Introducing Probiotics into Your Cat's Diet

If you notice that your cat is experiencing frequent diarrhea, food intolerance, or digestion problems, it might be a good idea to supplement her diet with probiotics. These natural bacteria will help aid your cats digestive system and improve her overall well-being.

In general, every living creature needs good bacteria in its gut to aid in digestion. These good bacteria are called probiotics, and provide a lot of benefits to intestinal health, including the absorption of vital nutrients and the elimination of wastes. Just like humans, cats also need these probiotics to stay healthy. To give you a clearer picture of the benefits of these bacteria, the following are some of the advantages of probiotics for your pet cat.

Probiotics improve the health of your cats digestive system. With the presence of probiotics, your cat will be better able to fight off disease brought on by harmful bacteria like salmonella. Probiotics also assist in the growth and development of your cat. Since probiotics mainly work in the digestive system, they help to reduce flatulence and bloating, which can make your cat inactive and restless.

Probiotics help the immune system to produce natural antibiotics to fight off bacteria. They can also help to regulate your cats hormone levels.

Aside from producing antibiotics, probiotics also aid in the synthesis of vitamin b, biotin, and folic acid.

Because probiotics help in the process of digestion, they can enhance your cats appetite and make her more energetic. Your cats absorption of nutrients are also enhanced, increasing her uptake of the antioxidants that prevent cancer and iron buildup.

These are just some of the benefits of introducing probiotics to your cats diet. And unlike many medications that treat some of the above-discussed illnesses, probiotics can actually be introduced to your cats diet as early as birth. Many cat owners prefer to introduce probiotics during weaning so that the cats gut can easily adjust. If your cat has good amounts of probiotics in her body from this early age, they will actually improve your cats immune system and help her to fight off diseases.

Whether you opt to give your cat homemade or commercially-prepared foods, you can find supplements that will add digestive enzymes or probiotics to her food. However, as with any change to your cats diet, its best to do it in moderation. This will prevent your cat from having any digestive disturbances due to change in diet.

The following are some tips on how and when to introduce pro-biotics to your cats diet:

Make changes slowly. If youre switching your cat to a new food that contains probiotics, mix in a small amount to her usual food and increase the ratio everyday. Try to spread the change out over a week or more.

If the food youre using doesnt have probiotics added to it, you can add digestive enzyme supplements to your cats food. There are plenty of available commercial digestive enzyme supplements on the market today that you can choose from.

While probiotics are often useful in reducing the digestive issues many cats have with commercially-prepared foods, its important to remember that there are other causes of these symptoms as well. If diarrhea or other symptoms continue after probiotics are introduced, check with your vet to see if internal parasites or other illnesses could be to blame.