What Are Probiotics For Cats & What Are The Benefits?

A cat’s body contains trillions of live bacteria, most of which reside in the gut. These gut bacteria are part of their “microbiome,” and each cat’s bacteria population is unique to the individual and subject to change based their diet, health status and lifestyle choices.

During times of stress and infection, the microbiome balance can increase in the number of bad bacteria, knocking their system out of balance and potentially causing digestive upsets such as decreased appetite, vomiting, diarrhea or stool changes. Conversely, good bacteria when at optimal levels, have been shown to help keep the digestive system healthy, minimize the proliferation of bad bacteria and work to return the microbiome to a healthy balance.

Probiotics for cats are a way to add good bacteria to their bodies. When given to a cat either through their food or as a supplement, probiotics work to help populate and balance the microbiome of the gut to produce positive health effects in both the digestive system and for the overall health of the cat.

70% of a cat’s immune system resides in their digestive tract, keeping it balanced with an array of good bacteria is a great way to ensure that your feline stays healthy.

What Are The Best Probiotics For Cats?

Cat probiotics come in a variety of forms including supplement powders, pills and even coated on the outside of kibble.  When looking for the best probiotics for your cat, it is important to seek an option that not only suits your cat’s taste preferences but one that contains the highest CFU (colony forming units) amount and contains varied strains of probiotic bacteria. A diverse array of probiotics such as Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Enterococcus help optimize digestive health more than just a single strain. Each type of probiotic works in different parts of the digestive tract.

How Do I Incorporate Probiotics Into My Cats Diet?

To ensure optimal digestive benefits, a daily dose of probiotics is key. Many cats are reluctant to swallow a capsule and are picky when it comes to eating powder sprinkled on their food. So, choosing to feed a premium dry food that has guaranteed levels of probiotics is often the best way to get your cat the daily digestive support they need.  Probiotics incorporated into kibble are applied once the recipe has been cooked and the kibble has cooled. This helps ensure the viability of the microorganisms to deliver the desired digestive health benefits. With several cat food brands on the market claiming to contain probiotics, determining a superior quality product is important.

This is best determined by looking at the Guaranteed Analysis on the back of the cat food bag. To ensure the finished product contains the probiotics each brand claims, you want to see probiotics listed in this chart. If they are not present, then there is no guarantee that the recipe contains viable sources or numbers of probiotics to deliver a digestive health benefit.

Do Cats Need Probiotics Every Day?

Wellness cat foods feature not only protein-rich, natural nutrition sourced from the finest ingredients for a delicious meal, but every dry food recipe also contains dietary fiber, probiotics and guaranteed beneficial bacteria probiotics. With these ingredients, feeding your cat Wellness every day helps promote a balanced microbiome for superior digestive health in your cat and support immunity for a lifetime of wellbeing.

Using probiotics for cats can help keep your cat’s digestive tract healthy and maintain their overall health. Choose a high-quality food choice, in whichever form will be easiest to administer for you and your cat, and you will keep them healthy and happy!