Could be his food, especially an abrupt change in food. (Gas is more of a dog thing than a kitty thing, in my experience.)

Nah, kittens get gas, too. My first cat had wicked gas as a kitten, and one of the ones we have now had some as well (though not as bad thank goodness!). One of the kittens at the shelter recently had some--phew! I think it's not too uncommon.

I really think it is the cat. She seems to have it on any food, if some of you remember I had to give canned food while on meds. Now we're off the canned food and gas is still as bad.

Thank you all,
Carla

Most likely worms. Not at all uncommon with kittens. And if I recall, your shelter was not on top of things.

I think you can request a general wormer (Meghane??? which one???) from the vet.

Elly, The vet did a check about a month ago and it was clear. She does not go outside. I will call the vet because that totally has to be taken care of. That creeps me out.

Thanks,
Carla

"She seems to have it on any food, if some of you remember I had to give canned food while on meds. Now we're off the canned food and gas is still as bad. "

What brands of food have you fed her? Are there carbs in the brands you've selected? It's likely a food allergy or intolerance. Also, are you giving her anything with dairy in it? Milk? Most cats can't digest lactose after kittenhood. They also don't do well on carbohydrates.

Cynthis, I WAS feeding her Wellness canned while she was on antibiotics. Now she's getting Science Diet kitten which she has been on all along. I want to do Wellness but husband has a problem with the cost. She is off the canned and off the antibiotics.

Carla

Carla,

I wormed my foster three months ago when I got him. I have access to a microscope and fecal exams for worms; he had roundworm eggs in his fecal. From what I know of parasitology, you have to "get" the worms when they are in a certain form, and not when they are migrating from one part of the body to the other.

Eggs are not always apparent in a fecal. A specimen can be negative one week, and positive for eggs the next. So it is good to treat as a matter of course, and follow-up a few weeks later. Wormers won't hurt.

Anyway, I know you are doing alot for your kitten! Keep up the good work. It's a lucky baby.

I'm sorry, I was not clear: James was wormed three months ago, and two weeks ago showed roundworm eggs in a fecal. So he needed to be wormed again, which I did.

My kitten normally doesnt get gas,but he gets into EVERYTHING,and if you leave food out,he's in it.Anyways,he drank some of my daughter's cereal milk that was left on the table and that was one stinky kitten!!! So I can definitely vouch for the no dairy thing.

Science diet is worse then wellness, I would go for Innova EVO, Ziwi peak, or Orjen. Gas useally means in a human or animal - a poor diet, most cat foods are pretty bad. A raw meat, bones and organs diet is the best.

www.felinefuture.com and www.natrapet.com. Are good sites. Feline future is pro raw but it has many good articals on feline feeding,why de clawing sucks and many intresting view points. Naturapet is more of a natural foods advertizing web page.

runswalken, I realize that Wellness is superior to Science Diet but if you re read my post, husband has a problem with the cost of Wellness.
Other posters, do you know if the ones mentioned by runswalken are as pricey as Wellness? And NO, I've never given the kitty dairy.
Elly, I plan to get her back in for another worm check, thanks.

Carla

Carla, if you can, check around for better pricing on the Wellness (and/or EVO, Solid Gold....).

Also, from what I've read, some of the "premium" pet foods are a bit more "calorie dense" (higher calories with less fillers), so you might be feeding less actual food per day (which could then translate into a "costs the same in the long run" situation). Just a suggestion if you were happy with the Wellness.

cat mom, We have Petco, PetSmart and one salon/spa that carries Wellness. Not a great place for resources.
Target and Wall Mart.

Carla

Since your kitty was recently on antibiotics, perhaps her beneficial gut bacteria is out of whack. You could try giving her probiotics (a complex with several strains is much better than one with just acidophilus). I feel like a probiotics pusher as of late, but there's a lot to be said for maintaining what nature gave us :)

quasifish, I agree. I am a probiotic taker myself. I wondered what effects the antibiotic may have on kitty. Where would I find one, any ideas?

Carla

I was going to say what Quasifish said. It was the first thing that came to mind when you said your cat has been on antibiotics. I still would also get another test for parasites cause the gas could be from that. But the antibiotics meanwhile have stripped your cat's digestive system of the beneficial bacteria used for digestion (that happens to people too who have been on antibiotics). You could just give your cat a little yogurt, like a teaspoon a day. Make sure it's the good yogurt with the cultures in it. Either the plain flavor or the vanilla. My cats really like the Stoneyfield Farms non-fat vanilla. However, I had to force feed it at first, meaning I put some on my fingertip and then put my fingertip in their mouths. After a couple of days, they grew to like it, and now, their Stoneyfield Farms vanilla yogurt is a treat to them!

Shannon, I will. I know what antibiotics do to humans so I will give her some yogurt.

Thanks again everyone.
Carla

I use something called Pet Flora and buy it over the net from a site called Vitality Science. It is a soil based probiotic and is supposed to have properties that liquids and yogurt don't have.

A bottle is sort of expensive...or it was at the beginning because when Odessa had the 'loosies'and was on anti-biotic and I was giving her a cap every day. Now I give just one capsule a week for maintenance(I wrap it in a Pill Pocket treat)so the cost isn't that bad. Along with the tsp of canned pumpkin a day and a slippery elm cap as well, she has been just fine for over a year (she's an adult...not a kitten).

I had also tried a liquid probiotic (I got it at Petland)but it didn't seem to do anything.
LF

Good luck,

Any health food store should have some probiotic options, but search online too. I think Vitamin Shoppe had a good complex that cost about $15 for 100 tablets.

I took probiotics myself for years, but only recently started giving them to the cats daily. After Gus cat was on a 3 week course of antibiotics, he suddenly came down with elevated kidney values (he's an older guy), I searched out a probiotic that had the same strains as are in Azodyl (and a few others to boot). Since that time, a probiotic a day is the difference between him being fine and him not feeling well. After witnessing that, we started giving them to Muddy cat (with CRF), and while there's not the obvious difference with her, I think it definitely helps some- and certainly doesn't hurt.

Amazon.com is the cheapest yet.