probiotics , do they really work for bad breath

Dog Food Advisor Forums Diet and Health probiotics , do they really work for bad breath

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #98714 Report Abuse
    Cath N
    Member

    My dachshund has Ibs, it’s now settled, but she has horrid bad breath. She’s been on a probiotic for three days, it’s rated excellent but we don’t see improvement. Her kidney and Cbc labs are normal. Just questioning if she may need an acid reducer, or is it possible she doesn’t have enough acid in her digestive tract. Her stool is normal, her diet is homemade, chicken breast, sweet potato. Her appetite is good. Just cannot solve the breath problem. Just had her teeth cleaned (Dental X-rays taken too) 2.5 weeks ago. She was on flagyl which is the only treatment that kept her breath normal and of course her stool. She been off of flagyl (approx 2.5 weeks) due to concern of neurological disorders. Can litmus test of saliva determine if too acidic or not high enough ph level? One vet suggested Pepcid sometime ago but that didn’t help either. Any insight or suggestions is appreciative. I Bought today “acid soothe” by enymedica (herbal) and a bit reluctant to try….please advise. Thank you

    #98726 Report Abuse
    Susan
    Participant

    Hi, you do not mention your dog age?? this can play a big part in her bad breath, as we get older we make less Hydrochloric acid, it’s called Hypochlorhydria, it can cause acid reflux, as well as burping, gas/wind, abdominal bloating & pain in dogs, what I think my boy has after he eats he’s very vocal & tells me when something is wrong, walks are really good… he takes Losec (Omeprazole) now 20mg every morning, I didn’t want him on a Pump Proton Inhibitor but it made a real big difference, the Zantac (Ranitidine) & Pepcid (famotidine) didn’t help at all neither did the Probiotic…
    Hyperchlorhydra is excessive acid production & Achlorhydra is NO acid production….
    I don’t think you can do the Hiedelberg test on dogs, I looked into it this…
    I would change her diet?? when my boy eats certain foods & homemade meals he gets this bad fermenting smell that comes up into his mouth, it the food sitting in his stomach & not digesting, even thought they don’t make as much stomach acid they still need a acid reducer like Losec …Google Hypochlorhydria it will explain what happens with low stomach acid & how the Helicobacter-Pylori can take over the stomach cause this bad fermenting smell… Best to have an Endoscope + Biopsies done? has she ever had Endoscope + Biopsies done? My boy had Endoscope & biopsies done about 3-4 yrs ago, stomach looked great vet said but the biopsies showed he has Helicobacter-Pylori & IBD in stomach & small bowel, he was put straight on the triple therapy meds, Metronidazole, Amoxicillin & Losec for 21 days, I had to do the triple therapy meds a few time to stop the Helicobacter taking over his stomach, With Metronidazole (Flagyl) I only give for 10-21 days max now only when he has his breath problem or very sloppy poo’s, but I wait 1-2 weeks to see if I can fix these problems first, my boy gets bad side effects when he takes the Metronidazole, he takes the lowest dose for his weight he takes 1 x 200mg a day with a meal, he weights 18kg=40lbs, he suffers with bad paranoia, scared of his own shadow, he starts acting real weird, so vet has said only give him the Metronidazole when he really needs it for only 10-21 days then stop…….
    When Patch eats homemade meals he gets his fermenting bad breath smell, so I break up all his meals, have you tried feeding a kibble or wet tin food or a vet diet wet tin food?? I feed “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb kibble & I’m trying their wet tin food as well, each month I rotate Patches meals & see which one he does best on & he seems to not react when if diet is changed, I rotate with the “Canidae” Pure Wild kibble, if you have a dog that’s 7yrs old & over have a look at the Canidae Pure Meadow Senior kibble, the kibbles are nice & small & easy to digest like the TOTW kibbles, I stay away from chicken, Patch gets real itchy & gets red paws when he eats chicken, the TOTW Roasted Lamb was the first kibble that worked for Patch, it firmed up his poo’s, stopped his acid reflux & no fermenting bad breath smell, it’s just Lamb meal & sweet potatoes, potatoes & peas & egg + probiotics & Purified water maybe the purified water has something to do with why a lot of dogs with IBD, EPI & IBS do real well on TOTW kibbles.. maybe buy a small bag of the TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb kibble & wet tin food & give it a go, or try the “Canidae” Pure formulas,
    http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
    The Probiotic your giving is it a dog probiotic powder? do not give a probiotic with food, the best way to take a probiotic is when stomach acids are low, first thing of a morning, in between meals or at night, when you give a probiotic with food the stomach acids are very high digesting all the food, best times are first thing in the morning with no food, or give at bed time at night 4 hours after last meal or in between meals thru the day…..If your probiotic is a powder, I was adding 15ml of water to 1 teaspoon probiotic powder & mixing together in a bowl by swirling the water around so the probiotic powder dissolves & Patch loved drinking it, I found the Dog Probiotic powder didn’t help, it made Patch feel sick, 20mins after drinking probiotic, he was doing his mouth licking, I take the Yakult probiotic drink, I was giving Patch 1/4 of my Yakult drink he loved it, but he felt sick again & did his mouth licking…..Since changing his diet & he takes Losec Patch doesn’t have his bad fermenting breath no more, since I feed him a limited ingredient grain free kibble.. I also feed 5 smaller meals a day, 7am, 9am, 12pm, 5pm & 8pm, at 12pm & 8pm I feed a small amount of wet tin food. I break it up, feed Taste Of the Wild Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb wet tin & the Royal Canine Vet Diet Hypoallergenic wet tin, I don’t feed any foods that have Beet Pulp, Beet Pulp is a Prebiotic & suppose to fix & help the stomach & bowel like a Probiotic does, Beet Pulp is in a lot of Vet Diets for Stomach & Intestinal health & normal kibbles use the Beet Pulp cause it firms up the poo, Beet Pulp might work for your dog but when Patch eats a kibble or wet tin food with Beet Pulp he gets his fermenting bad smell in his mouth…..
    Have you ever tried any of the Royal Canine vet diets- PV, PS or PR or the Hypoallergenic they have no Beet Pulp & are for Digestive Health the protein is a novel protein & has been broken down for the animal, so it doesn’t sit in their stomach fermenting & digesting real slow….worth a try.. https://www.royalcanin.com/products/vet/food-sensitivity
    or Hills Vet diets like I/d Digestive Health? but read all the I/d formula as some have Beet Pulp, look at Hills I/d Chicken & Vegetable Stew wet, it has digestive enzymes to help digest the protein, it only comes in a small 156g tin now & smells really nice, you only feed as a small meal like lunch & late dinner in between the kibble meals … if you stop feeding the home made meals just see for 2-4 weeks does the bad breath problem go away??? it would be best to start the Metronidazole again for just 10 days while you try a new diet the Metronidazole stops any diarrhea, makes the stomach bacteria balanced properly again & if there’s too much Helicobacter bacteria the Metronidazole kills it, also when your giving the Probiotic make sure any antibiotics like Metronidazole are given 4 hours before or after the probiotic was given & only do 1 thing at a time, so if something happens like diarrhea vomiting etc you know what caused it….

