Experiences With S. Boulardii?

[alzycat]

My kitty has been having diarrhea for awhile and we haven't figured out the issue yet. We've had blood panels done, a urinalysis, changed up her food, but she's still having very smelly, liquid stools. She is eating normally, drinking, & is playful otherwise so we're not sure what's going on. I think she may have IBD- the vet suggested an ultrasound but I'm going to have her stool tested first. She was on Metronidazole & that started to firm up her poops, but she did not tolerate it & had a couple seizures so we obviously stopped giving it to her.

I read a lot about S. Boulardii and how it has helped cats with GI troubles, so I ordered some for her. It wont get here for at least another week yet though. I was wondering if anyone could share their experiences with it, as well as how much they gave/how often? Did it help your cat with GI troubles?

 

[katzyn]

I'm very curious about this as well, also with a possible IBD kitty.

How scary, having seizures on Metronidazole! Poor bub (and poor you!)

 

[alzycat]

I'm very curious about this as well, also with a possible IBD kitty.

How scary, having seizures on Metronidazole! Poor bub (and poor you!)

It was terrifying! She immediately stopped eating after I gave her the first dose & seemed very lethargic, then after two days worth of doses she had her first seizure. I (naturally) freaked out, but my vet said that it is rare, but it can happen. The neurological effects take about a week to go away, so although we stopped giving it to her after the first seizure, she had another one a couple days later. That was about a month ago now & she hasn't had one since. Hopefully she never does again! Now I'm paranoid to give her antibiotics.

 

[sabian]

I know you said you've changed foods but are you feeding her anything with dyes in it to color the food. I had this problem once and it turned out just a sensitive stomach and dyes was the cause. It finally cleared up when I put him on Purina One. I would also think wet food would make this problem worse.

 

[alzycat]

I know you said you've changed foods but are you feeding her anything with dyes in it to color the food. I had this problem once and it turned out just a sensitive stomach and dyes was the cause. It finally cleared up when I put him on Purina One. I would also think wet food would make this problem worse.

Well she was on Nutro dry food for almost her whole life (she's 11), only switching to Nutro wet food when she had some dental surgery. After she healed I put her back on the dry food & all was fine (that was about 3 years ago). I tried to put her back on the Nutro wet food a few months ago, and that's when the diarrhea started. Since she was on it before & it hasn't fully gone away since going off of that food, the vet thinks it's just a coincidence & wasn't caused by the food.
After that, I took her off the Nutro wet food but she was losing weight eating the Nutro dry food- she only has 3 teeth left & can never eat enough of the dry food since it's difficult for her to chew. After I went to the vet to deal with the diarrhea problem, the vet recommened Royal Canin GI High energy canned food. She loves it & eats more than enough of it & has gained 2 pounds since starting it, & that was a couple weeks ago. It doesn't have any dye in it though.

 

[sabian]

I'm sorry. You said my kitty and I thought I read my kitten. She's 11 so that changes what I was thinking. So she can't eat dry food...huh. I can't help but think that the wet food is making the problem worse. It just makes sense to me. Though some may disagree! I wonder what would happen if you crushed the dry food up where she could manage to eat it?

 

[alzycat]

I'm sorry. You said my kitty and I thought I read my kitten. She's 11 so that changes what I was thinking. So she can't eat dry food...huh. I can't help but think that the wet food is making the problem worse. It just makes sense to me. Though some may disagree! I wonder what would happen if you crushed the dry food up where she could manage to eat it?

Haha that's okay, I always refer to her as a 'kitty' Why do you think the wet food is making it worse?

 

[sabian]

I just seen your other post a second ago. Well it's the only thing that's changed for one. Cats aren't that different from humans are far as digestion. Certain things make us constipated and certain things make us go...lol...I know you put her on the wet food before when she had dental surgery but how long was that. A few days, a week? It may have just taken some time for the wet food to have this effect. Try comparing the 2 wet foods ingredients and see if 2 match up and then see if it's in the dry food. It's possible that both wet foods have an ingredient that she's allergic to that the dry food does not have. Also, wet food is wet! It doesn't absorb water where dry food does. Common sense tells me that dry food would make a firmer stool. There's a couple methods that have served me well in life. One is the KISS method. That means, "keep it simple stupid" and the other is "fix the obvious first". Basically don't over think it. I'm not saying it's the problem but I would go back to what worked for 11 yrs and see what happens. If she is eating and drinking and seems healthy I don't see how it could hurt to try. Of course you could spend a couple thousand dollars on test and medicines and then figure out it's the wet food and come back and read this post and bang your head on your keyboard! Just sayin!

 

[LTS3]

There info about using S. boulardii here: Probiotics for Cats - Why and Which Ones

 

[mschauer]

I was wondering if anyone could share their experiences with it, as well as how much they gave/how often? Did it help your cat with GI troubles?

I already told you of my experience with S. Boulardii and antibiotic induced loose stools in your other thread so here I'll just pass on how much I gave. I started her at 1/2 of a 5 billion CFU capsule at every meal mixed into her food. Once her loose stool returned to normal I went with 1/4 capsule with every meal for the duration of her antibiotic treatment.

 

[white shadow]

Hi alzycat !

I just offered a suggestion to someone else with a similar issue to yours....rather than repeat, I'll give you the link: Antibiotic Resistant Clostridium Perf In Kittens

Hoping it will help !
.

 

[alzycat]

Hi alzycat !

I just offered a suggestion to someone else with a similar issue to yours....rather than repeat, I'll give you the link: Antibiotic Resistant Clostridium Perf In Kittens

Hoping it will help !
.

Wow thank you so much. That literally answered all of my questions about it! Honestly that Clostridium perf thing sounds like it could be what my Yoshi has.. very similar symptoms. Her poop hasn't been tested yet so I'll try to take a sample to the vet soon to get it checked out!