6 month old with bloating

[luvmycat6204]

My 6 month old kitten has bloating within minutes of eating.  He seems to blow up, has gas and cries alot.  After he passes gas, he carries on.  Everything else is okay with him, he eats, poops, urinates, plays hard but this bloating is making me reach out here to see if anyone has any ideas.  I feed him separate from his litter mate and make him eat slowly thinking he's gulping air. But nothing is working.  He has been on his same diet now for 3 months but this bloating and gas and pain has been going on since I first got him in May. 

Currently I have tried him on NV Limited turkey or turkey and duck. Initially he went on Royal Canin kitten.  He's on Hills I/D now.  I have found that anything with chicken with the first 4 ingredients in it makes the bloating worse.  I am going to put in an order for a new brand of food just out on the market with just rabbit or buffalo, wet and dry to slowly integrate in, but wondering if I should make any changes now while this bloating is going on.  When I lay my hand on his tummy I feel it rumbling around down there.  He's been wormed 4 times already.

Thank you... any help will be appreciated.

Debbie

 

[nora1]

Is he only on dry? Or wet? Sometimes the dry kibble can cause bloating and gas if they eat too quickly. Maybe try feeding him little amounts at a time, like 1 tablespoon each serving. The bloating could also be an allergy as you mentioned that any food with chicken in the top 4 spots listed, increases the bloating. I don't know any foods on the top of my head without chicken but I'm sure some other members can offer some other ideas

 

[abbyntim]

Poor little guy! Yes, you definitely want to figure this out, though it's tough to pinpoint digestive problems.

If you suspect chicken, then try eliminating all chicken for 8 to 12 weeks. Make sure you check ingredient labels, as often the descriptive label will say "turkey" or some other meat, but still contain chicken. I am avoiding chicken right now and the following brands all have foods that do not contain any chicken. But again, make sure you read the ingredients list to confirm.

Canned foods that I am aware of:

- Nature's Variety Instinct

- Lotus Just Juicy

- Hound & Gatos

- Pure Vita

- GO!

- Party Animal

- Wild Calling

Dry foods without any chicken are harder to find. The only ones I know of off the top of my head are:

- Orijen Regional Red

- Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Rabbit (there may be other proteins, but I was interested and only looked at the rabbit)

Also look at the additives in your food. It might not be a protein, but something else. I am avoiding carrageenan because that, along with chicken, is an ingredient that always preceded my male cat's vomit episodes. I am just now slowly and cautiously introducing foods that contain gums.

Other things you can try (I do this with my male cat Tim): 1) Place the food bowl on a platform so he does not have to extend his head down to eat. I use upside down dog bowls (we no longer have the dog, but kept the bowls), as they are a good height. 2) Feed small portions spread out over a period of time. For both breakfast and dinner, I feed the cats over a period of 60-120 minutes, giving them a total of 3-4 plates of food. Otherwise Tim will just inhale. 3) Consider a probiotic to help with digestion. You can search this site for recommendations; there are a number of threads that discuss them.

I know how tough this is, and especially in a little guy. Tim was a gassy kitten and I wonder if I had addressed it early we could have avoided some of the problems he now has. It's been a lot of trial and error. I hope you figure out what is causing your guy's gas.