Why Do Cats Hiccup
Cats do hiccup, most often after eating too fast. What it looks like, why it happens, and how to tell hiccups from something more serious.
Cats do hiccup, though less obviously than people. A hiccup is a sudden involuntary contraction of the diaphragm, the sheet of muscle under the lungs, followed by the sharp closure of the vocal folds that produces the sound.
What it looks like in a cat
A rhythmic jerk of the abdomen and chest, sometimes with a small sound, sometimes silent. It repeats at regular intervals and stops on its own, usually within a few minutes.
It is most often seen in kittens and after a fast meal.
Why it happens
Swallowing air while eating quickly is the usual cause. The stretched stomach irritates the diaphragm and sets off the spasm.
Less commonly it follows excitement, an abrupt change in temperature, or a hairball working its way up.
Kittens hiccup more than adults, and it usually becomes less frequent as they grow.
What to do
Nothing, generally. It resolves on its own.
If it happens after every meal, slow the eating down: split the daily amount into more, smaller meals, spread dry food out on a flat plate, use a slow feeder, and feed cats separately in a multi cat household.
What can be mistaken for hiccups
This is the useful part, because two more serious things look similar at a glance.
Reverse sneezing. Rapid, noisy inward snorts through the nose with the neck extended. It looks alarming and is usually harmless, but repeated episodes are worth examining.
A cough. A cat coughing crouches low, extends the neck forward and makes a dry hacking sound, often ending in a swallow. Owners frequently describe this as trying to bring up a hairball. In cats, a persistent cough is most often asthma and needs treating. It is not a hiccup.
Retching. Repeated heaving without producing anything is not a hiccup, and in a cat with a swollen or painful abdomen it needs to be seen.
When to come in
If it lasts more than an hour, if it comes back several times a day for more than a couple of days, if it comes with coughing, breathlessness, drooling or weight loss, or if what you are seeing is really a cough rather than a hiccup. Filming it on your phone is genuinely useful; these things rarely happen in the consulting room.