One Fat Cat, One Normal Cat

[lisahe]

what kind of probiotics does your vet recommend, any particular strain? And did he/she said how does it work, is it because the immune system works better? I'm into probiotics and so is my vet, so I like this idea very much and I'm ready to test it

She recommended a specific kind: Entero. It's allegedly good for the entire GI tract. (Hence the entire/entero name, I guess?) The page I linked to mentions the individual ingredients that are in it. There's also this: Entero Flora Pro, which can apparently be "paired" with the other one. I'd definitely ask the vet before ordering anything up!

I may try it out, too, though a vet tech said that it can also apparently cause digestive difficulties in some cats. I don't know any of the how or what of that... and haven't really looked into it because I have a sort of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" stance with our cats and their rather tricky digestive systems! I do think about it, though would probably keep brushing the cats' teeth since they like it and the vet tech thinks brushing is still the most effective way to keep the mouth in good shape. (Particularly for cats like ours who've had some relatively bad gingivitis at a young age.) The vet tech particularly recommends Entero for cats who don't like brushing or whose people don't want to brush their teeth. The vet (who's also a big brushing advocate) swears by the stuff.

 

[She's a witch]

She recommended a specific kind: Entero. It's allegedly good for the entire GI tract. (Hence the entire/entero name, I guess?) The page I linked to mentions the individual ingredients that are in it. There's also this: Entero Flora Pro, which can apparently be "paired" with the other one. I'd definitely ask the vet before ordering anything up!

I may try it out, too, though a vet tech said that it can also apparently cause digestive difficulties in some cats. I don't know any of the how or what of that... and haven't really looked into it because I have a sort of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" stance with our cats and their rather tricky digestive systems! I do think about it, though would probably keep brushing the cats' teeth since they like it and the vet tech thinks brushing is still the most effective way to keep the mouth in good shape. (Particularly for cats like ours who've had some relatively bad gingivitis at a young age.) The vet tech particularly recommends Entero for cats who don't like brushing or whose people don't want to brush their teeth. The vet (who's also a big brushing advocate) swears by the stuff.

Thank you!
I've done my research and it all make sense: apparently some strains are known to antagonize the bacteria messing with the oral health. Luckily the probiotics that my cats get contain these strains that are already known to be helpful (Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus reuteri and Lactobacillus brevis ) so definitely I'm not going to add anything, yay. Apparently they've identified another strain that is very powerful in fighting plaque but I understand it's not yet on sale.
Obviously the tests were done on humans (and research animals, I'm guessing) and not on cats, but my vet says that's what we have. I would never use any probiotics without my vets go ahead.
5 Benefits of Oral Probiotics

I'm also brushing but well, I haven't created a habit yet unfortunately.. I need to be more disciplined. They don't particularly like it but they too like the toothpaste so we manage.

 

[lisahe]

I'm glad to hear that all (the strains in Entero) makes sense to you, She's a witch ! And yes, it can be difficult to get yourself and cats into a brushing habit... the big things for our cats is that they like the toothpaste pretty well. It makes a huge difference if it's like a treat for them!

 

[Minxrat]

Well, Poppy is driving me bonkers, bless her. I'm trying to reduce the dry food but she's waking me up about 7 times a night. If I ignore her she sits next to me, pats what she thinks is me (usually the pillow!) and does the whole "NNNNNNNNN" thing and then if I keep ignoring her, she gets off the bed, goes to my bedside table and starts sweeping things off. So I usher her downstairs gently....... Got to love these independent monsters lol.

Once the dry food has completely gone, I'll try a wet only diet but I feel I'm penalising them both as they both enjoy the dry and have their habits, for instance Milo has some dry food after I put the light out and I know then he's going to settle down.

It's a hard learning curve, this cat business

 

[lisahe]

Oh my, Minxrat ! I'm so glad you're working on this! Yes about the learning curve -- it can be so hard to know what will work for individual cats. And oh, cats can be very persistent when they're hungry: Ireland nipped at my eyebrow this morning because she was hungry. This was a new one -- she usually just pulls at my hair! She also loves to sweep things off the bedside table. One swing of the paw and *thud*!

A couple things that helped when we were taking our cats off dry food were:
-making the switch very slowly -- it took a month or two because the cats loved dry food so much that they were initially waiting for it, practically standing vigil.
-the slow switch involved first offering only a (smaller) dish of dry food at night then shrinking the amount a little at a time, then just sprinkling some dry food on top of wet food, then just crumbling a few bits of dry food on top of wet food... and then, finally, everybody literally just forgot about the dry food!
-particularly for hungry, young cats, though, it can be really important to feed a caloric bedtime snack to hold the cats over for the night.

That worked for us and went pretty smoothly but different things work for different cats -- making that transition can take a long time for some cats.

Fingers crossed for happier, quieter mornings ahead. Most of all, though, good for you for doing this: it can be so hard to fight a cat's will. My neighbor, by the way, was ecstatic yesterday that her cat has lost two ounces: feline weight loss can be a slow process, so (even though I know it's really hard!) don't get discouraged!

 

[Minxrat]

I just wish Poppy ate her whole portion of wet food, not just some of it. That would satisfy her at bedtime. Stems back to her being an only cat I think. Milo of course just goes and guzzles the leftovers!

I think I need strong willpower and some earplugs, and empty the bedside table first. Although she also likes to scrape her paws down the drawers, little angel. Being blind does not hold this fluffball back!