Recommended To Add Probiotics To Our Older Cat

GracieAllen

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 22, 2019
Messages
30
Purraise
33
I had a topic in the pet health forum because our 12-year-old tabby, Brownie, had some digestive issues. She just finished a week of antibiotics and the vet recommended we go back to feeding Hill's id AND that we add probiotics to her food.

I got a half dozen of the Fortiflora since that's what the vet had, but it sounds like we need to do this for the future. I found a lot of topics about probiotics, but I didn't find much on what is a readily available product that's also cost effective. I checked Chewy.com and they had a lot of options that varied wildly in price.
The cat does not eat treats - we hid pills in the pill pockets and that worked exactly ONCE. Now she won't touch any treat, soft or hard.
So, healthy, 12-year-old cat, recommended to have probiotics added to her food. Do I get the $22 Verti-Science (120 capsules, 1/2 cap/day), the $25 Dr Mercola 3 oz (1/2 scoop - 1 gram/day - 75 doses), or the $28 Fortiflora for 30 days at about 4 times the cost?
 

movinintime

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 9, 2019
Messages
412
Purraise
746
I use NOW Foods 10-TM, 50 Billion, 10 Strains, 2 OZ powder. A tiny bit each morn for both cats. Don't know if it helps perse, but vet says it can't hurt. Guess that is an endorsement to keep using it. :)

Tho if I'd do it over I'd get an Organic Probiotic, I think. ;)
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
You don't need to use a pet-specific probiotic :) A Human one will work and most come with more bacteria strains and a higher CFU counts than pet ones. Human probiotics come in capsule form but you just open up the capsule and sprinkle the contents into canned food. Note the serving size in the direction. The product may say X CFU but it may be for 2 capsules taken at the same time, not one. Cats don't need more than one capsule a day.

Here is some info on probiotics:

Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis
Probiotics Search - Human Grade and CFUs

FortiFlora isn't the best probiotic to use. It only has one bacteria strain and a low CFU count so it doesn't do much for cats. FortiFlora is really only good to get inappetant cats to eat because of the animal digest.

I use Renew Life Ultimate Flora Extra Care 50 billion CFU. I split one capsule between two cats so they get about 25 billion CFU daily.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

GracieAllen

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 22, 2019
Messages
30
Purraise
33
Aren't ALL probiotics organic? They're bacteria, right?

If there's nothing magical about the Fortiflora, I'll look at some of the other choices.
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
I guess if you grow any strain of bacteria using organic methods and organic growth media it technically can be called organic :dunno:
 

Tobermory

“What greater gift than the love of a cat.”
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
9,137
Purraise
25,928
Location
Pacific NW
I use Fortiflora only to encourage picky eaters. In fact, my vet doesn’t use it as a probiotic for his own cats even though he sells it! I’m currently using Proviable which I buy at Chewy.com, but I’m thinking about going with a human probiotic like the Renew Life that LTS3 LTS3 uses. I’d buy it at either vitacost.com, iherb.com, or luckyvitamin.com. By way of comparison, the Renew Life website sells it for $68 for 60 capsules and Vitacost sells it for $51 for 60. Huge difference!
 

Libby.

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Jul 12, 2019
Messages
197
Purraise
249
I really like Probios. Its only about $12 for an 8oz jar. The ingredients are: Sucrose, Dried Whey, Sodium Silico Aluminate, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum Fermentation Product and Sodium Thiosulfate.

I first got it for my dog Heidi when she was a puppy. The vet recommended Fortiflora but I've used that in the past and was quite unimpressed, plus it's more expensive. The Probios really helped Heidi out. I keep it on hand now for her when she eats stuff she shouldn't (cat box grazing) and it quickly sorts her out so no more diarrhea or loose stools. I've even taken it when I had a bout of a stomach virus that caused awful cramps and watery stools. It helped the cramping quickly as well as the diarrhea.
 

daftcat75

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 7, 2018
Messages
12,642
Purraise
25,128
My favorite is from Vitality Science. I sprinkle in approx a quarter capsule (most of the small end) twice a day into her wet food. She delivers perfectly formed low odor poops on a regular schedule in return. Quite a feat for a 15 year old with IBD!

https://vitalityscience.com/product/cat-probiotics/
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
How much probiotics of Renew Life do you give a cat each day?
There is no set amount to give as every cat is different. There are suggested amounts to give in this article Prebiotics & Probiotics for Cats: Healing Inflammation and gut dysbiosis

Adjust the amount for your cat. It's best to start with a small amount first to see how the cat reacts and increase slowly as needed. It's also a good idea to start with a low CFU count probiotic than a really high one.

I split one capsule between two cats. One cats gets about a quarter of the capsule twice a day. The remaining half goes to the other cat.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

GracieAllen

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 22, 2019
Messages
30
Purraise
33
Our cat does NOT like capsules or pills - a LOT! We use the powder (I believe it's the Pet Ultimates) and it's worked really well. Her stool doesn't veer wildly from runny to hard and she doesn't seem to mind the taste of a tiny amount (1/2 gram per meal as I recall).
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
Our cat does NOT like capsules or pills - a LOT!
Probiotic capsules can be pulled apart and the powder sprinkled into food :) If you're just using part of a capsule, you can slide the capsule halves back together. Store the in use capsule separately from the probiotic capsule so you know which one to use.
 
Top