Probiotics?

[Caylynn]

Does anyone feed their cat probiotics?  If so, what brand, and how do you feed them (ie. capsule, capsule mixed in with food, etc.)?

I've tried feeding my Sphynx plain yogourt with live cultures, and although he loves to lap up a bit of milk in the bottom of my cereal bowl, or a bit of melted vanilla ice cream left in a bowl, he refuses to touch the yogourt.  So I'm investigating probiotics.

Anyone with any experience?

[mgt818]

Hello,
I don't have a cat but I do feed my dogs probiotics.  I get them from First Choice Naturals here is the link:
 
http://www.firstchoicenaturals.com/Index/showroom.php/All_Supplements-Pet_Supplements/pid-5?gid=3

They are ok to give to cats too... I read that is is best to introduce new things to your cat very slowly and in lesser amounts than what is recommended. Work up to the normal dose.  And also to add additional water in their food.

[Davis]

I was just going to post about yogurt and then saw this thread.  I was wondering if plain unsweetened yogurt is okay for a treat.  My cat will actually eat a little yogurt (one of the few things I can get him to eat other than his food). I'm hoping this is good for him, since I'm trying to get him adjusted to more variety and less commercial food.  Most of the lactose is broken down by the culture in yogurt, so it shouldn't cause much of a digestive problem. 

The probiotics are controversial, even for people, but with your background Caylynn, I'm sure you already know that.  Again, no one seems to agree on this.  From what I understand, if taken orally, they are destroyed by the acidic environment in the stomach, so are useless for repopulating the intestinal tract. Supposedly some supplement companies have tried to formulate them so that this does not happen, but who knows?  My understanding is that the beneficial flora in the intestinal tract actually enter from the other end (or was that the bad ones?).   Maybe suppositories are the way to go.

[Cindy Nevarez]

The only experience I have on this is when one of my older (14) dogs got sick from anal gland impaction, and also my oldest cat (18) got some bacterial bug and caused her to repeatedly vomit.

So at those times I used human-grade probiotics for both of them. The dog ended up recovering much faster than when she was on regular anti-biotics (I also added ester-c to her food as well) during her other impaction episodes.

The cat couldn't hold anything down so I had to give her tiny, tiny amounts of wet food with the probiotic capsule opened up and mashed into the food. After the first dose, she held it down and I continued with this gradually increasing the amount of food. This happened over a long weekend so I ended up taking her into the vet regarding this after I had been treating her already. The vet said she looked good and said to continue as I had been.

Mind you I didn't use any of those new ones that I see on the market now that are made to resist acid...this kind was just the regular kind. I have bought some of that new stuff though to use in the future.

[Davis]

There are supposed to be certain foods that don't actually contain probiotics but are helpful in promoting and increasing the flora, although I'm not sure if this would work the same for pets.  But it may be an additional way to increase the good flora in the intestinal tract.  I think they are called prebiotics.

[alek0]

I occasionally use plant and enzyme probiotics by Animal Essentials. Unsweetened live culture yogurt is OK, if they are willing to eat it. Sometimes it is necessary to go through several different brands to find one they'd like. Sophie is the only one which is really enthusiastic about yogurt, but only greek style one.

My vet even recommends Yakult yogurt drinks, which are sickeningly sweet but according to him most cats would try that. I would consider it last resort, yuck! Also, I am not sure whether I'd call probiotics controversial. there is some disagreement whether they work, sure. But provided that supplement does not contain any nasty fillers they would do no harm, so the worst that can happen is that you spent money on nothing. I don't think they should be given every day, but in cats which may need them it is easy to see whether there is any difference or not.

[Davis]

Controversial, meaning not agreed upon.  That is all that I meant.  We all define things differently I guess.

[Caylynn]

Well, for humans at least, the research that had been done on probiotics shows that they can be very effective, for a variety of ailments.  So I wouldn't necessarily call them "controversial" - the clinical studies (double blind, placebo controlled studies) have been done that show that they work.  They key is making sure you have a product that contain sufficient numbers of live cultures, and the product also needs to be stored properly.

For anyone who is interested, here are some research abstracts dealing with probiotics, prebiotics, and their effects (in humans):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=11470004

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17435660&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17360077&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_DocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17356555&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_DocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17344505&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_DocSum

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=16215085

As for probiotics effectiveness in cats, I've only been able to find one research article that shows they can be effective:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16740094&query_hl=22&itool=pubmed_docsum

[Cindy Nevarez]

Thanks, these are very informative.

[Davis]

Well, for humans at least, the research that had been done on probiotics shows that they can be very effective, for a variety of ailments.  So I wouldn't necessarily call them "controversial"

The health benefits are well known and confirmed, and are not what I was calling controversial. The issue seems to be more of a disagreement as to whether the probiotics will consistently make it to the intestinal tract in effective numbers.  Because these supplements are not regulated, there is no guarantee that we are getting what the label says.  The units on the label may be much different than the numbers the product actually contains, and it takes a generous dose to be effective (at least for humans).  However, there certainly are ways around that, especially for cats with their small size, which makes me think it should not be difficult to supply them with sufficient doses.

Unfortunately, there are many poor quality probiotic sources on the market.
Experts caution that just because a package claims a product contains probiotics, its
efficacy may be another story. UAS Labs’ Dr. Dash claims the term probiotic means
nothing unless the product contains the right strain(s), in the right amount (potency),
in the right condition (viable), in the right formulation and is GRAS (generally recognized
as safe).

Source: NutraceuticalsWorld

Obstacles to providing probiotic therapy include selection of appropriate strains,
poorly regulated probiotic quality standardization, processing and human biologic factors
which impair probiotic viability, difficulty in maintaining new bacterial populations in the
gut, and local product unavailability.

Source: ScienceDirect

There also seems to be some doubt as to whether these supplements in a healthy individual with already abundant intestinal flora will benefit further from supplementation.  However, the supplements are without a doubt very beneficial for those who have been on antibiotics, or who have other conditions that have compromised their intestinal environment. 

Thanks for the cat study Caylynn. That was really helpful.

Here are a few more really interesting articles:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=340078
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=340366
http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/nmdrugprofiles/nutsupdrugs/pro_0034.shtml

[Caylynn]

Oh yes, you definitely have to do your research to make sure you are getting an effective product!  Many of the probiotics out there are ineffective.  But there are also some that can be beneficial for those with IBS or other gastrointestinal problems or those taking antibiotics.

Thanks for the additional research articles.   More reading material, when I should be memorizing the bones and bone surface markings of the human body. 

[Bonkers]

 Old thread, but I would like to add that most cats are lactose intolerant and should only be given dairy free probiotics. I personally prefer to use those that are meant for human consumption. Prebiotics (FOS or MOS) can be found in a few food items. Chicory root is one and is included in some pet foods. As far as using yogurt as a source of probiotics, I have read that an animal would have to consume quite a lot of it to reap any benefits from it.  http://www.petstyle.com/cat/health_well_article.aspx?id=5440&section=feeding