Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:
My 11-week-old female kitten farts a lot. I give her wet and dry food from Royal Canin and no milk. I have had three cats in my time and none of them passed wind. I had them all from kittens, and only this onne does this. She is bright-eyed, active, playful and affectionate. She has been dewormed and has no fleas. By the way, it’s really, really smelly! What could be the problem?
~ Jan

Siouxsie: Well, Jan, all that gassy-ness is totally not normal!
Thomas: There are a couple of potential causes, but the most common of these is diet.
Bella: Sometimes cats can’t tolerate diets that are high in corn, wheat, soybeans or fiber. After all, we kitties are obligate carnivores and we’re not designed to digest grains!
Siouxsie: Check the ingredients on the food you’re feeding her, and if it has a lot of grains and fiber, maybe you can reduce or eliminate the high-grain formula.
Thomas: Usually, canned food tends to have less starch and grains than dry food, so you may want to eliminate the dry food and see what happens.
Bella: Does she eat really fast? I know I do! Mama even gave me a food dish designed to help me slow down. But anyway, if she eats too fast, that too could lead to gas.
Siouxsie: We’d definitely recommend that you talk to your vet, because he or she might have other ideas.
Thomas: Another thing — cats that have giardia or coccidia, which are intestinal protozoan parasites that don’t get killed by dewormers, also tend to have very runny and foul-smelling poop as well as nasty-smelling farts.
Siouxsie: And if for some reason your kitty can’t absorb food properly, like if she has a grain intolerance or some other bowel disorder, that can also lead to smelly poops. Right, Thomas?
Thomas: Oh, Siouxsie, don’t embarrass me.
Siouxsie: Boy, before Mama put us on a grain-free, low-carb diet, Thomas had the stinkiest, nastiest poops ever! They even woke me up from my naps!
Thomas: I’m sorry! I couldn’t help it! I can only eat what I’m fed! *sniffle*
Bella: There, there, Thomas. Don’t let that big old grumpster make you feel bad. Besides, you’re a lot better now ’cause you don’t fart at all.
Thomas: *sniffle* Thank you, Bella. Can we have a cuddle?
Bella: Of course, darling.
Siouxsie: So, Jan, the bottom line is, you might try eliminating grains from your kitten’s diet, or maybe even gradually switching to a different food, and you should definitely talk to your vet about her bad gas. We hope things get less stinky in your house.
I have the same problem with my Dulce..a ragdoll (Oops, she’s hiding now from embarassment..sorry dear). I thought this was normal but now I learned to double check on her diet.
Thanks guys =) Keep up the god work!
A period betwn 6 m to a year old, my male cat was had the worst farts and poops ever. I was feeding him adult cat food that my other kitty ate. They were so bad that I took him to he vet. He is an inside kitty and had took Revolution at that time. The vet prescribed an antibiotic which worked! No more stinks!
I agree with Siouxsie. Talk to your vet. Possibly either the wet food your puss eats or the dried food aren’t suitable and you may need to change it. It couldn’t hurt to take along an empty tin and packet (or box) of the dried food to show the vet.. Good luck!
Try Blue Buffalo, it works great for my cats. It is a little expensive but they like it and we have no problems with the tummies any more.
My cat prinsses keeps farting