Can probiotics hurt Newkitty because she is immunosuppressed

[allie and newkitty]

Newkitty has been having diarrhea (well, gassy, very loose stool, soft serve style) for about a month now. Following 2 weeks of Clindamycin for her dental at the very end of the year, then a month of Baytril for her lung infection. I gave her Fortiflora (maybe 2 of the sachets over a week's time?) after the Baytril. She is now on 11 days of Metronidazole and had motile bacteria (and something else beginning with an s) in her stool sample today. We added baytril and another antibiotic which has to be compounded and won't be ready until Monday. I gave her some more Fortiflora yesterday and today.

I just read some horror stories about probiotics & the immunosuppressed on the web and wonder if I have caused this/made it worse? She is on 20 mg pred a day and has been for years.

 

[BJM]

Re: Can probiotics hurt Newkitty because she is immunosuppre

When in doubt, don't.

If you decide to try it, don't use the full packet. Start with a pinch for several meals and watch for an increase in problems. Logging your observations will help you keep track. If no adverse problems seen, increase to 2 pinches. Make all increases in small amounts and continue monitoring. If you see anything, step down to a lower dose or discontinue.

 

[lynda and scruffy (GA)]

Re: Can probiotics hurt Newkitty because she is immunosuppre

I missed something here, Allie- how come Newkitty's immunosuppressed?

Scruffy was getting a probiotic for CRF called azodyl, and there were several discussions on the Yahoo CRF board about a variety of probiotics and their uses. I'm a little vague (well, a lot vague) but it seems to me that they weren't enthused about Fortiflora. I wish I could be more specific.

When my guys have diarrhea, they usually get albon. I don't know if there's a specific reason to use it or not, but so far, it's been effective every time.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Re: Can probiotics hurt Newkitty because she is immunosuppre

For information, Albon is Sulfadimethoxine is an antibiotic and also used to treat coccidial infections in dogs, cats, and many other species.

 

[allie and newkitty]

Re: Can probiotics hurt Newkitty because she is immunosuppre

Thank you, BJM. That is a good, practical idea for me to dip my toes in without wreaking havoc.

Lynda, hi, thank you for responding. She takes an immunosuppressive dose of pred for her chronic pancreatitis, and has since 2005. We can't ever get it down lower than that without triggering a pancreatic crisis. I am just concerned about why it's not helping the diarrhea, but if it's an infection then I am sure her immune system is having trouble fighting it off. My vet did mention Albon as another option.

Larry, thanks for the additional info about Albon. We may very well find ourselves on that if the Baytril & Metro can't take this out.

Can they culture bacteria from a stool sample?