Anyone knowledgable about probiotics?

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Cheryl - 04 Sep 2003 01:21 GMT

There is a human version, Primadophilus Jr, which was recommended and
I think it looks good. I'd like some other opinions if there are any.
I got to rethinking this after the post about yogurt. The problem
with most probiotics is that they are broken down by stomach acids and
don't make it to the intestines. This probiotic is in a gelcap that
is formulated to withstand stomach acids and release in the
intestines. My problem is that I don't know and can't find the
correct number of billions of microorganisms are typically in a cat?

From Nature's Way website (manufacturers of Primadophilus Jr) says
this about their product:

Product Quality Issues: With extra small, easy-to-swallow capsules,
Primadophilus Junior contains strains of beneficial bacteria in
proportions found naturally in pre-teen children. Potency: Maximum
potency of 5.2 billion microorganisms per gram (1 billion
Bifidobacterium and lactobacilli per capsule). 100% Intestinal Release
Difference: Each Primadophilus Junior capsule has a proprietary
enteric coating that completely withstands stomach acid so it can
release its full potency into the intestine tract. Without this
feature up to 95% of the cultures would be lost in the stomach.

Anyone have any thoughts or facts?

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William Hamblen - 04 Sep 2003 03:47 GMT

> Anyone have any thoughts or facts?

I have no idea what the normal intestinal flora of a cat are,
I do know that a cat's gut is different from a human being's.
What's the intent here?

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-L. - 04 Sep 2003 09:43 GMT

> There is a human version, Primadophilus Jr, which was recommended and
> I think it looks good. I'd like some other opinions if there are any.

I would be really hesitant to use a probiotic in a cat unless it is
medically warranted, and then, only under vet supervision. I used to
work for a company that made gut innoculants for ruminants - cows,
etc. We humans used to take it for hangovers - it worked great, but I
don't recommend doing so...

As for dosage, the correct amount is *some*. All it takes is a few in
the intestine to establish a colony, if the conditions are favorable.
But again, I wouldn't use anything designed for humans unless you
*know* the species are also found in cats. I would do a PubMed search
to find out what flora naturally occur in cats - sorry I don't have
that answer for you.

HTH,
-L.

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Steve Crane - 04 Sep 2003 20:19 GMT

> There is a human version, Primadophilus Jr, which was recommended and
> I think it looks good. I'd like some other opinions if there are any.
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> Anyone have any thoughts or facts?

To my knowledge there has NEVER been a single published study showing
any benefits to feeding pro-biotics to healthy cats or dogs. All the
research deals with scouring (diarrhea) calves and other food animals
post antibiotic therapy or concurrent with some similar disease
symptoms. The addition of pro or pre-biotics makes logical sense, but
is unsupported in any literature I am aware of relative to cats and
dogs. Basically this is a slick marketing gimmick and nothing more. If
they had the data the showed any positive results it would have been
published.

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Mary - 05 Sep 2003 21:48 GMT

>There is a human version, Primadophilus Jr, which was recommended and
>I think it looks good. I'd like some other opinions if there are any.
>I got to rethinking this after the post about yogurt. The problem
>with most probiotics is that they are broken down by stomach acids and
>don't make it to the intestines.

I use Bene-bac from Petco with success. I've used it on squirrels and cats that
had gut flora killed by antibiotics. It works great. The gut flora is back in
half a day and no more diarrhea. It's able to survive the stoumach acids and
there's a formula for animals that's easy to figure based on weight. Thanks for
the list of other probiotics.

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