Florentero

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has heard of or had experience with Florentero. I received some information from my vet on it and have been doing a little research. Not much on the internet other than their own website.

Any information anyone has experienced or heard of would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Karen

The ingredients list looks pretty standard except for the petrolatum ~ a carcinogen. And there's something about soybean oil that's twigging in my brain as a possible no-no.

Have you tried just plain ol' Lactobacillus? From a cost/ hassle perspective it may be simpler and less costly to start with that. In fact all of the important ingredients in it you can get at your pharmacy, your grocery store and a health food store.

Were you ever able to pick up some of the Natural Factor's probiotic? I aggree with mumx3 that there are better options. Along with the petrolatum in the paste, I don't like the malt extract. The chewable tablets don't have petrolatum, but they do contain yeast, maltodextrin, lactose, corn starch, and sprayed on hydrogenated fat, none of which are desirable or necessary.

Can't remember if you've mentioned it before, but is there a particular issue your kitty is having that would benefit from probiotics?

Hi all,

Thank you for the information. To give you bit of background we adopted two cats from our local OSPCA last October. Kasey - neutered mail, thought to be approx 1 year old and Roxie - spayed female, thought to be approx 1 year old as well.

One week after we had them home, Roxie presented with diarrhea with fresh blood. This continued for a few days, I consulted with my vet and due to the lack of other symptoms (she was eating, playing, sleeping all normal) and that it could be stress related we waited it out for a few more days but her stools were always loose and sometimes had fresh blood present.

Kasey was fine all along. We de-wormed them a few times, had both their fecals done by smear, float and PCR tested. The PCR test came back positive for Coronavirus but is fairly common exposure for cats and they had no other symptoms. No other parasites or bacteria were present then.

Long-story short, we consulted with an internal medicine vet and drew up an action plan. Viral testing (negative for both FIV and FELV), novel protein food and all along her stools stayed exactly the same, loose with intermittent fresh blood. There was a period of about 6 weeks where she had about 3/4's to 2/3rds normal stool followed with a small amount of loose stool whenever she went. It still usually had blood present on it most times but never had old or tarry blood in the stool. She also experiences some gas as well. :yuck:

She weighed 7.5lbs when we got her and she now weight 10.4 lbs so she has gained weight, her coat is sleek, shiny and soft. She is very active, always on the go, doesn't sleep much during the day but does sleep through the night. She is very hypervigilant, always has to know what made this noise, what made that noise..running here there and everywhere.

Her frequency of going is normally once per day, she has no urgency and no straining. Occasionally she will go a day and half and when we were switching foods she would go twice a day for a period of time until adjusted and then back to her normal once per day.

We have been trying to go the least invasive route as possible with an understanding that we may try some prednisone prior to having a scope done for irritable bowel disease diagnosis.

So we thought we would try some probiotic to see if that would help. I did pick up some of the Natural Factor's and was giving her about 1/6th of the capsule twice a day. I didn't notice any difference and she was still going once per day, loose and fresh blood still sometimes present.

In the meantime, Kasey began to have some loose stools and was gassy as well. Again, no increased frequency but always loose although his had a small amount of blood present very infrequently.

So we sent their stool samples in again for a fecal float and comprehensive panel PCR test. Roxie's came back negative, good but still frustrating :shrug:. Now Kasey's has come back and it is positive for Coronavirus as last time....but....it also came back with Clostridium bacteria.

So we are going to do a round of Flagyl for both. I asked the vet if this could possibly be Roxie's problem even though her tests came back negative, she said yes as it can be very difficult to detect.

So that is where we are at now. This has come about in the last couple of days so I am picking up the Flagyl tonight to start.

Is it good to give them the probiotic while they are on the Flagyl as I know the medications can strip the intestine of its good bacteria.

Sorry for the long post, I hope this is the root of our problem and we can get it resolved. They are both happy and playful and I just don't want anything to happen to them when they are still so young.

Thanks for listening..:)

Karen

Hi Karen,

How frustrating for you to be going through all this! Can I ask what Kasey and Roxie are eating now, and what you've tried (brands, flavours, wet or dry)?

Is it good to give them the probiotic while they are on the Flagyl as I know the medications can strip the intestine of its good bacteria.

I would definitely give them the probiotics while on Flagyl.