Why Rabbits Are Physically Unable To Vomit

Now, nobody would say that vomiting is a particularly enjoyable experience. If you've eaten something especially spicy, colorful, stodgy, or otherwise particularly unpleasant to see/smell again, it can be downright harrowing. The gross act does, however, have important implications for our health. As Healthline reports, it can be caused by anything from migraines to motion sickness, and it's also the quickest, safest, and most practical way to remove something from our stomachs that shouldn't be there.

In short, after a suitable period of recovery and replenishment of any lost nutrients and fluids, we should actually be rather glad that we can vomit in a lot of cases. Per Purina, the same is often true of dogs, which tend to expel anything they may have consumed that could be dangerous to them. At the same time, though, in humans and in pets alike, vomiting can be a sign of something far worse, and medical attention must be sought if repeatedly vomiting.

Rabbits, meanwhile, are entirely unable to vomit. Writing in Rabbit Mag, Dr. Elly Cameron explains that this is the case because bunnies "do not have a gag reflex like we do. They also lack a true stomach and the ability to retch or choke down something that is causing them to be ill."

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