Do Cats Fart or What? What’s the Deal Here?

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If you’re a cat person, you might enjoy having a cat with you from time to time but have you ever noticed your cat farting? If you have, you might have believed that you were just imagining things or maybe you’re wondering whether or not it’s really possible for cats to fart. In reality, it is and they do, just like practically every every other living thing. The thing is, they don’t usually produce the giant farts that are loud enough to make you wish for earmuffs like some animals (or people) do. In addition, their farts are often completely undetectable because for the most part, you don’t hear them or smell them.

If you’re afraid that this is something you should be worried about, there’s good news because more often than not, it’s a completely normal function. Most of the time, it’s nothing more than a completely innocent release of gas and there’s nothing to worry about. That being said, you might want to consider addressing the issue if you find your cat farting more than normal or if those farts become especially stinky. This is even more true if those symptoms are accompanied by other things such as abnormal belly sounds, a decrease in appetite, or your cat being an obvious pain.

Before you start to get scared, understand that the majority of these types of issues are related to diet or something that is causing stress for your cat. It can be something more serious and just to be safe, you should have those stinky farts that are accompanied by the above symptoms checked out by your veterinarian, but most of the time it’s something that can be easily controlled. There’s a good chance that your cat has gotten into something that wasn’t good for him or perhaps he even has a hairball. It’s even more likely that the type of food you’re feeding him just doesn’t agree with him or he ate a lot more than he usually does and he’s having stomach issues because of it. It could also be the result of a change in feeding schedule or even the type of food that you’re giving him. This is especially true if you changed foods and you didn’t do so gradually, but instead just changed from one type of food to the other all at once.

Sometimes cats fart because they’re stressed out. If you’ll stop and think about it, remember what happens to you and most other people when you’re stressed. Some people eat too much, some can’t hardly eat anything at all but in almost every case, when you’re stressed you begin to have digestive issues. You might not be able to go or you might not be able to stop going. For some individuals, stress makes it come out both ends. It’s not really that much different when you’re talking about animals. If you notice big changes in your cat’s farts, you’ll want to ask yourself some questions. Is it possible that he could have gotten into the trash recently or did you leave him outside unattended where he could have gotten into someone else’s trash? Did you change the type of food that you’re feeding him? Has there been a change in something around the house that could be causing him stress? This could be anything from a change in your work schedule to adding another animal or even the loss of an animal that’s been there for some time. If you’ve recently brought a new baby into the house, that could be a definite reason that your cat is stressed.

More often than not, your cat will fart and you wouldn’t notice it if he was in the same room as you, sitting right beside you. For the most part, the thing that you need to take away from all of this is that you shouldn’t get scared every time your cat farts. The only time that it really should concern you is when it becomes more frequent or it’s accompanied by additional symptoms. In those cases, go ahead and have him checked out just to be safe but don’t automatically assume the worst case scenario. Most of the time, it’s something that’s relatively simple and can be fixed right there in the home.