Funny flatulence files

Flatulence is defined as excessive gas in a cat’s stomach or intestines. Flatulence is more common in dogs than in cats, but cats can develop gas when food ferments in the digestive tract, when they swallow air after eating too fast or too much, or if there’s a disorder of the stomach, small intestine or colon. The following are some common causes of flatulence in cats:

Diets high in wheat, corn, soybeans or fiber, dairy products, spoiled food, overeating, food allergies, poor food absorption or eating too fast, hairballs, intestinal parasites Flatulence can be discovered with the smell as 99 per cent of intestinal gas is odorless.

The following additional signs may alert you that your cat is having a digestive problem: Rumbling in the gastrointestinal tract, excessive passing of gas, abdominal pain, bloating/distended abdomen, vomiting, diarrhea

Treatment: You may want to write down what your cat eats within a 24-hour period in order to see which foods might be causing his gas. Gradually change diet to a low-fiber, easily digestible food. Offer smaller, more frequent meals. Feed cats in multi-cat households separately to avoid food competition. Keep your cat away from spoiled food, i.e. the garbage. Make sure your cat gets regular exercise.

Photic headshaking syndrome produces a very unique behavior. The horse spontaneously jerks or flips its head without any obvious stimuli. The repetitive action seems involuntary, much like an uncontrollable tic in a human.

Horses thought to suffer from photic headshaking syndrome deserve a complete evaluation from an equine vet to rule out any other causes. But once the diagnosis has been made, it can be a frustrating undertaking to extinguish the behavior. Because bouts of sneezing can accompany the onset of the behavior, antihistamines are often tried at first, just in case the horse is suffering from a seasonal allergy. Anecdotally, some horse owners have found improvement by keeping a fly mask on their horse as a sort of sunscreen. Indeed, there appears to be a relationship between sunlight and the headshaking behavior, hence the word photic (meaning “light”) in the malady’s name.

 With some lucky horses, the compulsive headshaking spontaneously disappears with a change of seasons. Unfortunately, there are other horses whose headshaking progresses to a year-round obsession. Their headshaking behavior renders them virtually unrideable. With a dedicated equine vet and a patient owner, however, most horses diagnosed with photic headshaking syndrome can be made comfortable and remain useful.

Cribbing or crib biting is an abnormal, compulsive behavior or stereotypical behaviour seen in some horses, and considered a stable vice. It involves the horse grabbing a solid object such as the stall door or fence rail with its incisors, then arching its neck, pulling against the object, and sucking in air.

It sounds like the dog just wants to play using his prey drive (stalk, chase, etc.)First, do not put your punish the dog when he does this because he will associate this with the cat and it will make matters worse. This situation calls for more exercise for the dog (including play that allows him to use his prey drive) and careful management of the dog and cat. 

Start implementing the Nothing In Life Is Free routine immediately. Continue rewarding the dog for ignoring the cat and interacting politely. You can interrupt the dog with an “AH AH” when he starts to focus on or play with the cat and redirect him to something that’s even more fun (tug, fetch etc.). Until you can learn to trust him you will have to supervise them.