Postpartum Farts

I'm not sure that Ginger really had gas--she was outside so it would have been hard to tell but her poop was drastically different and stinky after the babies. I guess when you consume the outgoings of your children all day long, it can't do great things for your own system.

Grin and bear it

Well she did eat the amniotic sacs they were in, and she is also consuming their waste, so you can't really blame her can you?

It will get better as the kittens get bigger, so just hang in there.

What sort of food are you giving her?

Yeah, nothing smells worse than nursing mama cat poo! Like Sarah said, she is consuming all the kittens waste (urine and feces).

Once they start eating kitten food (at around 4 weeks) and start pooping in the litter tray, mama should start to smell better.

Frenchie had her kittens about a week ago, and she has Peaches's problem My last pregnant cat didn't fart like this girl does! Whew!

Geez my girl didnt even have babies!! And she can clear a room faster than any human Ive ever had the "luxury" of being around when passing gas!!! LOL..I just grin and bear it when it happens because she seems to like farting around everyone else but me!

I love it when my DH has that happen to him. Its funny and I think he deserves it.

You might try giving her some probiotics. Because she's consuming all of their waste it could be affecting her gut flora a bit - actually it would have to be to be causing that gas. There's current threads on probiotics, so take a peek at them.

That would make for some odd litter box scooping.
I have four house cats, and I can usually tell who's made what. Sherman's looks like a small dog wandered into my litter boxes. Tomas's are the smallest, Sho's are in the middle and almost always fit the description of "normal" stools in consistency, and Siri's are a bit too firm - her's look almost like a goat's. They all have their own peeing habits, too. The odd and useless info stuck in my head...


I wouldn't try the yogurt, honestly. If her GI is upset things that she normally handles fine may not work. I've had GI issues for years and have noticed this pattern in myself - sometimes I can eat cheese, other days when my GI issues are already acting up it's a terrible idea.

See if you can find some bene-bac or look at the closed expert forum. I believe one of the past experts mentioned that some human probiotics are safe - provided that they don't have any bad fillers.

Maybe the food she's getting isn't agreeing with her, either? Purina isn't it? Make sure she drinks plenty, with all the kittens she needs to be well hydrated to provide for them.

I am sorry, I have nothing to add, but every time I read the title of this post I giggle... I don't know why! I am just silly! Sorry

One cat's lifetime doesn't undue thousands of years of cat evolution. The ability to break down lactose simply shuts off in almost all mammals after weaning. There's varying degrees of intolerance, and rarely mutations, but nothing else. You can't suddenly switch that back on, not in yourself, myself, or your cat.

Besides most yogurts do not have that many live bacteria in them and certainly nowhere near the amount a probiotic supplement will contain.

Actually she's both wrong and right. Except humans are meant to eat meat and are able to digest it - just when it's not eaten that much or at all it has to be reintroduced slowly.

I'll try to make this simple, and it's good for everyone else reading to understand this, too, both for their pets and themselves.

Diarrhea can be caused by gastrointestinal viruses, inflammation, intolerances, and bacterial overgrowth. Parasites don't exactly cause the diarrhea themselves, they disrupt digestion and mess with the balance of bacteria. Again, antibiotics don't cause diarrhea, either, it's a side effect of the drugs indiscriminately killing bacteria.
When you have diarrhea caused by a bacterial problem it's because the balance of good to bad bacteria in the intestines are messed up. The good bacteria are not only there to keep things in check, they actually help the host digest food. Things that the animal or human could normally eat and digest may not be as digestible at the time of illness. Dairy products fall into this catagory as we (animals and humans) really rely on that bacteria to help us.
When it's not digested properly you get sugars that sit and ferment, in other words you get gas. This is also why indigestible grains give kitties problems.

Most store bought yogurts are not a good source of bacteria. They don't have a large amount of live cultures and they contain milk solids - the milk solids make the yogurt about as useful as straight milk. lol


Please understand I'm not trying to be mean or pushy here. But I would like everyone to understand this. In times of gastrointestinal illness, dairy is dairy and best avoided till the illness has passed. You can ask any GI doc this question if you like, and would get the same suggestion.


Direct suggestion for the momma kitty in question: probiotics, no treats, eventually slowly transition to a better food. Once all signs of diarrhea and gas are better she could have treats again.

Who cares what they think? You have a kitty to love and care for. Right now, a lot of foods would be a step up - as always browse the nutrition section. About the only thing I'll really suggest in the way of food is that you don't get one of the "all natural" types that have a bunch of odd extra veggies and fruit. A healthy cat may be able to handle those, but they may just give her more gas.

Good luck with her. After years of GI issues myself I know how icky it can feel, and how much cramping it can cause.

Of course they love the taste of the cheap stuff. Those foods are sprayed with a fat coating (all dry foods are) to preserve them and to help the powder coating stick. The powder coating is where a lot of the smell and flavor are to lure pets into eating the food.

I don't know about TOTW. If the protein and fat are high enough it may work as an all stages food. Just my guess, but I bet that would be fine for kittens to eat - especially if you offered canned kitten foods meals daily with it.


I'd have sent the husband back to the store to return the food. But then luckily mine knows better, he's had to help wash poopy cat butts - the best learning experience for a guy.

I'm sorry your poor girl is having really bad diarrhea. Loose stools are bad enough but when it starts getting everywhere it's bad for both you and the cat (and the kittens).


There's so many diarrhea threads on here I wonder if it would ever be worth making a sticky of causes, things that can make it worse, and things that can help?

She's not eating? Can you get her to a E-vet tonight or first thing in the morning? That she's not caring for them how she should scares me a bit.

I'm worried that either there's some parasite problem or there could be enough bad bacteria to make her sick. Certain kinds of bacteria will release toxins that can be very dangerous - been there, done it myself and ended up in the hospital.
Does she seem to have a fever? Has she been tested for FIV and FeLV?

Always problems on the weekends, isn't it?


I have a bad feeling you're going to have to take over nursing both the kittens and momma kitty back to health.

Get some of the (plain, unflavored) pedialyte in her if you can. It'll help replace some of the electrolytes lost to diarrhea.

And no, probiotics shouldn't work that fast. Any chance you could try a bit of plain boiled chicken for her? You need to make sure she keeps eating and drinking.

Still worried about the poor girl. It honestly sounds like she needs a vet soon.

^They could do a fecal to see what's going on, check temp, if needed prescribe antibiotics and something to help settle her stomach to keep her eating. Blood tests if you wish, FIV and FeLV test. Pretty much - give or take a couple things.

Good to hear she's eating some now.