Anyone ever heard of "Pet Flora"???

**jazzcat** · 06-06-2006, 10:05 AM

I hope one of these things will help Brodie. I would definitely try the tablets Debbie suggested or the yogurt first.

What you said about the cleaner smell getting to you made me think of Richard. He can't handle anything Pine Sol smelling because he says he remembers in grade school the kid next to him throwing up everywhere and the janitor cleaning it up with pencil shavings and then mopping it all down with Pine Sol. He almost turns green when he smells it today. LOL.

I hope Brodie gets some relief soon, poor little guy.

**Sonia59** · 06-06-2006, 10:17 AM

Christa, this is just the field I am working in!

Which does not mean I have the 100% good advice for Brodie. I don't know much about cats intestinal problems and I also don't know exactly about the origin of Brodie's problem. But if my thoughts can help a bit...

About yoghurt, except if Brodie is allergic to something specific in yoghurt he should not throw up more if you give him some. And it's full of healthy compounds.

Debbie, acidophilus is not the same as the bacteria contained in yoghurt. The acidophilus you take is probably a probiotic and has been selected to have more beneficial effects in the intestine than the classical yoghurt bacteria.

The difference between acidophilus and Pet Flora is that acidophilus is supposed to be adapted to humans and Pet Flora is for cats and dogs, who do not have the same microbes as we have. And I have no idea whether it is good or bad to give human bacteria to a cat! If you decide to try it may be you should give Brodie a dose lower than for humans.
And in any case, yoghurt or other, this is never a short term "treatment". It has to be eaten daily and you will see effects after let's say two weeks or so.

Pet Flora also contains different bacteria, which is expected to be more efficient than only one. But from what I read from the website, they do not explain how they have selected the strains, what the strains are exactly, what the amounts are and if they have tested their safety. You should be careful with these probiotic products because most of them actually do not contain what's claimed on the package. It is already vague for humans but I think it is even worse for animals. Since my previous post I checked a bit more about the available studies in this field...and I could find almost nothing!

**christa** · 06-06-2006, 10:49 AM

Wow, thanks so much guys . . . Especially Sonia for all the info. Your doubts about it are enough to steer me in the opposite direction!

Anyway, I am on my way out the door right now to the store to get the little guy a tub of his own yogurt!

How much do you think per day??? Spoonful or so?

I just hope the yogurt doesn't come back up . . . I can only imagine what a mess that would be to clean up! GROSS!

**Sonia59** · 06-06-2006, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by christa

Your doubts about it are enough to steer me in the opposite direction!

Anyway, I am on my way out the door right now to the store to get the little guy a tub of his own yogurt!

How much do you think per day??? Spoonful or so?

I just hope the yogurt doesn't come back up . . . I can only imagine what a mess that would be to clean up! GROSS!

I feel a bit guilty, if ever this would be good for Brodie and you choose not to give him...

Please do not take only my opinion into account, but from a scientific point of view, if I would see this, I would hesitate to give it to my own cat. The claims are not strong enough. I truely believe in probiotics as long are they have been seriously checked. May be you could try to write them and get more info on the content, the tests they have made, etc... and see what they reply.

A spoonful of yoghurt sounds good. May be not too much at the beginning, to be sure he won't throw up. If he throws up there could also be something not good for him in the yoghurt.

**kuhio98** · 06-06-2006, 01:04 PM

Christa ~ I can't remember all the things you've tried, but have you tried human baby food? Meat flavored, of course. When Kuhio was getting very ill, it was the only thing she could keep down. I checked with the vet and he said it was fine. She ate a jar or 2 a day. Those suckers are $1 a jar up here. But, it was definitely worth it not to have to clean up puke all the time and it helped keep her weight up.

**christa** · 06-06-2006, 03:25 PM

Well, Brodie just had his first spoonful of plain full fat yogurt. At first he didn't act like he was going to like it, took a couple of licks and walked away, smacked his lips, went back, took a few more licks . . . and so on . . . he seemed to like it more when he was licking it from Meowmie's finger!

Anyway, he ate most of what I gave him. I will keep this up for awhile and see if it will make a difference. If not, I will try something else.

Can't hurt to try.

**catmandu** · 06-06-2006, 05:37 PM

I Hope That You Can Find Something As The Found Cats,will Lose Thier Dinners Occasionally, No Matter What I Feed.
I Wonder If Its The Fact With 14 Cats, They Eat Too Quickly To Eat Thier Share Before The Aggressive Gobblers.

**orangemm** · 06-06-2006, 05:51 PM

Let us know how the yogurt works! Poor little Brodie (and poor you!).

**RedHedd** · 06-06-2006, 07:40 PM

Aww! Poor Brodie. I do hope the full-fat yogurt works. When Goldie first started getting sick and we didn't know what was wrong, I tried acidophilus - it's available in capsules, tablets or liquid. She would have nothing to do with any of it.

**christa** · 06-06-2006, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by catmandu

I Wonder If Its The Fact With 14 Cats, They Eat Too Quickly To Eat Thier Share Before The Aggressive Gobblers.

Gary, I even thought of that being the case with Brodie because he does have a tendancy to gobble his food down. I went as far as to feed him BY HAND for a few months

just to see if it would make a difference. It didn't.

It was fun though . . . I felt like a momma bird, LOL.