Anyone who owns a cat is wary of their pet’s different behaviors. For sure, they have experienced their cats letting out a fart or two in their presence. Farting is the act of letting out internal gas through human or animal anus, which is
technically termed as flatulence.
Cats are carnivores. This makes their diet comprised largely of protein. When protein is broken down, sulfur is produced. Sulfur exits the body in the form of odored gas. It is natural for cats to produce a certain volume of this gas. When food is
broken down, the cat’s stomach bacteria cause the bad odor that goes with the gas. It is actually through passing gas that your cat disposes of its waste.
If your cat farts more frequently or experiences pain when doing so, then there is a problem. Such type of farting can be caused by different factors.
Table of Contents
Why Do Cats Fart?
The Digestion Process
Cats fart because of the digestion process. It is a natural process of removing waste fro the animal’s body. However, it should not be too frequent nor painful for your pet.
Protein Overconsumption
When your cat eats more food, it ends up consuming more protein. This results in higher levels of sulfur gas produced, which causes more frequent farting.
Too Much Carbohydrates
An excessive amount of carbohydrates in your cat’s diet can result in an upset stomach. This is commonly due to a large number of fillers in certain cat food products, especially the cheaper varieties. The output is a larger amount of gas
produced, resulting in more frequent farting. To solve this issue, you can just modify your pet’s diet.
Diet Changes
It takes some time for cats’ stomachs to get accustomed to a diet. Once you change their diet, they take some time adjusting to the new food. They will not digest it easily for some time. This results in higher flatulence frequency.
Another possible occurrence is developing allergies to the new food they are consuming. Changing the cat’s diet should be done gradually. The ideal way to do this is by adding small amounts of new food to the old food. Over time, you can increase
the amount of new food slowly. You should look for any signs of an allergic reaction while doing this.
On the first day, you can have a mix of 20% new food and 80% old food. On the next day, it can be 30% new food and 70% old food. You can continue improving this ratio until it becomes 100% new food.
Food For Human Consumption
What is good for humans will not always be good for their pets. When cats are fed with human food, their body does not always adjust to it. This causes frequent farting, vomiting and other uncomfortable symptoms.
Spoiled Food
Food that has rotten or gone beyond its expiration date is not fit for consumption. People tend to give this to their pets. This is a very wrong thing to do as your cat can become very sick and fart a lot. Rotten food should be thrown away.
Lactose Intolerant Cats
A large portion of the feline population is allergic to dairy products. These cats are having a hard time digesting such food items. As a result, they experience flatulence along with other symptoms. It is best to keep them away from products made
of cow milk. You can instead go for other milk options that suit your lactose-intolerant pet. They might be more expensive, but your pet’s health is worth every penny.
Internal/Intestinal Worms
Flatulence can also be due to parasites like intestinal worms and the cyst form of Giarda.
These single-celled protozoa are called Giardia. They are residents of the cats’ small intestines. When the cat consumes Giardia, its cyst form opens and lets out the trophozoite, its active form. The presence of this in the feces can cause
contamination on people and animals alike.
This cyst survives for weeks to months even outside the host. Animal feces in areas where your pet has access to can be a source of contamination. You must ensure that your pet is away from such places.
Air Swallowing
When cats gulp down their food hurriedly, there is a tendency to swallow air along with it. This air needs to be released, which the body does by farting.
Cat Malabsorption
There are cases where cats are unable to break down their food properly into the nutrients that their bodies require. This is, most of the time, due to an irregularity in their digestive canal. When this happens, your pet will be farting
frequently. This is due to inflammatory bowel disease or exocrine pancreatic deficiency. Malabsorption is a very critical cause of cat flatulence. You should bring your cat to the veterinary for a checkup right away.
Diagnosing Cat Flatulence
To diagnose flatulence in your cat, you can check for the following symptoms that usually come with it.
- Stomach rumbles
- Vomits
- Stomach is bloated
- Experiences bouts of diarrhea
- Having stomachaches
Treating Cat Flatulence
Diet is a common factor in the different reasons behind cat flatulence. Therefore, you simply have to change your cat’s food to eliminate this condition. You should go for cat food with less fiber and higher quality. It is better to avoid cheap
brands as they usually have more fillers.
Another thing you need to do is to stop feeding your scraps to your pets. They just end up with stomach problems instead of getting full. You also need to ensure that your cats are drinking enough water regularly. It assists to maintain a healthy
digestive tract by flushing bacteria out. They should be provided with a clean drinking bowl always filled with clean drinking water.
You should also be observant of your cat’s behavior. If there are any signs of unpleasant reactions to specific food items, you should eliminate those from their diet right away. If possible, you can keep a food diary. It can track your pet’s food
consumption and how often they pass gas. More so, your veterinary is the best source of food suggestions for your pet.
Feeding your cat properly is also another way to lessen flatulence. It is best to have more feeding schedules with lesser portions. This promotes proper absorption.
Regular deworming is another necessity. It lessens the presence of parasites inside the cat’s body.
Chronic or constant flatulence can be caused by more serious medical conditions. In order to determine and treat that, you should bring your pet to the vet at the earliest time possible.
At the vet’s office, you will be asked about general information affecting your cat’s situation. These queries revolve around your pet’s allergic tendencies as well as diet conditions and changes. They are considered to be the most common reasons
for cat flatulence. After ruling them out, the vet will conduct further analysis of your cat’s condition. This will entail the following procedures:
- Examining fecal matter to look for worms
- Testing fecal matter to evaluate fat and trypsin – Also referred to as Fecal Proteolytic Activity
- Evaluating the blood for overall health and well-being
- Conducting a biopsy of the intestine to check on possible bowel inflammation
Based on the results of this analysis, your veterinarian will be able to come up with a treatment plan for your feline friend.
Conclusion
Cats do fart. This is a common and normal phenomenon that you should not worry about. Only when they do so very frequently that you need to start considering a more serious situation. Since cats are smaller in size, they pass gas in a lesser
amount and frequency than their canine friends. If it bothers you though, you can check out the cat flatulence treatment tips provided above to lessen it.
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