Digestive flora for fauna with poor digestion

July 11, 2009 9:55 PM

Best probiotic supplement for an allergic cat? OR: Probiotic/digestive supplements with short ingredient lists.

Backstory: At the vet's today, we decided it's time to begin treating our cat Torgo's IBD/IBS/general digestive issues more aggressively. As well as a short course of Flagyl and regular Prednisone, the vet recommended probiotic supplements with the prescription food he's been on for over a year now (Hill's z/d).

He did say that it may be difficult to find a probiotic, because of Torgo's food sensitivities. We haven't done extensive tests to determine what he's most sensitive to, because I don't want to put him through the discomfort of a reaction.

Does anyone know of any good probiotics that have limited other ingredients? The fewer ingredients there are, I'm hoping the less chance he will have a reaction, and the more I know of with limited ingrdinets, the more we can try.

posted by subbes to Pets & Animals (7 answers total)

Best answer: My god mom's cat was recently diagnosed IBD and it was a pretty bad case, took 3 months to get the cat back on an even keel. The probiotic she uses is called FortiFlora & is one of Purina's veterinarian prescription products, and is specifically for felines. It's odd to me that your vet did not recommend it, although if he/she is not a feline specialist maybe that's why. I would ask the vet if it can be ordered for you and if not, I would suggest finding a feline only practice.
posted by zarah at 11:39 PM on July 11, 2009

Best answer: Feline FortiFlora
posted by zarah at 11:43 PM on July 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

I used FortiFlora with an elderly cat with renal problems and intermittent diarrhea, but got only mediocre results. However, I think it's definitely worth a try for IBS.
posted by maudlin at 3:46 AM on July 12, 2009

Solid Gold Dzymes

InClover Optagest

Ark Naturals Gentle Digest

It's impossible to say which one is best because your animal is a unique snowflake - what works for one might not work for yours...but these are all high quality reputable brands worth a shot...good luck.
posted by vito90 at 12:25 PM on July 12, 2009

Not to derail or anything, but when our cat was diagnosed with IBD it was vastly and immediately improved by switching her to a high protein (low carb), all canned food diet (we use Innova Evo). The reasoning behind doing so is that grains are not a normal part of feline diet and many cats develop allergies to them.
posted by entropy at 12:32 PM on July 12, 2009

Hmm, the first ingredient in Hill's Z/D is starch, which doesn't seem very promising. I know some people believe that carnivores have a hard time processing starch, especially processed starch. I'd be looking into other foods if that one is not helping.

Anyway, you can buy probiotics at the health food store, you don't have to get specially packaged ones for cats. There is often powdered Lactobacillus sp. in the refrigerated section. You can just sprinkle it on his food.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:15 PM on July 12, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks all!

The vet has ordered FortiFlora but it hasn't come in yet. We're also switching off the z/d (to i/d first, but if there's no improvement after 3 months I'm going to EVO or raw feeding).
posted by subbes at 7:32 PM on August 6, 2009