The Truth About Dog Flatulence - Is It Really That Serious?

     Flatulence in dogs may not be a serious condition. However, if the extent of the presence of flatulence is great, it might be best to seek the advice of your pet doctor.

There are several things that can cause flatulence in dogs. And while most of them are very common, special care might be needed to ensure that your dog no longer experiences them.

Nutritional habits. What your dog usually eats will have a great effect on its physical development as well as on the problems that it will have with its health. If you are a pet owner who usually feeds the dog with foods that cause flatulence, then it is very likely that your dog will pass flatus.

A lot of protein sources have a great contribution to this minor problem. But, since you cannot entirely erase protein in the diet of your dog, just make sure that you reduce the consumption of the most common suspects for flatulence. And then, you can replace some of them with foods that are as nutritionally rich.

Foods that can cause flatus include beans, cauliflower, broccoli, and dairy products.

Movement and exercise. As dogs age their levels of activity also change. Young dogs are very active. They run around a lot and they want to play most of the time. Adult dogs are generally balanced in their activities. They will have playful moments and they also need time to rest and sleep. Older dogs are the ones that are most at risk for developing flatulence as their activity levels are significantly lower than when they are younger.

This is because the movement of a part of the digestive system, specifically the intestines, is greatly affected by the amount of activity that the body goes through. When there are not enough movements, the intestines will also tend to become sluggish.

As a solution, you need to at least take your pet out for a short walk. A few minutes in a day or a few hours in a week will greatly help increase the activity levels of your pet and help avoid or decrease flatulence.

Problems with diet. Aside from feeding your pet foods that are known to produce gas, there are also dog foods that you need to be wary about. Feeding a dog food that has low quality might predispose it to develop gas.

First, this can be because of the fillers that usually comprise low quality products. Secondly, when your pet is not getting the right nutrients from the food, it will not have enough energy to remain active.

Fast consumption of food. Dogs that eat too fast may also develop flatulence. When your dog has this behavior, it might be high time for you to change its feeding schedule. Dogs will eat very fast when they are eager to finish the food as they are very hungry. So, you might want to decrease the intervals between the feeding times for your dogs. Sometimes, there might also be a need to increase the amount of dog food that you will feed them.