    #98735 Report Abuse
    Acroyali
    Member

    Has she had IBD for awhile now? Sometimes IBD dogs don’t empty out their anal glands as they should, if they need emptied (or are impacted), that would explain a lot of the breath problem.
    As far as acid problems go, in humans the symptoms for low acid and high acid are very close and mimic one another a lot. One of my dogs has LOW stomach acid and acid reducers were making it worse long term, even though the symptoms of reflux (making us all think HIGH stomach acid) were there. A bit of Bragg’s apple cider vinegar whenever he acts as though he’s flaring up works for him, just mixed in with some food. For him it seemed to normalize the ph. I can’t say if this will work for your dog of course, but it might be something to research further.
    For ANY dog with IBD, probiotics for life will not be harmful. 🙂 3 days is not long enough to notice a difference, sometimes it takes weeks especially if she’s just coming off antibiotics.
    Best of luck. It’s a trying situation. IBD can be a pain in the butt (pun not intended) but once you find out what works for your dog and can get them relief, all the effort is worth it. Don’t give up!

    #98736 Report Abuse
    Acroyali
    Member

    Susan I’m not 100% but are metronidazole and (all) flagyl the same thing? This little dog was on flagyl and (if I understood the poster correctly) was taken off because there were suspected neurological complications from the medication 🙁
    You make an excellent point about giving any supplements or any meds separately so if she throws something up, the owner will know what caused it.
    Also, you mentioned Patch can’t have beet pulp–when one of mine was taken off food that contained beet pulp many years ago his chronic runny eyes cleared up! He’d had that his entire life, I figured it was structural but apparently beet pulp isn’t tolerable by everyone.
    Chronic digestive upset is the worst…I love it when I read posts from caring owners that recognize the smallest symptom and take action =) Cheers!

    #98800 Report Abuse
    Cath N
    Member

    Thank you, Acroyali and Susan.

    My little DOXIE is 16 y.o. (she lost her kid sister on 2/20/17). We are both each other’s shadow. I failed to mention she’s on digestive enzymes and probiotics, and an anti-inflammatory by the ” pet health and nutrition center.” Also have their diarrhea relief formula, just in case of relapse. I was leaning on the symptom she may not have enough acid, but wish there is an easier test than biopsies, etc. just using logic by Comparing my digestive symptom of not enough acid…..the vinegar rids my heartburn immediately. Tonight her breath is a bit better. Her one symptom of a small burp after eating tells me she is still not digesting properly. She does not vomit and rarely expels gas, thank goodness. Also, she had anal gland removal. I don’t favor dog food by companies. Seen too many disturbing recalls, even by high-end co’s. Use to have her on some kibble (Paul Newman), but no longer. Gave her some Brags several times, no positive result. Again, comparing my symptom of low acid, I actually improved by taking betaine Hcl…….certainly not giving her that type. For several weeks took vets suggestion and used science diet Wd, which bulked up her stool mixed in with homemade ckn and sweet potato. It calmed the mucus in stool and bouts of diarrhea w/blood. The Flagyl worked great, one vet said she could be on it for long term, the other vet stated flagyl could cause neurological problems and not to use long term. For the last month my girl is bothered now by teeth chattering which I’m very concerned it may be onset of focal motor seizure. So no more flagyl. Will have to do the replace and reintroduce methods. I may try now the acv mixed in with food and then offset w/ Omeprazole . Thank you, as I appreciate your suggestions and experience. Btw, she’s taking a road trip w/family to Colorado next week.. She absolutely loves road trips, her previous owner took her and her 12 siblings all over the states for dog shows. She’s had four litters by the age of five. She’s got a busy life and loved by our family for 11 years now. We just want to tweek out of our little DOXIE another 5-10 years of loving hugs.
    Thank you both again.
    https://www.facebook.com/JudgeJeanineFans/?fref=nf

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.