Brewers Yeast is a miracle!

After reading some posts on here about getting finicky cats to eat by sprinkling brewers yeast on their food/medicine, I gave it a try. My cat must be one of the pickiest cats ever. I've tried all kinds of hairball medicine, she hates it all. Even if I mash it into her fur so she's forced to lick it off, she won't and just sits there and pouts. I eventually have to wash it off, wasting the dose. So, I put some of her hairball medicine on a plate, sprinkled brewers yeast over the top, and she wolfed it down and practically ate the plate!

I truly believe she'd eat ANYTHING if I put that stuff on it. I got it at the pet food store and it was in tablet form, so I crushed all the pills up into a fine powder and put it in an empty salt shaker. Thanks for the advice!

Yes, it's a miracle. That's the same way I get Pumpkin to take hairball meds.

A question, though...those tablets from the pet store...do they have garlic in them? I wouldn't use those. There are plain tablets (minus garlic) available from the health food store...or my preference is the Lewis Labs B.Y. powder in a can.

Yeah, it clearly says "with garlic" on the bottle. Why? Is garlic bad for them? I think the Wellness cans I'm feeding also have garlic.... I am not giving her too much... just a little shake or two... I don't even think it amounts to a whole pill. But I'll trust your advice and see if I can get some garlic-free B.Y. at my health food store this week. Thanks!

Originally Posted by TickyTat

Yeah, it clearly says "with garlic" on the bottle. Why? Is garlic bad for them? I think the Wellness cans I'm feeding also have garlic.... I am not giving her too much... just a little shake or two... I don't even think it amounts to a whole pill. But I'll trust your advice and see if I can get some garlic-free B.Y. at my health food store this week. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Yeah, they put the garlic in the tablets for pets because supposedly the 2 (b.y. and garlic) are good for flea control. However, garlic can cause anemia in cats...so I wouldn't feed those tablets to a cat. The small shake you're using probably doesn't amount to any more than we find in some foods (like the wellness) but I would switch to the plain BY powder anyway.

The garlic in Wellness is supposed to be a flavor enhancer, but there's a lot of controversy about putting it in the food. Personally, I also feed the Wellness. Some don't because of the garlic. Last I heard, the canned Wellness was going to be garlic-free in the near future.

Gotcha... thanks for the advice!

[font= "COMIC SANS MS"]Great tip! I'll keep this in mind for future reference! [/font]

Originally Posted by beandip

The garlic in Wellness is supposed to be a flavor enhancer, but there's a lot of controversy about putting it in the food. Personally, I also feed the Wellness. Some don't because of the garlic. Last I heard, the canned Wellness was going to be garlic-free in the near future.

Click to expand...

A rep from Wellness told me that the garlic would be removed as of the next batch they did. She told me just to keep checking the cans in the store, because she didn't have an exact time that she could give me for the switch. I haven't been over to the store that sells wellness in a while to check. The last time I was in there (maybe 2 weeks), it was still the garlic stuff.

I looked for brewers yeast at the store today and they had it, but it was in tablet form. I looked for capsules or powdered but they didn't have any. Would the tablet worked if I crushed it up or should I look for the powdered?
Pippin is a dainty eater and I thought it might be helpful to get him to eat more of his wet food (and thereby, less of his dry). Should I check the health food store for the powdered instead?

Devlyn

I think plain BY tablets would be fine and they should crush easily. The ones at the pet store usually have garlic in them, though.

I like the powder in a can from the health food store. The brand I got is Lewis Labs...they claim to have the best tasting BY around. 7 out of 8 of my cats say it's true! Leopold is just stubborn.

beandip - Have you come across any information about whether an allergy might be triggered by giving the brewers yeast too often or by giving too much?

Originally Posted by mschauer

beandip - Have you come across any information about whether an allergy might be triggered by giving the brewers yeast too often or by giving too much?

Click to expand...

MANY animals and human are allergic to yeast .... Brewers is one of the more common type s and thus more allergies ... I would use it verying sparingly since it is also found IN MANY high end foods for the B vitamin content....Personally I avoid yeast when I can since some is in an active form and can cause a imbalence... BY is supposedly inactive but if so then the viatmins would be lost

to clarify ... .. if you have a wheat , barley or rye sensitive cat AVOID ALL yeast ....

I haven't found anything, although I'm sure it's possible. Most of what I can find is about dogs. Problems with yeast are common in dogs, I believe... but I can't find much of anything about issues with cats. It's a fairly common ingredient in cat foods but that doesn't mean much, I know.

Some of what I can find suggests that the biotin in the B.Y. is actually helpful for skin allergies.

Originally Posted by beandip

I haven't found anything, although I'm sure it's possible. Most of what I can find is about dogs. Problems with yeast are common in dogs, I believe... but I can't find much of anything about issues with cats. It's a fairly common ingredient in cat foods but that doesn't mean much, I know.

Some of what I can find suggests that the biotin in the B.Y. is actually helpful for skin allergies.

Click to expand...

it can help if no gluten sentivitys are present...lol... In my house only Mom and the fish can handle gluten so I am overly causitous... B vitamins help skin and coat in dogs and cats .... BY just happens to be a easy and readily avail sourse..

Originally Posted by sharky

MANY animals and human are allergic to yeast .... Brewers is one of the more common type s and thus more allergies ... I would use it verying sparingly since it is also found IN MANY high end foods for the B vitamin content....Personally I avoid yeast when I can as it is a living organism and can easily cause a imbalence

to clarify ...

.. if you have a wheat , barley or rye sensitive cat AVOID ALL yeast ....

Click to expand...

Brewer's Yeast is "inactive", though...so correct me but that means no living organisms, right?

Originally Posted by beandip

Brewer's Yeast is "inactive", though...so correct me but that means no living organisms, right?

Click to expand...

yes I meant to correct that ... after cooking it should be inactive and powder and talblets are cooked

I picked up some brewers yeast today at the health food store. I'm hoping it will help Pippin munch down his wet food with more enthusiasm. He always picks at it, and the other cats finish first and then want to eat his too.
We'll see.

Devlyn

I tried the BY today and it really helped! Pippin practically cleaned his plate and was not fussing at all about it.

Devlyn

Mitties has become wise to it on her hairball medicine though. She'll lick around it and the excess off the top of the medicine, but she'll leave the goop.

I've had better luck rubbing it on her cheek, which she really hates but hey, whatever works!

Originally Posted by TickyTat

Mitties has become wise to it on her hairball medicine though. She'll lick around it and the excess off the top of the medicine, but she'll leave the goop.

I've had better luck rubbing it on her cheek, which she really hates but hey, whatever works!

Click to expand...

Coco has gotten very proficient at licking it off of whatever I put it on also. I still find it useful for enticing her to at least taste a food that she otherwise just sniffs and walks away from.

Have you tried mixing the hairlball medicine with the brewers? If the med doesn't have a strong flavor that overpowers the brewers she might eat it that way.