What does it mean if my cat's puke smells like poop?

Keep a close eye on your cat, and seek veterinary care if the vomiting continues.

We see it more often in dogs that cats, but vomitus that smells of fecal matter is sometime seen in intestinal blockages – the animal can actually bring up material that has already passed into the intestines.

@syz Good information, but now I lost my appetite for lunch. Although, it was my fault for even going into this question knowing the subject.

@syz

What usually causes intestinal blockage in a cat?

Can it be due just to a lack of fiber; a cat eating some foreign matter, such as litter-clumping material; or intestinal cancer?

@Brian1946 There are any number of causes, the most common being a foreign body (toys, string, etc). You can also see things like megacolon and tumors.

She’s sick, not just normal hairball type things. It’s like the difference between someone having food poisoning or a virurs, and just simply puking up what they just ate by sticking their finger down their throat. The food is farther down in the digestive tract I guess. Or, at least that is what I would guess.

Sounds like it’s coming out the other end.

I would say she’s definitely sick. She’s having trouble keeping the food down, and not just in the stomach.

Look around, there might be shit hidden somewhere.

She’s eating poop. I’ve never had a cat do it, but my dogs have. And then thrown it up. Absolutely disgusting!!!!

If this continues, definitely get her to the vet. My cat had a similar smell to her vomit near the end of her life, and it turned out her liver was shot. She died not too long ago from it. :(

I am an RN, and when this happens in people, it is indicative of a life-threatening intestinal blockage. And it will absolutely take a cats/dogs life if not immediately dealt with. I am guessing that eating poo was not the problem in this case, as the writer described the cat struggling to vomit the stuff up, like it would a hairball. If it had eaten the poo, it would have been chewed poo,and while gross, not as difficult to puke up. Most blockages can be easily diagnosed with a basic exam and one xray. As you can imagine, it is very painful to vomit up feces, and the blockage itself is very painful. So, if your pet vomits feces and appears ill, even if you can not afford the medical treatment to remove the blockage, do the right/humane thing and take your animal to a vet to get confirmation of a blockage and pay to have it put down. I have always found vets to be really supportive of pet owners trying to do the right thing for their pets, and you may be surprised to find that your local vet is willing to work with you on payment arrangements for treatment.