A Fart’s Best Friend

When your best friend won’t stop farting, take him straight to a vet. As many pet owners know, uncontrollable gas isn’t strictly a human issue. It affects cats and dogs, too.

Luckily for stinky pets and embarrassed owners everywhere, veterinary news correspondent Dr. Marty Becker addresses some causes and solutions to pet flatulence.

Take a look at some of Dr. Becker’s recommendations, and bear in mind that they’ll work just as well for you as they will for Fido or Felix.

Problem: Aerophagia (swallowing air).
Solution: Feed your pet several small meals a day. Discourage rapid eating. Mix moist and dry foods.

Problem: Noxious (smelly) gas production.
Solution: Change your pet’s dietary protein sources. Eliminate vitamin, mineral, or fat supplements. Avoid onions, nuts, and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, etc.).

Cause: Intestinal (noisy) gas production.
Solution: Feed your pet highly digestible foods, or switch to foods with rice as the predominant carbohydrate source. Also, avoid foods containing legumes, lactose, fresh fruits, or dried fruits.

For dogs, Dr. Becker also suggests increasing their activity by walking them outdoors within 30 minutes after eating, to encourage defecation, and to eliminate intestinal gas.

Great advice for pets and the people that love them. And kudos to Dr. Becker for not recommending pet medications. Be it pet or person, medication is not the answer when it comes to reducing or eliminating chronic gassiness.

The secret is diet monitoring and modification, and carefully timed mild exercise (walking). Now that’s a solution we all can live with.