Alternatives to Fortiflora?

[Danneq]

My cat Lexi is a beast to pill, but luckily we (her and I, that is) worked out a system that was working for us. If I crushed her fluoxetine, mixed it with Fortiflora to mask the taste, and mixed it into a little food, she would just eat it!

That worked for several months, but she's recently started turning her nose up at it. I regularly rotate food, so I'm assuming she's gotten bored of the Fortiflora. Are there are products that I can add into the rotation to mask the taste of the pill? Other powders, specifically, or maybe a liquid that make picky cats go YUM? I specify powders or liquids because she's extremely picky about texture. Won't eat anything that isn't silky smooth.

(Am not seeking alternative methods of pilling, please, only more things like Fortiflora. I am very, very good at pilling cats, I know all the tricks, and it's just not worth it with her.)

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

There is something similar to FortiFlora called Advita. Two of my cats who don't like Fortiflora will eat Advita.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Cats seem to like the liver flavor of FortiFlora. My cat loved it for a long time and then tired of it too. So, maybe other items containing a form of liver - like Advita (poultry liver flavoring) might be welcomed by your cat. I also found a few others -
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com

Just curious why you don't want other suggestions on how to get pills down cats, beside 'pilling' them. You mentioned it is not worth it with her, so I assume you have 'forced' them into your cat? Some of the tactics I use to get Feeby to take her pills involve silky treats of some kind, I don't pill her, if I understand what you mean by that.

 

[daftcat75]

My last cat, Krista, enjoyed sacchromyces boulardiii. It is a yeast based probiotic. And some cats, like Krista, enjoy that yeasty taste. My current cat, Betty? Not so much. For Krista, I used to wrap her pred pill inside a touch of food and roll that ball into the s boulardii. That made a tacky dough ball that I was able to further coat with bonito fish flakes. Sadly, the fish flakes were a trigger food for her and kept her IBD/lymphoma fires smoldering until she switched to transdermal form.

Transdermal is not well absorbed for fluoxetine. But it is an option if you’re out of other options.
Fluoxetine for dogs and cats: Uses, Dosage & Side Effects

My current cat, Betty, takes her medications via what I call the cake frosting method. I pack her meds into gelatin capsules and then coat them with a highly appealing food. She has learned how to scoop and swallow these coated capsules herself. No wrestling matches required. For over a year, her preferred frosting was Hills A/D. Recently she stopped liking it and sparked a minor crisis. But I found a new frosting that she seems to like at least as much and maybe more: Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Kitten soft pate.

If you’re not able to pack the powder into a capsule, you may consider the parfait method at 4:50 in this video. Load the front of a syringe with your kitty’s version of cake frosting, then the powder, then more of that that frosting. Hopefully your kitty will take the whole syringe if your frosting is appealing enough. You might find other ideas you can try besides your tried and true method in this video as well.

 

[Danneq]

FeebysOwner I only mean that I'm familiar with most of the common suggestions as well as some tricks of my own, and they're a no go for this particular cat. She is very picky about texture and she chews her food pretty thoroughly, so hiding a pill in any kind of solid treat doesn't work. I can physically cram it down her throat, but it's stressful for both of us, my hands get bitten (and I'm really good at it! She's just better), and it damages the trust between us. She had some trauma before coming to me and I'm the only one she trusts, so I'm not willing to do that.

That being said, the video daftcat75 posted actually did have a couple things I hadn't thought of! It never occurred to me that having a wooden floor would make it harder for them to pick up meds! I will have to remember to put down a towel if one of my others gets sick.

Thank you for the suggestions! I'll be looking into all of these!