Saccharomyces boulardii and cats

[tpapictures]

Is there special feline S. Boulardii? Or is it the same as the human kind just at a smaller dose?

 

[Tobermory]

You can certainly buy S. boulardii that's marketed for cats, but you can also use S. boulardii that's marketed to humans. Same stuff.

 

[FeebysOwner]

It seems many members use human s. boulardii, and the one I feel I have seen mentioned most often is Jarrow brand.
Saccharomyces boulardii Probiotic for Pets (White Paper)– FullBucket Health

What I am not sure of is the quantity to give a cat, but maybe there are some tips in these previous posts.
Search Results for Query: s. boulardii dosage | TheCatSite

 

[BellaBlue82]

I've used Jarrow s. Boulardii for my kitties. I typically open the capsule and put half into a #4 capsule (you can buy vegan capsules on Amazon.) But you can start with 1/4 of a Jarrow capsule into a #4 to see how well kitty tolerates it. Oh, and I bought a handy-dandy pill holder that I use to fill them, that daftcat75 recommended in one of his posts.

 

[daftcat75]

I've used Jarrow s. Boulardii for my kitties. I typically open the capsule and put half into a #4 capsule (you can buy vegan capsules on Amazon.) But you can start with 1/4 of a Jarrow capsule into a #4 to see how well kitty tolerates it. Oh, and I bought a handy-dandy pill holder that I use to fill them, that daftcat75 recommended in one of his posts.

Did you buy the capsule holder or the filling machine? I probably posted a link to a ten capsule holder before I re-discovered where my filling machine moved to. I love the filling machine. It takes me twenty minutes once a month to make fifty capsules.
Manual capsule filler for 50 capsules of size 0,00,000 respectively

 

[tpapictures]

Is there something other than a device that fills like 50 capsules? Some tool maybe that just facilitates filling one at a time ?

 

[daftcat75]

Is there something other than a device that fills like 50 capsules? Some tool maybe that just facilitates filling one at a time ?

You can always load just the top row of a filling machine, and do ten at a time. I have to split Betty's gabapentin dose. The vet dispenses 100 mg capsules and she's been getting 50 mg twice a day. The gabapentin doesn't fill the size four capsules. I can't just make a big pile and push it all evenly across the 50 capsules. Instead I open up five capsules on the top row between two holes and split the powder between two capsules. Five 100 mg capsules split between ten holes.

But yes, there are also smaller holders and you can buy the filling spatula to fill them one at a time. And by the time you have bought a holder and the spatulas, it will come out about the same as the machine. I just find the filling machine so much easier. 20 minutes once a month and I've got another 50 capsules (25 days) until I have to think about it again.

 

[daftcat75]

Here's the spoons and spatulas.
Amazon.com

But you're going to have a hard time finding size four trays. Most of these sites only bother with 0 and 00. Before I bought a machine, I hacked one by turning an egg carton upside down and poking holes in the egg holders just large enough to press a capsule in snugly and flush with the surface. Then you have a twelve capsule filling machine for cheap. Or as high density as you can get without turning the egg carton into unusable swiss cheese.

 

[tpapictures]

Related...ish question. I doubt that it's necessary to start a whole new thread for this because we're talking about S Boulardii already but please let me know if I've crossed a line.

Can S. Boulardii be given while giving Probiotics (we use Fera Pet Organics) or is that provoking bad gut flora somehow? It's never in the same feeding so that when we give S Boulardii we don't give the Probiotics. It's just that we've been doing the S Boulardii for 2 days, the poop has been a lot more normal but all of a sudden there was an out of nowhere half-diarrhea and we're wondering if it's the combination somehow working against our cat. The food being given in the last day isn't food that we know to cause problems.
Thoughts?

 

[Tobermory]

The probiotics brand you’re using has S. boulardii as one of the strains. I don’t think it’s a problem, but check your dosage. The therapeutic adult cat dosage daily is 5 billion CFU split into two doses for diarrhea.

 

[tpapictures]

The probiotics brand you’re using has S. boulardii as one of the strains. I don’t think it’s a problem, but check your dosage. The therapeutic adult cat dosage daily is 5 billion CFU split into two doses for diarrhea.

View attachment 460229

Yes, we're aware but after speaking to the founder of the company, she said they only put 0.1 billion CFUs of S Boulardii in it.

 

[Tobermory]

Ah. That’s not much. I’d be tempted to stop the probiotics and continue the S. boulardii and see how it goes.

 

[tpapictures]

Ah. That’s not much. I’d be tempted to stop the probiotics and continue the S. boulardii and see how it goes.

Yeah, the other problem we're having which I haven't yet mentioned is that no sooner did we start giving the S Boulardii and seeing results than he started to notice it in the food and stop eating if he smelled it.
We hid it successfully with Creamy treats. The Creamy treats caused the diarrhea.
So, Boulardii may be out of the question now if he hates the smell so much, regardless of how much it helps.

 

[Tobermory]

What brand of S. boulardii are you using? I’ve heard that Jarrow, while effective, isn’t palatable to all cats.

 

[daftcat75]

Makes sense that the creamy treat would cause the diarrhea. Those creamy treats often have xanthan gum. Xanthan gum helps make smooth foods smooth. And it can also make poops “smooth” too. Cream treat in. Cream treat out.

SB palatability depends on the cat. Krista loved SB (Jarrow brand), and I could use it to mask other flavors she didn’t care for as much. Betty doesn’t like the taste of it. SB is just one of three, sometimes four capsules that Betty takes twice a day. I posted the Medicating Tips video earlier. Betty will eat her capsules with a frosting of Hills A/D. I dip and drop. She scoops and swallows. As long as her meds come in a capsule or can be packed into a capsule, it cannot get any easier to medicate her.

 

[tpapictures]

What are we referring to when we say Jarrow brand? Jarrow is an actual brand?

 

[daftcat75]

Jarrow is the brand.
Amazon.com

I also wanted to circle back to the capsule filling machine conversation the other day. I'm not sure if you're clear on how it works. You don't fill each of the 50 capsules individually. Because you're going to fill these capsules to the top, you just open up the larger capsules onto the tray and use the included push card to draw the SB back and forth over the capsules until they are full. There is also a tamp tool that lets you tamp all fifty at once so you can make sure they are packed and then scrape the card past a few more times until they are full to the top. When you can't get any more in after tamping, the tamp tool goes underneath the machine to lift all fifty capsules up to make it possible to cap them. You will spend the most time putting the capsules into the machine, capping them, and pulling them out. The actual filling is super quick and easy. It takes me 20 minutes to turn about 12 human (or horse!) sized Jarrows into 50 cat sized capsules.

 

[tpapictures]

Jarrow is the brand.

Right, ok. We can't get that here on Amazon Canada.
But the reason the 50 capsule tray is excessive for us is because we'll maybe use S Boulardii to get over a bout of diarrhea and use it for maybe 3-4 days. So we'll never need to prep 50 capsules. We just don't use SB that often.

 

[daftcat75]

Betty takes SB twice a day to help manage her IBD. So yeah. Maybe excessive for you. But essential for me.

 

[Jabzilla]

You can always try the Renew Life brand of S Boulardii. That's what I use for my cat since the tapioca starch in the Jarrow brand doesn't agree with him. I dont think it has a taste either. Renew Life® BoulardiiMAX, Antibiotic-Associated diarrhea, Travel Support Probiotic, 10 Billion Active Cultures | Renew Life Canada