All These Probiotic Posts, Ever Try Gnc?

[stacydc83]

So I've been reading all these posts about probiotics.. I think Lily and maybe Zoe too could really benefit. Has anyone heard of or tried gnc probiotics for cats? They are treats and duck flavored. I think I bought them before and Lily did like them . I think she would benefit from it because she has some constipation issues.
Or are they any other good ones out there? She loves treats so treat forms would be great

 

[LTS3]

Are you referring to this one? GNC Ultra Mega Digestive Support - Tasty Duck

The CFU count is pretty low, just 100 million CFU of a single bacteria strain. A CFU count in the billions with multiple bacteria stains is often suggested. This very good article suggests at least 10 billion CFUs for an adult cat.

Pet probiotics aren't regulated the same way as Human probiotics are so quality may be questionable. You can give your cat a Human probiotic. Human probiotics are avaiable in various billions of CFUs and number of bacteria strains. And there aren't any extra ingredients other than the gelatin for the capsule which you don't give to the cat anyways. You take the capsule apart and mix the powder into canned food. Pet probiotics often contain extras like artificial flavors and flours and gums.

Probiotics aren't a cure all for digestive issues. All probiotics do is populate the digestive tract with healthy good bacteria. It won't help with constipation. You can try something like canned pumpkin puree for constipation. The pumpkin will add extra fiber and water which will help move things along. You can try a packet of Weruva's Pumpkin Patch Up or Pumpkin Puree or, for the same price or less, buy a whole can of pumpkin puree from the supermarket and freeze whatever you don't use for later. Or make pumpkin pie with it if your cat doesn't like it

A thread started yesterday on probiotics in general: Probiotic