Probiotics are a name that everyone is familiar with, but many people only know them in the literal meaning of the surface, and not many people really understand them. Fortunately, relevant research data can be found in human-used probiotics, but when it comes to pet probiotics, there are very few research work or related reference materials in this regard. This has led to the current disorderly and disorderly pet probiotic market, full of various scams.
01
What will you learn from this article?
This article is compiled based on the relevant information collected as much as possible, hoping that it will be helpful to everyone.
Through this article you can learn what probiotics are and which cats need probiotics and what benefits are gained from probiotic supplements. Finally, the best probiotic products on the market are recommended.
Before you start reading, you need to know that your cat is not just a cat, it is an ecosystem, and the cat's body is a living environment of billions of microorganisms. As they feed, excrete and reproduce, these small organisms have profound effects on the environment in which they live.
Just like when yeast and bacteria are mixed in a bowl of flour and water, they become the starter of yeast. When bacteria linger in a bowl of milk, they make yogurt. But it wasn't until recently that we began to understand how bacteria in the body transformed them into new substances. The impact of the microbiome on animals and humans has been found that this internal ecosystem has an impact on almost every aspect of life.
02
The following are some examples of the effects of microbiota (especially gut bacteria) on humans and other animals: the core part of the digestion. Intestinal bacteria ferment the fiber, thus releasing chemicals that help the digestive process.
What do you decide to eat? The microbiome in your body makes at least part of your decision for you what you want to eat. Researchers found that sterile insects like yeast, while those with diverse intestinal flora eat both yeast and sugar. If you want to have chocolate, berries, or ice cream, it might be your gut microbe telling you what they need.
If the gut bacteria are transferred from the "anxious" mice to the calming mice, the second mouse will begin to show signs of anxiety.
The study found that carefully cultivated male sterile mice do not produce their own bacterial flora, and their serotonin is reduced by 60%, commonly known as "happy chemicals." Low serotonin levels are associated with sadness, obsessive-compulsive disorder, insomnia and psychological depression in general.
Intestinal bacteria may be associated with autism. There are fewer populations of Bacteroides fragilis in autistic patients. When mice that exhibit autistic-like behavior are injected into the bacteria, the bacteria appear to relieve these symptoms. When mice were given 4-ethylphenyl sulfate, a chemical believed to be produced by gut bacteria, they began to have more repetitive behaviors and symptoms of autism.
Intestinal bacteria are somewhat entangled with the immune system, but people are not well aware of this situation. More or less gut bacteria can affect the body's response to various diseases, but again, people still have no complete understanding of these clinical responses.
There is no doubt that the microbiome is crucial, but probiotic supplementation has not yet become a science. The theory of supplementing probiotics is that by adding some more friendly microorganisms to the mixture, we can amplify the benefits of existing microorganisms. But things are not that simple, because there are still many questions about microbial research, such as whether this method is really effective, under what circumstances, and which microbiome intestine can play a role in the cat's intestine.
In fact, there are few studies on these directions. Judging from the current research, what we know is that the potential power of probiotics themselves is shocking and helpful to intestinal bacteria, but further research in this direction, such as how probiotics affect humans and how probiotics affect the intestines of cats and dogs, is very rare.
What we know now is:
Probiotics definitely help cats with diarrhea and constipation.
Probiotics can promote overall health of the digestive system.
They help to restore beneficial bacteria after antibiotic treatment.
Probiotics can help cats with kidney disease
03
We don't know which strain is the best for cats. Most of our knowledge of the cat microbiome so far has been inferred based on knowledge of the human microbiome. We cannot create effective cat probiotic supplements without knowing what should be in the cat and how it affects the cat's health.
How do you know if your cat needs probiotics?
Whether healthy or sick, any cat can benefit from supplementing probiotics. In fact, multiple probiotics are a natural component of the cat's diet. By adding probiotics, we can add back what we lost during food processing. The natural diet of cats contains two prebiotics, the so-called animal fibers, that is, the indigestive parts of the animal's body. It also contains digestive enzymes from the intestines of small animals, beneficial yeasts, and bacteria that are also present in the intestines of the small animals.
So, considering that there seems to be a precedent to add probiotics to your cat’s diet, you can think of them as a necessary supplement, just like taurine. Probiotics can also be of great help to certain cats with health problems.
The effect of probiotics on diseases?
Probiotics and IBD (Inflammatory Intestine)
IBD is a complex, lesser-known disease that causes persistent nausea, chronic vomiting and diarrhea, and in many cases, stress the person in care. Although the exact cause of IBD is not yet known, gut bacteria seem to play a role.
We know that fecal transplants can help cats with IBD treatment by introducing bacteria from another animal into the cat's intestine. We also know that boladiacea can stop diarrhea and reduce inflammation.
