Probiotics: Brand and how much

[Lazaro B]

I’ve heard so much about probiotics that I need to ask this question. When Giving a dog probiotics, how many CFU’s should it contain? Is 2 billion enough to get past the acid in the stomach and set up shop or should it be more? I’ve read that the more strains a probiotic has and the higher the CFU’s it has, the better. Is this true? Which brands of probiotics do you all recommend? Hopefully they’re affordable.

[weezerweeks]

I use mercola probiotics and I love them. Lot of people on here use human ones from Swansons but I love mercola’s.

[crazy4cats]

Check out http://www.dogaware.com. They have a few good articles on probiotics and digestive issues. It is a great website! I am using Proflora right now with my pups. It is a soft chew and they eat them like treats. They are made by Pet Health Solutions and are available on http://www.healthypets.com. They have 9 strains and also a prebiotic. Vetri-Science also makes a similar one. I Also like Swanson’s Ultra Soil-Based Organisms. It has about 14 strains of microorganisms and also has digestive enzymes. It is a human supplement and is very nicely priced. There are so many. You just have to jump in and give one a try. I like to rotate supplements with my pets. Good luck!

[Lazaro B]

Thanks, I’ll look into them.

[pugmomsandy]

I have B-naturals prob/enzyme blend on my list to try next.

[Lazaro B]

Should the probiotics be in the hundreds of millions range or billions range?
How good are the probiotic chews for dogs? I’ve seen great reviews on the Vetei science brand, but they have 286 million CFU’s. I’m a bit skeptical about giving my dog human grade probiotics because some say no cause it’s made for humans while others say you can give it to them it’s the same thing. I’m confused.

[Wicks Ma]

Lazaro B,
Hi! I also have a question posted about a similar topic, I do however know the answer to part of your last post. In regards to human vs dog probiotics the proven strains they have found that are useful in dogs are different strains than are usually found in the human probiotics. We have different types of bacteria but that doesn’t mean that those for humans are necessarily bad (people seem to think they are working) it just means that they know for sure that certain types are specific to dogs and helpful to them. You’ll notice that on the dog probiotics you will find the strains lacto salivarius, bifido bifidum, and bifido animalis etc. some of these are dog specific and not usually found in the human probiotics. One that does show up on both is the lacto acidophilus (also found in yogurt). It could be beneficial to your dog to make sure that they are getting the strains that help them the most and not what helps people the most! (I am obviously not an expert and you should always talk to your vet for anything and not rely on my opinion, I merely found this stuff while researching online so I am not reliable !)

[Lazaro B]

I did speak with my vet. They said either a human grade probiotic would be fine or one made for dogs would be fine. I am also giving him yogurt, the Greek type called FAGE with his food. I also give him a chewable probiotic from VETRI science,but the chewable probiotic only has about 286 million live cultures in it. I know that is not enough and I need to find a probiotic that has more then that.

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