Question about Probiotics How do you feel about Probiotics? So many people say you should give them daily, and a dog food adviser site Dog Food Reviews | Dog Food Ratings, grades food plus or minus by their use of probiotics. I was under the impression that the good bacteria feed itself, just like when you’re making yogurt you don't have to keep adding more bacteria, you add things the bacteria feed on. Of course, antibiotics would kill good and bad bacteria, so I understand the need for a probiotic in that case, and someone told me that when she does a change of food, she always give a probiotic just to help with digestion, but are they really necessary on a daily basis, or in a dog food? |
I'm not a believer. I think it's another cash cow when it comes to healthy dogs. |
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There may be some evidence to support their use in intestinally challenged dogs, and so perhaps worth a try (didn't work for mine), but for healthy dogs...I would save my money. There is so much debate about how much of it gets destroyed when cooking kibble and I think it's unnecessary. Maybe prebiotics are a different story? I think Rylee's kibble might have prebiotics..maybe. So to answer your question, I do not and would not buy a probiotic supplement for my dogs unless I was doing a trial for GI issues. And even then, it would be in consultation with my vet. I know of at least one nutritionist who isnt' a fan (seen too much GI upset FROM them). |
I know we are talking about dogs, but what about Probiotics for people? I keep seeing the commercials, like for Activia is this any difference than the Yogurt that has live and active yeast cultures? Some people say Yogurt is good for dogs. |
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This is second hand experience, but probiotics helped Missy when she had terrible bouts of diarrhea. She was constantly at the vet for her diarrhea and nothing really helped. Her stools would firm up for a bit, and as soon as her medicine was finished, the diarrhea would come back. I think Missy's mom eventually tried different foods until she found one that agreed with Missy, and gave Missy the probiotics that are available at Petco. Missy is fine now that she's on good food and the probiotics helped while they found a good food for her. I also give them to Kaji when he has an upset tummy and he has soft stools. Other than that, I don't use it on a daily basis. |
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I give it to Uni, but in labne yogurt. I usually give a teaspoon, but not everyday. She loves it, and she always has firm poops. I like that dog food advisor site, bc it helps me to understand the ingredients in a given food, why something would be bad, or good. I don't look at just the stars they give, I look at ingredients and make a decision for myself. Now that YT has educated me more, I feel comfortable making that decision. I notice they give more points for being more protein/meat, but for a dog like Uni who needs low fat and not too much meat, I don't look at just their star rating. |
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I'm all for them during and after antibiotic therapy. But in theory, if it's a bacteria that should be in your intestines naturally then it should be able to multiply in there without you needing to supplement it on a daily basis. |
I also eat Yogurt for the potassium, instead of drinking orange juice. |
We add a probiotic supplement daily for our pups at the direction of our holistic vet who was helping us manage Ivan's chronic GI issues. I agree that this should not be necessary for a healthy dog. Ivan has been much better for a while now and we are going for a follow up visit soon. I'm hoping that he will not need to continue the daily supplements. |
What a great topic. I do indeed feed my pups and my family both pre- and probiotics. Many studies, including the 2003 Nestle Pet Care study demonstrated that pups being fed healthy diets containing both elementary forms of these bacteria's through basic food products as well as through supplementation, increased their lga levels after one year: a critical measurement of the immune systems functionality. Not to mention longer lasting vaccination levels contributed by a higher functioning immune system. I personally use raw food products as much as possible in exchange for supplements, as US produced probiotics and some prebiotics contain FOS; Fructooligosaccharides. Found within foods these FOS are extremely beneficial to the lower colon. However, most pro-and prebiotics produced here in the US and Japan contain FOS that has been chemically manufactured, which I find unacceptable, as do many holistic nutritionists. FOS is naturally found in oatmeal as well as bananas, and many other easily found raw foods. This chemically produced FOS is the main cause of GI distress when bacteria supplements are used, as the dosages are at times much to high for our little ones, producing cramps, gas, and pain. ........anywho.....prattling on.....:D |
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