Fortiflora magic! Any alternative?

[botolo]

Hello,

As some of you already know, my beautiful cat Holly recently had to go through radical mandibulectomy surgery to remove squamous cells carcinoma. She is now doing fine, but I am still feeding her through the e-tube. She has started eating on her own, but it has been challenging to find a food that has enough calories, that she likes and that she can eat with no lower jaw. She would love to eat her treats, but she can't pick them up with her tongue. Pate would be the perfect solution, but I still have not found one she loves. She tries the ones I bought (maaaany of them), but then leaves them there.

After reading a lot online, I saw that someone said Fortiflora probiotics worked magic to entice cats to eat. I tried one packet today and WOWOWOWOWOWO it works like magic. Holly started eating a pate that she never wanted to try and she was eating like there was no tomorrow! But here is the issue: after a while, she licked the fortiflora away from the pate and she stopped being interested. If I could just put tons of Fortiflora on the food, she would have eaten all of it, but you can't give too much Fortiflora (no more than one pack a day and I am not even sure if I can give it to her every day).

Is there any similar magic powder that I can sprinkle on top of the food and that would be safe to give in large quantities?

 

[Tobermory]

I get the “FortiFlora” effect by crushing Dr. Elsey’s chicken kibble into a fine powder and sprinkling it on top of their food. They love it!

 

[LTS3]

Try the suggestions in this thread: Any Good Tips To Get Your Cats To Eat? Share Them Here!

Crushed up treats works for many cats. Freeze dried ones in particular work really well.

Advita is a similar product to FortiFlora but without the animal digest, the stuff that cats love. Like FortiFlora, it shouldn't be given more than the packet instructions as it also has probiotic effects and too much probiotic can upset the tummy.

Many dry foods contain animal digest so you could crush some up and sprinkle over canned food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! Are there any treats that Holly likes? I use FortiFlora (sparingly because it can be 'overused') but I also crumble into a fine 'sawdust' Feeby's favorite treats and mix that with her food.

There are tons of lickable treats to try to add to Holly's food as well. Just do an internet search on 'cat lickable treats' to see all of the many options. How about some baby food meat (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut) to supplement her food, or just give separately to add some extra calories to her diet? Have you tried a 'cat nutritionally complete' food with the Tiki Cat Mousse products? What about the Hill's A/D recovery food - it is nearly pate but can easily have water added to it to help make it soupier?

 

[botolo]

I tried to reduce to dust her favorite treats. It worked in term of attracting her to the food, but then she was gagging because of the powder. I need to try maybe mixing the powder with the food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I tried to reduce to dust her favorite treats. It worked in term of attracting her to the food, but then she was gagging because of the powder. I need to try maybe mixing the powder with the food.

Yes, would definitely try mixing it. The idea is to give her the 'flavor' with her other foods, and not just her inhaling the dust!

 

[Purr-fect]

I have put cat treats (greenies) in a coffee grinder and sprinkled or mixed them in with our cats wet food. It worked well and is alot cheaper. Gradually, I completely stopped grinding the treats up and substituted them with high quality grain free dry food.

 

[botolo]

What’s the consistency? How much dry food do you mix with the wet food?

 

[IndyJones]

Firtiflora is basically chicken stock with a bit of probiotic. See if you can find any powdered Sodom free bone broth.

 

[Purr-fect]

What’s the consistency? How much dry food do you mix with the wet food?

Here are a few pics of this mornings breakfast for the 2 cats.

The ratio i use is very roughly half a teaspon of ground food to one table spoon of wet food. I dont even need to mix them anymore.

I put the wet food in a bowl and then "chop it" up and flatten it out a bit, leaving lots of dips and valleys in the surface of the food. This traps the powder and forces the cat to eat to the bottom of the dish, instaed of simply licking the powdered food off the wet food.

Over time I have completely removed the greenies from the powder and now it is totally powdered "natures variety instinct chicken".

 

[Purr-fect]

Firtiflora is basically chicken stock with a bit of probiotic. See if you can find any powdered Sodom free bone broth.

I did not know that. Mixing your own substitute could save alot of money. And in this new world of supply chains issues, its good to have an alternative.

 

[ladytimedramon]

Stella and Chewy makes something they call "magic dust" for topping food.

Have you tried a "mousse"? I know Weruva makes what they call a "hydrating puree", which was more mousse like than pate, and I think Tiki Cat has something called "Velvet mousse"

 

[mizzely]

I use either freeze food (especially liver flavored) crumbled up, or Wysong's AddLife. The first ingredient is Enzymatic Digest of Chicken and Fish which is apparently super tasty because I can get her to eat almost anything with that on it!

WYSONG AddLife Dog & Cat Food Supplement, 9-oz bottle - Chewy.com