Azydol? Probiotic?

[kse]

My Kitty has been DX with Chronic Renal Failure. I have read a lot on this site about CRF, but I am wondering if anyone has ever used Azydol? I understand the capsuals are extremely large and hard to get the cat to take-- can anyone confirm? Also, this will reveal how little I know about medicine--- Azydol is listed as a Probiotic---- are all Probiotics the same? Could I use an alternative Probiotic and achieve the same results as Azydol?

 

[BJM]

Haven't used it.
Per Vetoquinol, USA
"DOSING AND TREATMENT:
Azodyl capsules should be given whole and not opened or crushed. If necessary, administer capsule with a piece of the animal’s favorite food or treat."

Also note the research cited
"References:
1. Ranganathan N, et al. Probiotics reduce azotemia in Gottingen minipigs. Poster presentation at the 3rd World Congress of Nephrology, June 26-30, 2005, Singapore."
... was done on minipigs, not cats. It may work in cats, it just isn't the research cited.

Per Drugslcom it contains "Kibow Biotics® [E. thermophilus (KB 19), L. acidophilus (KB 27), B. longum (KB 31), Psyllium husk]."
Both acidophilus bacteria and psyllium husk are available over the counter. With some hunting, you may find the other 2 probiotics too.

Lactobacillus acidophilus
General probiotic info

FortiFlora is a probiotic many of us have used, especially to get inappetent cats to eat, as it is combined with animal digest (like a broth mix) which seems to motivate many cats to eat it. Don't know if it does the same things.

 

[Karen and Flo]

I used Azodyl for my CRF cat, and I think it helped. I actually managed to get her kidney values down a bit, using my diabetic friendly Wellness grain free canned food, Azodyl, and daily subQ fluids. I have no way to know what helped the most, but I assume the Azodyl had something to do with it. Of course this was before my vet trashed her kidneys with Gabapentin, but that's another story. Anyhoo, there was no way I was getting that giant capsule down Flo's gullet. I contacted Vetoquinol, and a very nice vet there, Stephanie Arnold, said it was fine to mix the contents of the capsule with her wet food, but to get her to eat it as quickly as possible, to ensure the contents remain cool (Azodyl is temperature sensitive, and must be refrigerated). She told me a couple weeks ago that they have made a newer version, that is in a capsule half the size, but I haven't seen it anywhere yet. Fluids seem to be the most beneficial, but I would try the Azodyl and look into phosphorus binders like Epakitin (also by Vetoquinol), lanthanum carbonate, which my vet favors over other binders (you can get this product, www.renalzin.com) on ebay--it's not sold in the US yet. Good luck.

ETA: from the Vetoquinol website: Azodyl "specifically focuses on the reduction of toxin buildup in the blood of dogs and cats with azotemia. Studies show that Azodyl administered orally on a daily basis has the potential to decrease BUN levels and prolong survival in renal insufficiency".

 

[Larry and Kitties]

You " are all Probiotics the same?". No. Azydol is formulated with bacteria that transform the BUN or Creatitine to other substances an thus reduce the blood level of those constituents. ( it could be BUN or Creatitine, I do not remember the specifics).

 

[lynda and scruffy (GA)]

Hi. (Don't see your name in your post.)

I have Azydol capsules that Choy-Foong kindly gave me when Scruffy got CRF. And yes, they are huge capsules. I had read on the Yahoo CRF websites about people giving the capsules and having them show up a day or so later when the cat threw up, and that actually happened to The Puffer - I gave him the first capsule, and the next day, he threw up - the ONLY time he threw up in the two months, including during chemotherapy treatment, that we knew he had lymphoma and CRF. Right in the middle of the pile was the empty capsule. I assume, although there's no way to know, that he actually digested the contents. After that, I opened the capsules and mixed them into a little bit of baby food meat and finger fed them to him. I can't say that it seemed that it was doing much good, but his condition worsened so rapidly that probably nothing could have helped. I know that Choy-Foong felt that azydol was very effective in helping Meowzi battle CRF.

I live in Pittsburgh. Because the azydol needs to be kept refrigerated/cool, if you're not too far away and if the weather doesn't go back to being so unseasonably warm, I'd be happy to send you the three bottles I have left. They are all unopened. One is dated to expire in 3/2012, and the other two are dated 2/2012. However, we thought that the capsules would be very likely to still be effective because they were carefully handled.

If you're interested in having them, send me a PM and we can see what the possibilities for shipping are..

And just a word about Epakitin - someone on the CRF board was a chemist, and analyzed its contents - it was more than 80% fillers, and as a result they didn't recommend it. We used aluminum hydroxide (also a gift from Choy-Foong), and Scruffy ate it fairly willingly. It's supposedly tasteless and odorless. All my other cats spent the whole two months trying to get at Scruffy's food, so they seemed to think it was inoffensive.

 

[nwnews]

I just got two new bottles of Azodyl and the capsules are half the size they were before. I was going to call the company thinking I got a bad batch but now I won't since this is a planned change. I slime the capsules in baby food and then just pop them in Sitka's mouth and she swallows them. I definitely feel that they have helped keep Sitka's CRF stable - her creatnine went from 4.4 to 2.8 using Azodyl and subq fluids. Jan