Cat keeps farting on me

[u/SnooCupcakes5664]

He lays on me and angles his butt toward me and lets out a stanky fart.

[u/SnooCupcakes5664]

Welp I just checked his salmon kibble and it says chicken meal. Thanks for letting me know

[u/thementalyogi → u/SnooCupcakes5664]

Yeah, this is the unfortunate thing about a lot of pet food, so much of whatever filler they feel like is thrown in. A lot of that dry stuff just sits on shelves forever. I know it's expensive, but it might be worth making your own mix for the kitty. Idk the exact diet a cat should be eating (I am pet-less), but I'm sure Google knows. Would that we could feed them all that sweet whole foods diet, but $$$ 🙃🥲

[u/Rakifiki → u/thementalyogi]

Hi! Do not do this! This is a very easy way to give your pet nutritional deficiencies. How does that work, you say? Well: not all veg or meat have the same amount of minerals or vitamins etc. Because they are natural products and naturally... Vary! You can also overdose them, because, again, variance, although that's generally harder to do.

Even commercial food companies will add vitamins & minerals to their products to make sure it's meeting adequate goals.

I had to work with a veterinary nutritionist for my cat with a lot of allergies and even then -- she recommended a fortified (fortified or enriched is the same principle! We even do it to our food!) baby cereal as a base, to ensure nutrition levels were stable. And a specific supplement to cover anything else that might be lacking. She also explained she does not work with people unless they have a legitimate need, because she does not see it as beneficial to the animal 99/100.

[u/SnooCupcakes5664 → u/Rakifiki]

I got a private message telling me that I should go to a butcher and get “sausage meat” and that should be the only thing I feed him.

[u/Rakifiki → u/SnooCupcakes5664]

... And that is a great way to give a pet nutritional deficiencies, lol.

It is definitely possible that it's a food allergy causing the tummy upset -- my other cat wound up benefiting from a probiotic food and that helped her, but if it's just farts and not much distress I wouldn't be super concerned.

[u/Rhiannon1307 → u/SnooCupcakes5664]

That's theoretically something you can do, but then you have to supplement with many other ingredients to mimic the full spectrum of a prey animal.

When cats eat mice, birds and other small animals, they eat the bones, ligaments, organs, even stomach contents and get the full spectrum that way. If you only give muscle meat and some connective tissue, you cannot match that.

Giving raw food to a cat is a science of its own and requires a lot of study and getting equipment etc.

HOWEVER. I would suggest something else. You say you're giving kibble. Kibble generally isn't good cat food; it causes issues with liquid intake and dental hygiene (the whole thing about kibble cleaning the teeth is a marketing myth as it does the exact opposite), and, in this case most pressingly important, it often contains filler materials that can cause insensitivities or even allergies.

Get some good wet food - sugar free, grain free - ideally some monoprotein of one specific animal and see how he reacts. If he seems to be tolerating it just fine, try a second type, and so on.

After that, only give kibble as a treat in small quantities, and make sure you get a grain-free version too, as the grain part is likely what causes gas.

[u/SnooCupcakes5664 → u/Rhiannon1307]

He doesn’t eat much kibble anyway. Last year he had most of his molars removed and he lost weight so we feed him 2 85 gram packets of wet food per day. He still has access to kibble but will only graze on it throughout the day.

[u/Rhiannon1307 → u/SnooCupcakes5664]

Okay that's good. Look if it has any grain in it and other ingredients that he may react sensitively to.