My 15 yr. older dog  is on a two week course of antibiotics for an abscessed tooth and I cringe to think of what that  does to her intestinal flora.    I can add some yogurt to her food, but that is milk based and I wonder if the dog will get anything useful out of that for colonizing her intestines with beneficial bacteria she can actually use.

Does anyone have any suggestion or experience with probiotics specifically formulated for dogs?

Views: 1631

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

My apologies to Stoneyfield, the information was right on  the container, it was my eyesight that was off! It does have live cultures and no sugar.

IMHO, it's incumbent upon Stoneyfield to print its ingredients list in a type size we humans can read!!

I just started Jerry on Probiotic Miracle because my vet was charging me a ridiculous amount for a small jar of their recommended stuff.  I thought the cost was pretty good for the servings contained in one tub.  We just started this week, so no real results yet.  It's sold on Amazon.

I know that dog-specific probiotics are more beneficial because they contain bacteria targeted towards dogs.  A lot of people I asked on Facebook said they used human probiotics because it was cheaper.  Not BAD for your dog, but not really doing anything either.  I feel like this would be a similar issue to yogurt.  Good for them, but not targeting everything you want.  Good luck!

Thank you Marina, that's my feeling too.

Does it list the probiotics on the bottle? I would just like to compare them.

Keep us up to date, please! I'd like to know how this works. My son has a dog with the chronic doggywobbles...wonder if this would help.

Vicky, your son could give it a try, the proof is in the pudding.  It cost me roughly $42 dollars for an amount that will last a whole year ( dose for a dog up to 50 Lbs).  That's the price of one good bag of dog food nowadays.  Here is the link where he can also take a look at the reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Probiotics-Dogs-Guaranteed-Scratching-Satisfa...


I've used Reuteri Pearls, as they have a lovely coating on them that is resistant to stomach acid and insures the bacteria get where they should be--the intestine.    I've had a lot of luck with them in helping Kelso's demodectic mange.

However, recently I discovered probiotics on the mercola.com site and these are formulated by a doctor (for humans) and a vet (for pets).   Here's a side by side list of ingredients so you can see the similarities (and the differences).

Pet                                                               Human

Bifidobacterium lactis                                     Bifidobacterium lactis

Lactobacillus acidophilus                               Lactobacillus acidophilus

Bifidofacterium longum                                   Bifidobacterium longum

Bifidobacterium bifidum                                  bifidobacterium fifidum

Lactobacillus casei                                        Lactobacillus casei

Lactobacillus plantarum                                 Lactobacillus plantarum

Bifidobacterium brevis                                    Lactobacillus brevis

Streptococcus thermophiles                           streptococcus thermophilus

Saccromyces boulardi

Bifidobacterium animalis

e. faecium

lactobacillus rhamnosus                                Lactobacillus rhamnosus

lactobacillus bulgaricus

lactospore lactobacillus sporogenes

                                                                   Lactobacillus salivarius

Thank you for the additional information.  I have decided on "Pet Ultimates"Probiotics for dogs and will post the information below for anyone interested.  The probiotic pearls are interesting, especially the coating that keeps them from dissolving in the stomach, however they seem to contain only the one strain ( Lactobacillus reuteri ).  I know Dr. Mercola's products for pets are all well formulated.

I chose Pet Ultimates for several reasons:

  They are made in USA.

  No sugar, soy, or wheat 

  No fillers, artificial colors, preservative or artificial flavors.

  11 probiotic strains

  2 billion CFU per serving ( one scoop)

Ingredients: Inulin (probiotic), Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium animalis, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus plantarium, Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus reuteri, Lactobacillus salivarius, Bifidobacterium breve, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillum casei, Alpha-Galactosidase.

In reading the reviews on Amazon, I was amazed at how many different conditions seemed to respond to supplementation with probiotics. I had originally looked into it for my older dog who had been on antibiotics, but have since decided to give some to all of the dogs.  Again thanks to all who responded.

Y'know, while Ruby was on all those fierce antibiotics for her UTIs, I gave her yogurt -- just added a spoonful to her food. Upshot was no diarrhea or vomiting. Now, I don't know whether proximity meant causality there, but like you I was really worried that the pills would disrupt her digestive system. Read the label to be sure the yogurt contains live cultures. They're the same microbes as are in probiotic pills, only a lot cheaper.

Not really, because the strains are far fewer, as are the amounts.  My dog also had no adverse visible effects from two weeks of of antibiotic treatment. The problems are more subtle because, when the intestinal flora is compromised, you will have malabsorbtion of food and its nutrients and the immune system is also compromised.  Yogurt with live cultures is better than nothing, but IMO probiotic supplementation is worth the extra expense, particularly when the chances of recurring infection are present and keeping the immune system strong a priority.  Older dogs also may not utilize the nutrients in food as well as younger dogs do, to begin with.  Adding small amounts of other appropriate live foods will also help re-colonize the digestive tract.

Well, I've learned a lot about yogurt vs. probiotics.  Thanks for this discussion.  It may come in handy in the future. 

RSS

Rescue Store

Stay Connected

 

FDA Recall

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Recall

We support...

Badge

Loading…

© 2024   Created by Sam Tsang.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report a boo boo  |  Terms of Service