Probiotics

Hi All,
Saturday I had to take 3 of my 7 cats to the vet. My kitten Sophie 4 mo, only needed the last of her vaccinations, Ryan 2 yo, who had a bald spot on his shoulder and Sally 8 yo who has been diarrhea for 2 weeks now. I dropped off a poo sample during the week for Sally so we could get the results on Saturday. Sally has no worms or parasites and the vet started her on a probiotic called Fortiflora by Purina, one packet per day.
Has anyone ever used a probiotic before with their cats? The vet told me to mix on packet a day into her canned food. Since we are a family of 7, 6 cats and 1 kitten, she told me it was ok if the other cats ate Sally's food. So for the last 3 days Sally has been eating this probiotic. My vet also told me to take Sally off of all beef and seafood as well and stick to turkey and chicken canned food. I have no experience with probiotics so I would like to hear from those of you who do. Thanks, Rose

I use probiotics, in part because I feed Ritz raw.

In my opinion, there are better (and cheaper) probiotics than FortiFlora.  FF is made of animal digest, the same chemicals dry food is sprayed with to make it taste good.

Here is a good  recent thread about probiotics and their purpose.  I originally use Now brand
I buy whatever brand is on sale, as long as it has at least 10 Billion active cells and is capsule form.  I sprinkle the contents on her food--she loves the taste.

Probiotics are good! They help your kitty's good intestinal bacteria, which is supposed to support about 70% of the immune system. Many owners on this forum use them just as a general health regime. The FortiFlora isn't the best brand, though. Most people on the forum use the FortiFlora as an appetite stimulant in order to get their kitty to try new food or to eat when sick and not for its probiotics. There are pet probiotics, but this product seems popular with forum members:

http://www.naturalfactors.com/caen/products/detail/2879/acidophilus-and-bifidus-

Here's a thread that I started last summer in which the forum discusses probiotics:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/262587/probiotics-search-human-grade-and-cfus

Wow Raintyger what was an awesome string regarding probiotics. Never heard of this before but I did hear of acidolpulus culture, from many years ago working at a lab. I don't know what IBD is. Is it like a humans IBS? Thanks so much.

blackcat416 said:

Wow Raintyger what was an awesome string regarding probiotics. Never heard of this before but I did hear of acidolpulus culture, from many years ago working at a lab. I don't know what IBD is. Is it like a humans IBS? Thanks so much.

Click to expand...

IBD is inflammation in the intestinal tract. It's believed to be an auto-immune response - that is, the body's immune system is improperly responding and becoming inflammed when it shouldn't. Most of the time it results in a lot of vomitting and diarrhea, but can present in different ways depending on where the inflammation is. My kitty had constipation instead of diarrhea.

The acidophilus is among the most common of probiotics bacteria. If you buy a probiotics mixture, acidophilus is probably among the strains included. It is also found in probiotic drinks.

I picked up the 'Healthy Origins' - 30 billion CFUs.  It has an expiration date of ~ 1 yr. 8 months from now. 

What's the minimum CFU we should be looking for, to have a useful effect? 

For a kitten, 2.5 billion CFU given 2x a day (total 5 billion CFU). For an adult cat, 10 billion CFU given 5 billion CFU 2x a day. I just sprinkle them on two of their meals - they like it (or don't notice it!). That's for maintenance. For diarrhea or therapeutic use, the dose is double.

Thanks doctor LDG.  I'll throw that info. into my ongoing spreadsheet so I don't ask it again.

:lol3: That would be "doctor." As in ... I might be considered a "credit" to the community, but no PhD!

I used probiotics for awhile. They can't hurt. Also when my cat had extreme diarrhea, I found canned pumpkin worked.

However, I'm a bit concerned about the recommendation for only chicken and turkey based food. Sometimes cats can develop food allergies and chicken is one of the major ones. This doesn't mean that this is the case with your sweetie. If you are still having a problem in a couple weeks try foods with alternative protiens such as duck, rabbit, and venison. Natures variety and natural balance make some. If you do wind up trying this route just be sure to check the ingredients and make sure there is no chicken or eggs.

Good luck. It's the worse when your babies have this problem.