Miso or brewers yeast for cats?

ladytimedramon

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in the ongoing attempts to get Delilah's itching and diet under control, I opted to go for the prescription diet for a limited time (the vet says she should be on it for life and I say no) to detox from everything in her system.

She seems ok with the Royal Canin for the most part. In the morning I mix her Fortiflora with water like a gravy and she loves it. She is used to dry lunch and bedtime. But she is used to wet dinner.

I tried adding water and she wasn't having it. I don't want to give her a broth because I don't want to affect any future proteins and veggie broth has onions.

I dont want to overuse the fortiflora. I just want to add something liquid with flavor to the kibble. Fortiflora has brewer's yeast. My friend suggested miso.

Is there any problem with using maybe about 1/4 teaspoon in a tablespoon or so of water? Or other suggestions?

I do plan on switching to a limited protein after a period of time on the vet diet.
 

Azazel

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Brewer’s yeast is not the active ingredient in Fortiflora. It’s an unnecessary additive. Cats are obligate carnivores. They absolutely should not be eating any type of yeast or miso. Many of us don’t use Fortiflora as a probiotic because it’s not a very good one.

The reason why your cat loves Fortiflora is because its main ingredient is animal digest, it’s not the yeast. I have used it as an appetite stimulant for sick cats many times because they love the smell of the digest. In my experience it is a better appetite stimulant than a probiotic.

How much Fortiflora are you using? You can split it between her meals for the day. An open packet can be kept fresh in the fridge.
 
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LTS3

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Try using toppers to entice your cat to eat. Crushed up freeze dried treats or raw, grated Parmesan cheese, nutritional yeast, etc.
 
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ladytimedramon

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I'll look into the nutritional yeast. What I want is something I can mix with water to mimick gravy.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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what if you were to make bone broth? Would there still be an issue with which protein's bones to use?
 
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ladytimedramon

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what if you were to make bone broth? Would there still be an issue with which protein's bones to use?
I'm not sure, but I kind of caved in tonight. She was totally ignoring the food. I had a can of Lotus just juicy venison (I've never given her venison) and put a little on her dry. The plate was licked clean. The just juicy was almost soup as is.

So instead of messing with other stuff I may just use that as a topper and see how she does.
 

Caspers Human

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Brewer’s yeast is not the active ingredient in Fortiflora. It’s an unnecessary additive. Cats are obligate carnivores. They absolutely should not be eating any type of yeast or miso. Many of us don’t use Fortiflora as a probiotic because it’s not a very good one.

The reason why your cat loves Fortiflora is because its main ingredient is animal digest, it’s not the yeast. I have used it as an appetite stimulant for sick cats many times because they love the smell of the digest. In my experience it is a better appetite stimulant than a probiotic.

How much Fortiflora are you using? You can split it between her meals for the day. An open packet can be kept fresh in the fridge.
I agree. Cats are supposed to eat meat.

The idea of "detoxing" or "cleansing" are mostly bunk. The body (of a cat or a human) naturally detoxifies and cleanses itself. That's what the liver, kidneys and immune system are for, to remove bad things from the body. If you want to detoxify the body, simply stop putting bad things into it and let your (your cat's) body cleanse itself. Putting some substance with supposed "magical properties" into the body will have little to no effect at all. You are just throwing good money after bad.

There's nothing wrong with feeding your cat healthier food. Adding extra things to spice up the food to make it more attractive is a good thing, too. I don't think that anybody would disagree that feeding a healthy, well-balanced and varied diet is a good thing.

I think that it might be good to add a small amount of yeast or miso to your cat's food if she's already getting a good diet.

If I had to pick between the two, I would choose miso over brewer's yeast. Yeast can cause digestive problems (bloating, gas, diarrhea) more easily than seaweed. If I had a cat that was already on the mend from other medical problems, I would shy away from yeast if it had a chance of giving her a case of the runs.

On the other hand, if my cat was off her feed like yours, I'd say that anything that gets her to eat properly is a good thing if done in moderation. If yeast (or a yeast-containing additive) gets her to eat then go for it. Just use the smallest amount necessary to achieve the desired effect and watch for side effects like digestive problems.
 
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ladytimedramon

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The reason Delilah was given prescription diet was itching. She had been itching so bad she was pulling her whole body across the rug with her claws, as well scratching and biting herself. Interestingly enough yesterday I read an article that said food issues can also cause constant ear infections, and Delilah has had 2 ear infections in the 6 weeks I've had her.
 

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I understand. :)

It could be caused by allergies, too.

While I did know about brewers yeast causing digestive issues, I did not know that some cats (or humans) can be allergic to it until I looked it up.

Maybe you could check her diet for possible allergens?
 
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ladytimedramon

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I understand. :)

It could be caused by allergies, too.

While I did know about brewers yeast causing digestive issues, I did not know that some cats (or humans) can be allergic to it until I looked it up.

Maybe you could check her diet for possible allergens?
Well, that's why the vet put her on a prescription food. He gave me a choice of Hills Vetinary Diet d/d or Royal Canin HP. Since the Hills is duck and pea, and Delilah was eating a duck and pea food already, I went with the RC. But there isn't a wet, only dry. If I give her the dry with her Fortiflora mixed in water, she's fine. But if I give it to her sprinkled with water she ignores it. She will eat it just dry lunch and bedtime but not breakfast and dinner when she's used to her canned.
 

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So why not spread the fortiflora out with every meal and sprinkle a little of it each time? It's the animal digest in the fortiflora that acts as an appetite stimulant, not the yeast.

It's also a good idea to get some wet food in her diet. Being on only dry food long term will lead to other health problems.
 
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ladytimedramon

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I tried spreading it out. It doesn't give her enough of a gravy. I adopted a gravy addict (why should she be any different than me? ;))

I really don't want her on the RC for life, which is what the doctor said. I'm starting to introduce venison for now, since I know I haven't given it to her and I seriously doubt she ever had it at the shelter. If we can do the RC for dry for now and the Lotus Just Juicy Venison for wet, that might work for a rotation and give me a chance to hunt down a better dry for after. Most likely I will go either lamb or pork, since I can find single protein no pea non pate versions of both
 
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