Gas & Diarrhea After Adding Probiotics & Digestive Enzymes

I just put both of my cats on a probiotic.  I'm using Nexabiotic and I'm giving each cat half a capsule a day on an empty stomach.  I'm also adding a digestive enzyme into their food.  The problem is that this seems to have caused both cats to have runny stools, and my smaller cat, Thirteen, who weighs about seven pounds, has had some really bad gas.

Am I giving too much probiotic?  I've read that some cats get as much as two full capsules a day. Or is this just a temporary phase and their stools will harden and the gas disappear.

Their poop is REALLY smelly now, too.

Hello - I'm curious, is this something that was recommended by your vet or did you read up on it and think its just a good idea.

I would check with your vet to see if they need it.  I've realized that cats have very sensitive systems and any changes could be hard on their insides.

Best of luck with your sweet cats.

I actually called my vet's office and spoke to his tech because my vet had suggested it the last time I was in.  I was just lazy and didn't follow through with it until recently.  The tech didn't see anything wrong with the dose and told me to give it a week or so and call back if we were still having issues.

I was just curious what other forum members thought, though.

LavishSqualor said:

 
I actually called my vet's office and spoke to his tech because my vet had suggested it the last time I was in.  I was just lazy and didn't follow through with it until recently.  The tech didn't see anything wrong with the dose and told me to give it a week or so and call back if we were still having issues.

I was just curious what other forum members thought, though.

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Gotcha, so the vet recommended it.  Was there a specific reason, suffering from constipation or something?

I personally don't have experience with probiotic's but there are many here who have.  I'm sure someone will chime in with answers for you.

Have you tried searching through the Cat Nutrition section?  You may find something there.  Or just search by name of product.

Best to you and your wee ones.

Thirteen had a minor episode of inappetence and runny stool and when my vet ruled out anything serious he suggested a probiotic and digestive enzymes for her.  When I asked him if I could, for the sake of ease, give these things to both cats he readily agreed.

I was just wondering if there's an adjustment stage and thought others here might know.

I appreciate your input!  I'm sort of a "fan' of yours.  You've written some wonderful posts on this site that have helped a lot of folks.

Thanks again.

Well, thank you for your kind words.  These members helped me through a dark time and I am forever grateful to them all.  As you know, there are a bunch of terrific people here ready to help at a moments notice.  I try to do the same and will always be as polite and helpful as possible.  Our kitties are our lives, and they deserve respect.

I'm sure with an introduction of anything new to the system, there will be an adjustment.  Again, someone will chime in.

I'm absorbing and educating myself for when I adopt again in the future.

Keep us posted. Be well.  Hope

I would like to know too what the dosage for probiotics are.  I thought they were supposed to prevent diarrhea not cause it.

I'm hoping we'll get some answers, Bella.  

I'd like to know what others who give probiotics and digestive enzymes think about dosage and adjustment period.

Hopefully we'll get some traffic later tonight.

Probiotics are usually given with food. Have you tried just mixing into their food rather than giving on an empty stomach? 1/2 a cap isn't really a lot, but you could try reducing to 1/4 twice a day. I use nexabiotics with my own crew and haven't had any issues, but if you think it's the probiotic you could stop and see if things adjust. S boulardii usually stops diarrhea, rather than causes it. 

Bella Lago said:

 
I would like to know too what the dosage for probiotics are.  I thought they were supposed to prevent diarrhea not cause it.

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There is great information here on porbiotics and recommended doses: http://www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org/probiotics-for-cats---why-and-which-ones.html

The directions on the Nexbiotic bottle say to take on an empty stomach.  In fact, everything I've read on probiotics say the same thing.

If they are just as efficacious with food that's great . . . but what I'm reading doesn't seem to agree with that.

LavishSqualor said:

 
The directions on the Nexbiotic bottle say to take on an empty stomach.  In fact, everything I've read on probiotics say the same thing.

If they are just as efficacious with food that's great . . . but what I'm reading doesn't seem to agree with that.

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Don't forget - many of the probiotics recommend for cats, like the ones listed in the RawFeedingForIBDCats web site, are Human products so the instructions on the label are for Human use. Nexbiotic is a probiotics for Humans.

If you use a Human probiotics for a cat, just mix the cat recommended dose per RawFeedingForIBDCats or your vet directly into canned food and let your cat eat it up. Mixing it into ground-type raw and home cooekd foods also work. There is no other way to give it to a cat unless you can to risk getting scratched and bitten by trying to put half a capsule of dry powder into the cat's mouth. I supposed you could make a slurry with water and syringe it in but most cats hate that. So putting the probiotics into food is the easiest way.

There are pet probiotics out there if you want to try those. Many are powders that you also mix into canned food.

My cat does wonderfully on probiotics and enzymes. Her issue was constipation. I think the probiotics are really what do the trick for her, but I add the enzymes as well just in case.

I use PB8 acidophilus. Technically a probiotic with multiple strains like Nexabiotic is better, my cat seems no different on multiple strains vs just acidophilus, so I use that because it's much more cost effective.

Probiotics do work best when they get into the digestive system before the food does, but they still work given with food. I mix it into my cat's food because it's easier, but she has had a couple of incidents where she ate too fast and started throwing up any food, so feeding her straight probiotics without food first really helped those times. The capsules are made of gelatin, which she really likes, and the powder might taste good to her to, so it wasn't difficult to get her to eat it.

She never had an adjustment period of diarrhea and gas. They seemed to work almost straight away. However, before trying probiotics I tried lots of other supplements, and occasionally she would react really badly to something if the inactive ingredients in the powder or pill didn't agree with her. Cellulose was a big problem, so now I'm careful not to give her anything with much cellulose or other really fibrous ingredients. So my guess would be maybe something in the Nexabiotic other than the probiotics themselves could be causing problems, and you can try a different one with a different set of inactive ingredients to see if it makes a difference.

One of my furbabies has had constipation for a few weeks now. The vet has recommended stool softeners but they just end up giving her cowpies but still at nearly 4 days in between. I'm going to ask about probiotics now!

LavishSqualor said:

 
The directions on the Nexbiotic bottle say to take on an empty stomach.  In fact, everything I've read on probiotics say the same thing.

If they are just as efficacious with food that's great . . . but what I'm reading doesn't seem to agree with that.

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Every raw feeder I know doesn't usually give on an empty stomach. Most either mix in food or pill right before before meals or with something like slippery elm. I mix in food, always have, no issues. Might be worth trying in food to see if that helps. Otherwise you might want to just discontinue the nexabiotics and try a different one. There are the rare cats that have a reaction to nexabiotics. 

Wow, it would be so much easier to put the probiotics in their food.  My cats are fed twice a day, once when we get up and then again when I get home from work.  Then right before bed they each get about five pieces of Nature's Variety Instinct as a bedtime treat.

In order to give their probiotics on an empty stomach I've been getting up an hour earlier to pill them, then I go back to bed.  An hour later I get up and feed them.  I also pill them again when I get home from work and then wait an hour to feed them.

The problem is that my cats are so used to getting fed as soon as we get up and then again as soon as I come in from work that they don't know what's going on.  They both turn their sad little faces up at me and I know they're wondering why the heck I'm not feeding them,

I've been taking the Nexabiotic too and I've wondered why I've had a mild headache the last few days.  This stuff has MSG in it!  It's got Maldodextrin on the label.  I don't know if it affects my cats or not but it sure does affect me, so I'm not taking a chance.  I'm going to ask my vet for a different recommendation.