For the disease IBD, veterinary science is currently exploring therapies for probiotic strains, but so far, IBD can only be treated together through a combination of diet, supplements and lifestyle.
Probiotics and constipation
Intestinal bacteria and fermentation can help keep moisture in feces, which is an important process in preventing constipation. When bacteria ferment fibers, they release short-chain fatty acids, which helps the feces stay hydrated, plump or soften, and easily excrete from the body. Generally speaking, we provide constipated cats with fiber to encourage existing bacteria in their intestines to ferment, but if there are too few bacteria, it will not be able to perform a good fermentation effect.
Theoretically, probiotics can help. The only problem is that we don't know which probiotic is best for cats with constipation.
Probiotics and diarrhea
Yasabaugi are known for treating acute and chronic diarrhea. Therefore, if there is diarrhea, you can supplement the probiotic.
Probiotics with allergies
Supplementing probiotics can help your cats allergies, but it is not an accurate and easy to understand science. We know that the combination of lactic acid bacteria and Bifidobacteria probiotics can help humans cope with allergies. By affecting how the immune system responds to perceived threats, such as allergens, these probiotics can help control allergic symptoms
However, research on probiotics on allergies is limited and focuses on humans rather than cats, so it is difficult to say whether they are really helpful to cats' allergicity.
Probiotics in cats with kidney disease
Probiotics can help cats with kidney disease by performing intestinal dialysis. At this time, bacteria in the intestines took over part of the kidneys' work, and at least some of the failed kidneys cannot filter out the body's waste.
The main probiotic that treats cats with kidney disease is called Azodyl. In theory, this supplement can reduce nitrogen waste in the blood. The results were mixed, with some cats showing improvements, others not. Overall, Azodyl and other probiotics are not reliable methods for treating kidney disease.
Antibiotic effects of probiotics on cats
If your cat has passed a round of antibiotics, probiotic supplementation can help refilling the gut's beneficial bacteria. Taking probiotics during antibiotic treatment can reduce the risk of antibiotics causing diarrhea.
04
How to choose the best probiotics for cats
Animal probiotic market is full of various tricks. Although probiotics are seemingly perfect products. However, it is often easy to exaggerate and not strictly control products in the market. Because the potential benefits of probiotics are so great, and people know very little about what exactly these benefits are and how to achieve them, vendors who peddled probiotics can say almost anything to their products. Like other nutritional medicines, probiotic health statements do not require support from facts or tests.
Especially for cats and dogs, given that there is little knowledge of the cat and dog microbiome at present, there is no regulatory standard for the need or function of probiotics.
Therefore, probiotic sellers hype that labeling their products incorrectly does not always ensure that the product actually works. A 2018 survey of pet probiotics found that of the 25 products examined, only two have accurate labels that identify organisms and actually contain what the label describes. 32% of the complete products misspelled the name of at least one organism. Less than 30% of the products meet their labeling commitments, and most products do not even contain the ingredients they claim, so a total of 8% (2 out of 25 products) have both acceptable labeling and growth that live bacteria meet or exceeds the labeling requirements. ”
05
How do you know if probiotics are still alive?
A option on the market is commonly called milk testing, which is to pour some supplements into a bowl of milk, let them sit for a day, and then come back to check for signs of fermentation. If the milk turns into yogurt, the probiotics are alive. If it is still thin and milky white, it means that the probiotics are dead. Whether this test is really accurate, it is not the case. Milk test is a good way to test the viability of certain probiotic strains at home, just like the lactic acid bacteria strains used in yogurt, it is not effective for all types of probiotics, and sometimes false positives or false negatives. Some non-probiotic additives will produce this reaction, and some will not ferment the milk.
In fact, to verify probiotics at home Whether you are still alive is almost impossible. So this depends on the conscience of the manufacturer! Will refrigeration increase viability?
Some probiotic labels recommend that you refrigerate products to keep fresh. Some do not, and usually those probiotics that need to be refrigerated are considered high-quality products, but this is not necessarily true.
Some probiotics do not need to be refrigerated at all. For example, those stored in vacuum packaging can survive for a long time without refrigeration, and freeze-dried probiotic products do not need to be refrigerated. Some spore-forming bacteria and yeasts do not need to be refrigerated.
Many probiotics do last longer when refrigerated, and refrigeration does not seem to cause harm, but "best refrigeration" is not a sign of quality.
(1) PurinaPro Plan Fortiflora Probiotics for cats, perhaps the most well-known cat probiotic on the market is the Purena Probiotics, which is recommended by veterinary medicine and recognized by cats. It has only one type of Enterococcus faecalis—and only 500 million living microorganisms, but by using a well-studied probiotic and wrapping it to ensure its activity, Purena makes it a reliable, stable product and has the potential to work..
