How to Reduce Your Pet's Excessive Gas

The smell is very unpleasant but your pet can't help themselves when passing gas it's normal because it's part of the natural part of digestion. But some animals produce more gas than others. Dogs produce more gas than cats because of their diets. If you want to help reduce your pet's excessive gas, follow these helpful tips.

Get your pet moving by doing some exercises like walking, running, or playing. This works for humans as well as pets. Exercising gets the digestive system moving and can reduce excessive gas. When your pet takes a leak while walking that will also help him release more gas. Walking helps to release gas that may build up and come out at the most inopportune times. Check your pets' food. If they have gas often, it could be soy products. Soybeans have a lot of protein in them that can cause excessive gas because the soy may be difficult for your pet to digest. If your pet's food has a high level of soybeans in it, try changing your pet's food, you will notice a big reduction in your pet's excessive gas.

However, when switching foods make sure you do it slowly. Changing foods all of a sudden can cause your pet to have excessive gas. It does take a moment for the bacteria in the colon to adjust to a new diet, so switch foods over a three-day period and mix the meal with half of the new food and half of the old food. Reduce your pet's need to rumble through the garbage, which can cause excessive gas when they eat something that doesn't agree with their digestive system. Also, reduce the amount of food your pet eats, especially if they tend to overeat. If your pet is an overeater or eats too fast, this can cause excessive gas to build up.

Try to avoid giving your pet too many supplements. Giving your pet too many supplements can cause bacteria to build up producing excessive gas. Unless your vet tells you to give your pet vitamins and minerals, avoid giving your pet any supplements their food should have enough supplements in them. Just like humans, dairy products can cause excessive gas. Most pets are lactose intolerant, so they can't digest milk or other dairy products very well. If your pet loves milk, you can try giving them lactose free milk. You can give your pet some yogurt to help reduce excessive gas. Don't give them too much, about 1¼ teaspoon of plain yogurt for small dogs and cats and 1 tablespoon for larger dogs.

To help reduce your pet's gas you can give them some CurTail, which is an anti-gas product available from most vets. It helps break down foods in order to reduce excessive gas. If you feed your pets at the same time, you may want to watch to see if one is gobbling down their food faster to avoid the other pet getting a piece of it. You can also reduce air swallowing by putting large objects like a golf ball in your pets' food to keep them from gobbling food down or you can raise the bowl to keep your pet from bending over too much to eat. I have a food and water bowl that keeps my dog from bending her neck too close to the ground to eat this can reduce your pet's excessive gas.