Getting to the bottom of it!
Dr Victoria Strong BVSc BSc (Hons) DVetMed AFHEA MRCVS is an experienced vet with more than 10 years’ experience in clinical practice, education, and research. She advised: “The first step in investigating a dog’s flatulence is to look at their diet. If a dog presents a number of other symptoms too, further investigation may be considered. Initially, this may include a blood test or a faecal sample and maybe an ultrasound scan. More invasive investigations such as a biopsy or using a camera to look at the inside of the stomach and intestines would likely only be carried out in a dog for whom flatulence is not the primary or only problem. “Some breeds of dog have a reputation for being gassier than others. Most of these are brachycephalic (short-nosed) breeds since they tend to swallow a lot of air when they are eating. Other predisposed breeds are those prone to conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease. Age can also be a factor; as we get older, we can become intolerant to different types of foods and this can affect how we digest them — dogs are probably similar. Overweight and sedentary dogs will also tend to be gassier.
“So, it’s important to take all these things in context and seek the advice of a vet and/or nutritionist when necessary. They can provide you with some practical steps to identify if your dog is intolerant to a particular food type. Some small changes or tweaks may be all that is needed. Some people make a big change — switching their dogs from kibble to raw for example and then, if the dog improves, think that the problem was the kibble. In truth, it’s a lot more complex than that. It may be that there is a particular ingredient that was the cause of the problem, for example some dogs are intolerant to chicken, but that ingredient can be present in a lot of food whether it is processed or not.
“If you think that a particular food is the cause, you can try to identify what it is by removing the extras from your dog’s diet — the treats, the dental chews — and slowly reintroduce them and see if the issue reoccurs. I recommend keeping a food diary for your dog during this period to help you identify which of the foods being reintroduced could be the trigger.
“An alternative approach is an exclusion diet — stripping back the diet to core protein and carbohydrate food types, with either home-cooked food or a proprietary diet. This is most often used if a genuine food allergy is suspected, although these are less common than people think. This could address the food sensitivity and indicate which common food stuffs need to be avoided long term. Any ingredient can trigger a reaction however; chicken, beef, lamb, soya, and wheat are known triggers.”