Probiotics?

[ChaoticEva]

Hello! It's me again, the pain in the butt with all the questions

My old man Oscar seems to be needed some probiotics to help with his digestion and his poop. However, he doesn't eat wet food, so mixing in that won't due. I usually sprinkle it on his dry food, but then that gets sticky and the food stick together and he isn't able to eat them (he has no more teeth).

I was wondering if it's ok if I mix the Probiotics in hot water, put it into a syringe, wait for it to cool down and then just give it to him that way? Or does mixing it in hot water make the Probiotic not work to it's full potential?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[LTS3]

Probiotics are affected by temperature so i wouldn't use hot water. Cold or room temperature water is just fine. Does your cat like canned tuna? You can sprinkle the probiotic into a a little tuna. If your cat likes chicken, poach a chicken breast in plain water, shred the meat and mix the probiotic in with a little bit of the (cooled) cooking water.

There are probiotic cat treats you could try. The CFU isn't as high as what you would find in a Human probiotic and the number of bacteria strains are very few.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I feed my cats wet food, but I still dissolve their probiotics in a little bit of filtered water first before I mix them into their food. They don't like the grittiness of the plain powder. But I would agree not to mix them with HOT water. Room temp is should be fine though.

 

[ChaoticEva]

Probiotics are affected by temperature so i wouldn't use hot water. Cold or room temperature water is just fine. Does your cat like canned tuna? You can sprinkle the probiotic into a a little tuna. If your cat likes chicken, poach a chicken breast in plain water, shred the meat and mix the probiotic in with a little bit of the (cooled) cooking water.

There are probiotic cat treats you could try. The CFU isn't as high as what you would find in a Human probiotic and the number of bacteria strains are very few.

He doesn't eat any treats or meats. Only dry food
The thing with cold or room temperature water, is that I'm unable to grab all of the Probiotics into the syringe. And it seems like it also clogs the syringe as well. Which makes it more difficult. I'm just so discouraged. We recently changed his food to one where the protein is Hydrolyzed due to him maybe having bad allergies. He was on digestive care food before, which helped his poop a lot. And he throws up every week, sometimes multiple times a week. It is so frustrating! I wish he could talk so that I would know what I need to do to make him feel better!
He also has hyperthyroidism. He just isn't very lucky, my poor old man.

 

[ChaoticEva]

I feed my cats wet food, but I still dissolve their probiotics in a little bit of filtered water first before I mix them into their food. They don't like the grittiness of the plain powder. But I would agree not to mix them with HOT water. Room temp is should be fine though.

He doesn't eat wet food. He refuses it, no matter what I've tried. He's 16 now, so I'm not fighting him about wet food anymore.

 

[huxleysmom]

Sorry to hear your poor kitty is not feeling well. I have similar issues with my cat's steroids medicine as he sometimes loses appetite due to nausea. In the past I have used baby food (meat only) or this tuna treat that comes in a tube. It's like a cream that cats can lick right off the tube. They get quite crazy about it. I get mine on amazon. I think the brand is Cia. It's a little expensive, but it works well.

He doesn't eat any treats or meats. Only dry food
The thing with cold or room temperature water, is that I'm unable to grab all of the Probiotics into the syringe. And it seems like it also clogs the syringe as well. Which makes it more difficult. I'm just so discouraged. We recently changed his food to one where the protein is Hydrolyzed due to him maybe having bad allergies. He was on digestive care food before, which helped his poop a lot. And he throws up every week, sometimes multiple times a week. It is so frustrating! I wish he could talk so that I would know what I need to do to make him feel better!
He also has hyperthyroidism. He just isn't very lucky, my poor old man.

 

[kashmir64]

You can get probiotics in a paste/gel form. Then just feed with syringe. I have actually used equine probiotics on the kittens. Same stuff, just watch the dose.

Edit: Here's a link for the gel from Amazon

 

[ChaoticEva]

Thanks for the info. But, like I said, my cat won't eat anything unless it's his dry food. :/
I was even wondering if a medication (like a shot or something) from the vets could help? Does that even exist?

 

[kashmir64]

That's why the gel is so good. They don't need to eat it, you just syringe it in.

 

[huxleysmom]

I don't think such a thing exists. You could always talk to your vet and ask.

Thanks for the info. But, like I said, my cat won't eat anything unless it's his dry food. :/
I was even wondering if a medication (like a shot or something) from the vets could help? Does that even exist?

 

[foxxycat]

You would smear it into their mouth-or put it on your finger and smear it onto the roof of the mouth-they will sit there and lick and swallow. Does he like water out of a syringe? You can give some water-then the icky stuff-then follow with water and a few pieces of kibble.

I totally understand not wanting to fight about food-you can try mixing the powder in meat babyfood-some cats like the ham babyfood. it's thick enough to go on your finger and smear on roof of mouth-try this every other day=just to get into routine.

canned pumpkin also helps poop issues=I put some in a dish-add water and mix until pudding like=and do the smear technique-onto the roof of the mouth-won't need much to get effects. I have one cat where 1/4 teaspoon does the trick. You can try this.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

What probiotic are you mixing with water that isn't dissolving in room temp water? Maybe you need to try a different one, or let it sit longer before trying to syringe it up. I'm using one right now that IS for cats only (because it has no odor to it and I've got a very picky cat) and it dissolves instantaneously. It's true it doesn't have as many strains as I'd like, but I figure it's better than nothing.

 

[ChaoticEva]

I'm currently giving him the Holistic Blend probiotic. It's for both cats and dogs. He doesn't mind the smell (pretty sure there isn't any). It's the texture once it's wet that he dislikes. It gets sticky and his food sticks together, which makes it hard for him to swallow them whole. I might try out the vet one (FortiFlora).

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

FortiFlora is like "kitty crack" to most cats. I have one who absolutely loves it, but the other hates it. It does dissolve well, though, as I recall. I never need to dissolve that one, as I use it as a topper for the one who loves it. But I feed wet so don't need to worry. You might be able to do that to and have your guy just lick it out of the bowl if he likes it. It only has one strain of probiotics though. Works quite well for diarrhea though