It is a good choice for cats with diarrhea, and its biggest advantage is that it is as a taste. Fortiflora contains animal digestive agents, which gives it all the irresistible temptations.
Fortiflora is a very popular food additive and probiotic product, and thousands of customers say it helps their cats.
Pros
Excellent - Can help cats with poor appetite or attract cats to eat new foods
Use researched probiotics, which have known benefits for cats
From acclaimed company
Disadvantages
(2) HyperbioticsPRO-Pets
This probiotic supplement is wrapped in small pearls for maximum viability and survival. Pearl has the beef flavor that cats like, and it is small in size and is particularly easy to consume
Each pearl provides 3 billion CFUs, including six bacteria. These bacteria include Bifidobacterium lactate, Enterococcus faecalis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium fertilis and Lactobacillus reuteri.
Compared to other cat probiotic supplements, this supplement seems to be cheaper than others. It makes no dramatic statements and has a good reputation on FakeSpot Advantages Good reputation High viability and viability
Easy to dosage and management High CFU counts and multiple bacteria Disadvantages Some cats don't like pearl capsules(3) NOW Acidophobic bacteria 2 billion
Probiotic supplements for humans are generally more reliable and standardized compared to probiotic supplements for pets. The supplement contains Lactobacillus acidophilus, which has been shown to have an impact on the number of beneficial bacteria in the intestine and can improve the way cells in the body deal with waste.
This is a good choice for cats treated with antibiotics and is one of the probiotic strains that may be beneficial for cats allergic.
Advantages
Well-known, safe products
containing bacterial strains with obvious benefits for cats. Affordable and seem to have high viability. Disadvantages
No taste that cats like?(4) Now Saccharomyces cerevisiae This non-colonized yeast is one of the safest and most effective probiotic products that can provide cats. It is especially suitable for cats with acute or chronic diarrhea.
This product has received great praise and has received good customer reviews. It's not sold for cats, but it's a good thing! The products people use are often more reliable, more rigorously tested and more standardized. For example, the product complies with standards set by the FDA, the Natural Products Association and Good Production Code.
Each capsule contains 5 billion CFUs.
Pros
Researched Probiotics
Received Customer Reviews
Disadvantages
Not the taste that cats like
06
Remember that a healthy stomach and intestine stems from a healthy lifestyle. This means eating the right food, maintaining proper hygiene, exercising, and even reducing stress.
Diet
We know that for humans, a variety of diets rich in fresh fruits and vegetables can promote healthy gut bacteria. But cats are very different from us, and a diet rich in fruits, nuts and vegetables is simply not the right choice for them.
Eating foods with high carbohydrate levels often fills the cat's intestinal microbiome with bacteria that like to eat sugar. This can cause inflammation and possible health problems. While we are not sure how these microorganisms affect health, we know cats who eat high-protein foods are more likely to have certain beneficial gut bacteria
Prebiotics
In addition to your cat's normal diet, you may also need to supplement prebiotics to supplement their diet.
While probiotics increase the number of beneficial gut bacteria, probiotics also help cats' gut bacteria flourish. Intestinal bacteria consume prebiotic fibers and then release short-chain fatty acids during fermentation.
All prebiotics are fibers, but not all fibers are prebiotics. Sources of prebiotic fiber include chicory root, dandelion green, jerita taro, barley and apple peel.
Prebiotics do not choose which biological bacteria to eat them. If your cat has a little yeast in its body, prebiotic supplements can do a good job. If your cat has any other type of bacteria imbalance, the supplement of prebiotics may feed harmful bacteria and move in a very unfavorable direction.
Oral Hygiene
Considering that the entire body (from teeth to toes) represents a microbial ecosystem, maintaining a healthy population of bacteria in one place can help beneficial bacteria thrive elsewhere.
In the late stage of periodontal disease, bacteria in cats' mouths will penetrate through their gums and enter the blood, and begin to slowly and toxicly swim throughout the body.
Outdoor adventure
Playing outdoors will expose your cat to various bacteria and other microorganisms that will not be encountered in the cat's body. Outdoor activities are also a great way to get exercise and mental stimulation, both of which can have a positive impact on the microbiota
07
Summary
Probiotics are the most helpful supplements you can give your cat. We know that they have the potential to have a positive impact on everything, from emotions to diarrhea, appetite and constipation. However, since pet probiotics have not yet formed relevant industry norms, it is difficult to find trustworthy products. As we learn more about the cat's microbiome and how probiotics can help, the industry will gradually become more stable and transparent.
Currently, we can gain enormous benefits from probiotic supplements for humans and cats, which have high CFU counts, well-studied strains. These trusted products can help cats effectively treat diarrhea, constipation, IBD and allergies.