Help! Save us from death by dogfart!

April 19, 2006 10:02 AM

DogFartFilter: My 2 year old Catahoula mix has truly repellant flatulence. Bad enough to make me leave a can of Ozium in each room. How can we turn down the stink volume on her gas?

She's fed once a day, a mix of a half can of Kirkland wet and 2 1/2 cups of Kirkland dry with some water and a Fish Oil capsule to help her fur. And she weighs around 95 pounds.

We've tried the supplements that are supposed to help but they are far too expensive for what they do (pretty much nothing) and I'd be giving her six of them a day.

Are there any natural supplements I can add to her diet that might help her stinky farts? I'm thinking of those Breathe Assure things but for the other end and for dogs.

Anyone? Please, we're dying over here!

On a side note, maybe I could rent her out to the CIA to use as a torture device. Five minutes in a small room with her and her gas would make anyone break down.

posted by fenriq to pets & animals (20 comments total)

Fenriq, I feel your pain. We had the same problem with our 110-pound Shepherd-Rottie mix. I'm not familiar with Kirkland dog food, but the kibble was a major contributor. I switched the dog from the crappy Iams kibble to Nutro Ultra Premium, switched the chewy treats from rawhides to bully sticks, and that eliminated 95% of the eye-watering doggie farts.
posted by ambrosia at 10:07 AM on April 19, 2006

btw, love the "deathbybuttgas" tag...
posted by ambrosia at 10:10 AM on April 19, 2006

I have had a lot of success with feeding our dogs plain yogurt once a day in the past. I was using about 1/4 cup for a 30 pound dog.
posted by citizngkar at 10:13 AM on April 19, 2006

our australian fart hound seems to pick up windage after chewing/eating rawhide treats. Are you giving rawhide to your dog?
posted by lester at 10:19 AM on April 19, 2006

By supplements, does that mean you've tried CurTail?
posted by plinth at 10:28 AM on April 19, 2006

How are her stools? Firm or soft-ish? If soft-ish, adding bulk fiber to her food (green beans are good, or even a tsp of plain Metamucil) might help. This was a tip from our dogs' vet.

Our dog also produces eye-watering farts, and that's a signal to me that she needs to go outside and do her business.
posted by luneray at 10:48 AM on April 19, 2006

Yogurt, absolutely. I was using maybe 1/3 cup (one large blop with a soup spoon) lowfat plain yogurt mixed with food twice daily for a recently-retired greyhound (~80lbs) whose farts would frighten him awake and then send him running from the room, and then a blop now and then as needed. If he had the runs, too, he got some canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) for fiber.

The smell of yogurt mixed with dog food is simultaneously compelling and repellant (even more so with the pumpkin - I really wanted to taste it while also wanting to barf), but can only be smelled while mixing and will not burn your eyebrows off.

I've always done a lamb switch with gassy dogs - if they're eating lamb food, switch off; if they're on beef or chicken, switch to the lamb version. I generally fed Petsmart's Authority brand at the time that I had a lot of dogs coming and going, so the switching was possible. I think lamb may be hard to find in some brands. But yogurt would solve an emergency situation every time.

Are you sure it's not the fish oil causing the issue? I use Missing Link powder for vitamin goodness, and it apparently tastes great because everyone gets excited when they see the gold bag.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:49 AM on April 19, 2006

You aren't, by any chance, giving her Greenies, are you? Those things give our little terrier a gaseous weapon against which there is no save.
posted by The Bellman at 10:54 AM on April 19, 2006

I used to put some Beano on my English Mastiff's food when he got windy. It seemed to help.
posted by Carbolic at 11:16 AM on April 19, 2006

Less dry kibble would help, immensely, I bet, as would switching to a low fiber, "high nutrient density" formulation. Many dogs don't do well on the dry formulations if they contain significant corn meal products, or other cereal based calorie boosters. Dogs can, and frequently do, have divirticulitis, and low fiber/low residue mixes for these animals can help a lot with gas problems. For a couple of older dogs I've cared for, a cup of cooked rice per day, along with enough good quality canned food to maintain caloric needs was helpful, and provided all the bulk necessary for regular elimination.

Also, when was the last time you checked for worms?
posted by paulsc at 11:26 AM on April 19, 2006

Is there a reason she is only fed once a day?

My vet told me recently that in general, they have found it is better for the digestive system for there to be a little something in there most of the time. We were talking about a cat with pancreatitis, but his statement was definitely pretty general. I've also read when a cat or dog is only fed once a day, they are so hungry they gobble up their food, which is apparently bad. They don't take the time to chew, I guess.
posted by overanxious ducksqueezer at 12:05 PM on April 19, 2006

I was wondering about the fish oil, too; I know how foul the burps caused by my Omega 3 fatty acid pills were! Can't you just give her a little bit of Vasoline? I could swear I've heard that recommended before.
posted by kimota at 12:19 PM on April 19, 2006

You aren't, by any chance, giving her Greenies, are you? Those things give our little terrier a gaseous weapon against which there is no save.


Please, everyone, don't give any dog Greenies. They can kill a dog by getting stuck in the intestines.
posted by agregoli at 12:21 PM on April 19, 2006

Please, everyone, don't give any dog Greenies. They can kill a dog by getting stuck in the intestines.

Agregoli, can you point to some supporting evidence on this? We give our dog greenies, and if there's a real risk, I want to know.

As for the question at hand: have you considered the possibility that your dog has a food allergy?

When we adopted our first dog, we had to go through a pile of dog food brands, types and ingredients to finally find one that kept our dog from puking all the time (the farting by comparison was nothing at all.)

Ultimately we settled on a duck and potato food from Nature's Remedy, but what food your dog might be allergic to -- and what brand your dog will respond well to -- may vary significantly.
posted by davejay at 12:36 PM on April 19, 2006

No, no Greenies, I had a friend tell me about them and what they can do to dog insides. She also got me off Pedigree and onto a good kibble.

She gets occasional rawhide treats but most often she gets a dog biscuit. She does not ever get table scraps. But will sometimes get a rib bone to gnaw up.

We initially fed her on the one a day plan to get her into a routine. I don't see why she couldn't have food twice a day, especially because she does eat really fast.

I'll also see about adding some extra fiber to her diet to see if that can ease her swamp gas.

Thanks for all of the good ideas and commisseration!
posted by fenriq at 12:42 PM on April 19, 2006

davejay, here's one story I found easily.

Also, I forgot to respond in the last comment, I've had her into the vet for checkups, no worms or food allergies.

plinth, I haven't tried CurTail, just two of the ones available at PetSmart. The main problem with those things is that you have to give a bunch of them to a dog my size for them to be effective and then they cost too much to be a long term solution.
posted by fenriq at 12:46 PM on April 19, 2006

One

Two

Three

Four

This is from a one minute google search - why risk endangering your dog?
posted by agregoli at 12:46 PM on April 19, 2006

For a quick respite, just go to any drugstore and ask to buy a bottle of activated charcoal capsules. Start out with one, and add additional ones if the first doesn't quite do the job.

The weird thing is that this doesn't REDUCE the amount of farting, but it DOES virtually neutralize the scent.
posted by QuasimodoJones at 2:47 PM on April 19, 2006

dog thong
posted by psychobum at 3:17 PM on April 19, 2006

glad to hear you have taken your dog to the vet. my coworker has a catahoula too (shout out to all the catahoula moms and dads out there). her dog has stinky gas too. could it partially be the breed?

have you tried something probiotic from your health food store?
posted by saragoodman3 at 2:38 PM on May 10, 2006