 PM on January 11, 2005

Rats can't vomit, but they have the ability to bring something back out of their throat, if it gets caught. I had a pet rat once take two hours to dislodge something from her throat. She was able to breathe the whole time, so there wasn't much I could do but watch.

Also, I will whole-heartedly agree that dogs and cats vomit. They even have the ability to locate the hardest-to-clean spot, like an expensive carpet.
posted by veronitron at 6:04 PM on January 11, 2005

boomchicka: You forgot the sound. Nothing wakes you up in the middle of the night like a cat throwing up.
posted by krisjohn at 7:16 PM on January 11, 2005

also, don't a large amount of birds and other animals feed their young by regurgitating their food?

Yes. At least for pigeons, mother and father (they take turns) will eat seed, partially digest it, and then regurgitate it back into the mouths of their young.

Just to put a slightly finer point on it, that food is actually coming from the crop, not the stomach, although I guess the word regurgitate is still used.
posted by milovoo at 8:17 AM on January 12, 2005

I love Ask Metafilter.
posted by waxpancake at 8:27 AM on January 12, 2005