A reader recently sent us a few (rather gross) photographs and asked, “What are these creatures?” She explained that she found them in her cat’s vomit and she suspects they are caterpillars. The first photo shows, well, vomit. We can also see a worm-like organism adjacent to the throw-up. The creature is dark and has a segmented body, but its appearance might be altered since its journey into the cat’s digestive system:

In the next photo our reader sent, we are able to see the worm-like organisms a bit better. The one on the left appears to be a pink/red/purple color. We agree with our reader’s suspicion…we think these are caterpillars. Identifying caterpillars that haven’t been thrown up is often hard enough as it is, so identifying these regurgitated creatures by species is basically impossible. If her cat is an outdoor cat, we think these caterpillars were probably living on/eating plants in her yard or a neighbor’s yard. If our reader is dying to know the species, we recommend she examine the plants in her yard for similar looking organisms!

Besides wondering what the creatures in her cat’s vomit are, our reader didn’t include any other information or ask any additional questions. She didn’t mention any worries about her cat’s health, and we don’t think she has any reason to be concerned, but if she does have any concerns about her cat then we encourage her to take her cat to the vet to be examined. We aren’t medical professionals, so we can’t advise on any animal (or human) health matters.

To wrap up, we agree with our reader that the creatures her cat threw up are caterpillars. While we are able to recognize these specimens as caterpillars, we don’t know the specific type of caterpillars they are.

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