Anyone use ProZyme or Prozyme Plus?

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

I talked to one of the vets yesterday about my aunt's 14 y.o. cat. He has lost over a lb since last April and his coat is crappy (oily, dandruffy, mats), has soft stool/diarrhea and he is ravenous all the time. His Free T4 by ED came back totally normal (39 in a 20-50 normal range) and his BG was 219 (non-fasting, vet stress - when I test him at home he is in the 70-80s). So the vet suggested using digestive enzymes like Prozyme in his food.

I have never heard of it, so I wondered about it's safety and effectiveness.

 

[Okohme]

What food is your aunt feeding her kitty? I've noticed that with lower quality and lower protein foods, my cats seemed constantly hungry. Their coats were not in as good condition as they are now either. I know that digestive enzymes can be helpful for humans, but for cats I do not know. As far as I know most animals with livers and pancreases, etc, use digestive enzymes and have symbiotic bacteria living in their intestines, which due to modern processed foods and antibiotics, occasionally require a little outside assistance.
The reviews I looked up on ProZyme seem to indicate that a lot of people are pretty happy with the results.
However, the negative reviews do note that the first ingredient is lactose and many cats are lactose intolerant which would mean even more problems.
If your aunt does choose to use it you might want to recommend starting slow or with a small amount and watching for signs of a problem because the digestive upset etc, that would indicate intolerance. The site I looked at had several reviews by people who used it successfully with their cats so it might be worth a try.
Several of the reviews mentioned problems like weight loss and poor coat as issues that were remedied by the use of the ProZyme product.

 

[Laura and Harley (GA)]

Hi Sheila, I used the Prozyme powdered regular formula for 2 days for Harley back when he was first Dx'd with pancreatitis because I'd read an article that indicated digestive enzymes might be beneficial. I only used it for 2 days because I found out that it has a bitter taste and since he had next to zero appetite to begin with, my mixing the ProZyme into his food was killing what little appetite he had left. I used it for so short a time, I don't know if it had any positive benefits.

Not much help, I know. :roll:

 

[Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA]

My aunt feeds FF Classics and sometimes Sophisticat. I tried to get her to feed FF mixed with Wellness, but that was too much "bother" (she is 84).

Hmmm, interesting that it is bitter tasting. I hate to ask how you know that, Laura, lol! Maybe FortaFlora would be better. It has animal digest in it - that ingredient that makes dry food irresistible to them. But it doesn't have enzymes in it.