Why do cows chew cud and belch, unlike my dog or cat?

The adult ruminant stomach is a four chambered organ. The four chambers are the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum. Food enters the rumen first, which stores and processes plant material. It then passes into the reticulum, which allows the animal to regurgitate and reprocess the plant material (i.e. chew its cud). The omasum provides further processing of the food, and sends it onto the abomasum. It's considered the "true stomach," and uses digestive enzymes to break down the bacteria in order to release nutrients.

Your goat sounds like he may have some trouble with his digestive system. Goats do well on high-quality grass pasture or grass hay. I would be very cautious with any alfalfa or grain, as these items can cause bloat in goats as they are very rich. Some burping/eructation is normal in goats, so what you are noticing may be normal for him. Also, make sure to have him dewormed as goats often have intestinal parasites. Hope that helps!

There isn't much you can do. Due to the chambered stomach, it may stay in the there for a long time and cause no issue, pass out into the stomach and out in feces, or it may get stuck. If Queen starts having a decreased appetite or acts ill in any way, you can try giving her mineral oil to lubricate the GI tract, but if she is off her feed for longer than 24 hours or there aren't any feces produced, she should be evaluated by a vet.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Buckis! Just be sure he is burping and not non-productively retching (trying to vomit but not bringing anything up). Non productively retching with a swollen belly and/or pacing is an emergency. If it is just occasional burping and he is resting comfortably then just continue to monitor him and follow your Vets recommendations. I hope this helps and I wish Buckis a speedy recovery!

Without diagnostics, it's hard to know why this is happening. It's possible he has some shifts in his gut bacteria. Things like parasites are also common. There are also more sinister causes. If it has been great than 6 months since Bubbles has had a fecal exam to check for parasites, I recommend to have this done. You may also try boostering his gut bacteria with a probiotic 1 week out of every month. Use Purina FortiFlora. It has been tested and is proven to contain live bacteria. Other treatments may be available based up test results. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I think your theory makes some sense - it's possible that some oral pain is changing his behavior when he's eating. It is also not unusual for some cats to eat their food too quickly, and some cats do better with dry food as compared to wet or vice versa. The burping however sounds more like he might have some stomach upset. This could be from a food sensitivity, parasites, or something like inflammatory bowel disease. I would recommend making an appointment with your veterinarian for an examination and to discuss testing if indicated.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Burger. The first step is to determine if he is vomiting or regurgitating as they have different causes. Vomiting is signified by retching and abdominal contractions. There may be signs of nausea that precede an episode. Regurgitation is the passive expulsion of esophageal or stomach contents. The material will slip up often times surprising the animal. You can try to video an episode to show your veterinarian. If he is regurgitating you will want to take chest x-rays to look at the size and shape of his esophagus. A dilated esophagus known as megaesophagus can result in pneumonia on the animal frequently chokes on its food. I hope this information gives you a starting point!