[MustLoveDogs]

Over the past few weeks, I've noticed Cleo has started farting--if she was doing it before, it was so infrequent that i never noticed it. Now, she'll do it in random situations, during play, rest, class, or while i'm training her at home. Sometimes I can hear it, and sometimes it's silent. When it's audible, she turns and looks at her butt like, what was that?? And sometimes it stinks!
I haven't changed her food in months, haven't introduced anything new/special. Doesn't seem to correlate between days she gets more treats (ie class days) vs days she doesn't. Maybe she's getting more bully sticks in the past couple weeks? I don't know. The only new thing for a week or so i've been giving her a tiny bit of kelp powder in her food for her teeth--and when i say tiny, i mean miniscule, like less than 1/8th of a teaspoon. She only gets that at dinner--and this problem started before i introduced that. She also takes a probiotic she's been on for months. Is it possible she's getting gas from her regular food, or something else she's always seemed to be fine with?

 

[Starvt]

It is possible for dogs to develop sensitivities to things they have been fine with before.
What about worms though? Gas is actually the most common sign of intestinal worms in dogs. Has she been dewormed lately? A dose of a broad spectrum dewormer is worth a try. Personally I don't bother with fecal tests (unless giardia or coccidia is suspected) since it's so easy to get a false negative.

 

[rkj__]

My poodle passes gas and belches pretty frequently.

Honestly, I've never really worried about it much.

I notice no change with two different flavours of the same kind of food, but I will be trying another kind of food, though I don't expect a difference, we shall see.

 

[Skylar]

if there’s no other medical reason such as worms... then it probably is diet.

Diet is tricky. Pets and humans can develop allergies and intolerances over time at any age. It could be there’s a limit of tolerance, a little is okay, but more causes problems. It could be the fat content especially if you notice loose stool along with gas.

You mention you have not changed food, but what about treats? And what seems like a tiny amount of kelp maybe isn’t given the weight of your dog. Be careful with kelp because it’s high in sodium and iodine (which can affect the thyroid).

I would keep a very detailed diary of everything your dog puts in its mouth and any digestive issues you notice. Do this for a few weeks to find a pattern.

Hopefully you will figure it out.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I've never been more bloated in my life than the time I took a good probiotic. The shelf-stable ones are no issue for me. But the refrigerated kind? Oh my goodness. I will spare you the details.

But yes - probiotics could definitely be the culprit. And food sensitivities can be cumulative, taking a while to show symptoms, so don't rule out the new food as a potential cause.

Peggy once startled herself with the force of her toot (it was admittedly pretty funny), but that was after she swallowed a hair scrunchie. The gas quickly turned to vomiting and out it came. But if Cleo had any sort of blockage, I imagine you'd be seeing other worrying symptoms.

 

[MustLoveDogs]

Omg, the scrunchie!! Isn't it amazing what they will eat? This morning, I found some purple bits in her poop-- she apparently swallowed some pieces of the rubber Pawz boots I tried on her the other day. She pulled one of them off while she was playing with another dog, and they both ran around the yard with it before i could take it away...

As soon as this started happening, i stopped adding the kelp in her food, which we had only been using for a few days anyway, but i suspected might be a culprit when she had a few loose stools because it was something new to her. The probiotic is a dried packet of stuff (not refrigerated) that the vet prescribed back when she had giardia, and she has been on it for months, so i don't think that's it . But I get it--i can't tolerate probiotics at all! (Most of the human ones are grown on dairy cultures, and I can't have any dairy.) The vet has advised us to limit her chews (no bully sticks etc) for a week, and see if that makes a difference. If not, then we will look at her food. Very much in line with your advice, Skylar!

 

[PeggyTheParti]

A purple boot! Oh boy. They sure do keep us on our toes lol.

Maybe she's ingested similarly undigestible items without your knowledge? Peggy's playmate recently had rocks surgically removed from his stomach. But again - I think there'd be other symptoms if Cleo was unable to pass something dangerous.

Hope the bully sticks were the culprit and she's feeling a little less gassy soon