[patrick h]

I have to give my Schnauzer antibiotics for 3 weeks for a squishy mass between his toes. The vet wants to try this before operating because of the location. They already did a needle stick of the mass to check for bad cells (waiting on the results still). Right now I am “hiding” the antibiotic capsule in a little chuck of coconut oil, and I give him 2 table spoons of melted coconut oil on his food. I want to give him a probiotic to help his stomach. I read that you should NOT give the dog the probiotics WITH his food. He only eats Wellness dry formula. I was looking for a tablet or something that he will eat easily. Any suggestions?

[Susan]

Hi, my boy is on Metronidazole a antibiotic for his stomach bacteria (Helicobacter), I read on Paws probiotics, not to give while on antibiotics, the vet probiotics Protexin says, I can give but it has to be either 4 hours before the antibiotic or 4 hours after taken the antibiotic, vet said don’t give him a probiotics while on antibiotics, so I’ve stopped his probiotic..I bought low fat Greek yogurt instead but its in fridge, I still haven’t given it to him…Wellness has probiotics in their kibbles, read all the last ingredients of the kibble…

[Dog_Obsessed]

Hi Patrick! I’m actually in a similar situation right now, as my girl has to take 20 days of antibiotics for an anal gland issue. It just started last night, and I just gave her a small spoonful of yogurt with the pill. I think yogurt works pretty well as a natural probiotic, but is it not supposed to be given with the antibiotic or other food? Thanks!

Also, probiotics in kibble are generally not nearly as good. After being extruded to high temperatures, and sitting in a bag for a few months, not much probiotic will be left in there.

[theBCnut]

Generally speaking, you can give probiotics while they are on antibiotics, but you should definitely not give them at the same time, about an hour later. The antibiotics will just kill the probiotics if you give them at the same time. You want the antibiotics to have time to do their job before you give the probiotics.

[Dog_Obsessed]

Okay, thanks!

[crazy4cats]

Hi Patrick and D_O-
I am using soft chew probiotics called ProFlora by PHS right now. I like them because I can easily feed them to my dogs without hiding in food or “masking” them in peanut butter or something. I have also used similar chews made by Vetri-Science. They think they are treats. I do have golden labs, however. They think everything is a treat. Lol! I give them in the evening a few hours after their dinner and they seem to work well. No stinky gas in the family room! They have 8 or 9 strains of probiotics and a prebiotic as well. Not sure if the chews are as effective, but they have been good for us so far. I buy them from Amazon or Healthy Pets websites. I find that Healthypets.com has some of the best prices on supplements. Hope this helps.

[Dog_Obsessed]

This isn’t totally related, but it is also about probiotics. I was absentmindedly looking at a bag of Nulo dog food, and I noticed this:

http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag362/Dog_Obsessed/NuloProbiotic_zps0eb1999a.png

Do you think this is real? It seems pretty unlikely, but it would be cool if it was true!

[Susan]

Hi, I think it’s true cause WHY would they put probiotics in their kibbles if they didn’t work & they are also guaranteeing survivability……
My boy was diagnosed with the Helicobacter 2nd December 2014, in September/October, I introduced the Wellness Simple kibble, I didn’t know Patch had the Helicobacter (Stomach Bacteria) I suspected that he did have the Helicobacter but he needed a Endoscope + Biopsies done to confirm, the Wellness Kibbles have probiotics in all their kibbles, after he was on the Wellness Simple for around 2 months Patch got worse with his Helicobacter & we finally did the Endoscope December to see what was wrong, he was doing OK before I tried the Wellness Simple, he’d have maybe 1 off day in 2 weeks… he was playing & being his naughty self, that’s how I know when he isn’t sick, he’s full of energy & a bit naughty lol, then about 3-4 weeks on the Wellness Simple, he started eating & eating grass, bad acid reflux coming up into his throat, vomiting yellow acid, & whinging & whinging, his vet diet kibble before the Wellness Simple doesn’t have Probiotics, it just has prebiotics FOS, he stayed the same while on the Vet diet kibble without the probiotics….
I think that the Probiotics in the Wellness Simple made his Helicobacter worse as I’m starting to do research on the Helicobacter & it says Lactobacillus Acidophilus should be avoided as it can make the Helicobacter multiply in the stomach, so these kibbles with probiotics must be live & working probiotics in their kibble…as Patches stomach bacteria got worse & vet asked what was I feeding for him to have gotten so sick, he said to stop any kibbles that have probiotics in them, there probably good for dogs with a healthy stomach but for dogs that already have bad stomach or bowel bacteria maybe not so good, vet has told me to take him off all probiotics he said prebiotics are better….I’ll see how he does now without all the kibble probiotics & powder probiotics…I’m pretty sure when I rescued him, he wasn’t ill with the Helicobacter just has his Colitis, I think me or his other vet putting him on the dog powder probiotics & feeding him kibbles with the probiotics in them did make the Bacteria in his stomach multiply & worse not better like they should…..so they must be live probiotics & in some of these kibbles…maybe probiotics can go off & become bad I don’t know….So after his antibiotic treatment, I’m going to try a low fat Greek yogurt that has the good bacterias that are on my list of good bacterias that are suppose to decrease the Helicobacter & not have a party with it & multiply..

[Dog_Obsessed]

Interesting story, thanks Susan! I can definitely imagine that companies might put probiotics in their food as a marketing claim, but they probably cost quite a bit, so maybe not. The Nulo food claims that the probiotics are sustainable to heat, but they don’t say anything about them being in a bag for six months. It is possible that they really use a better probiotic though, I can hope. 😀

[DogFoodie]

Hi Patrick,

Dr. Tabitha, DVM, is a regular contributor here. I just got an email this morning regarding her new article about probiotics. You might find it useful: http://naturalalternativesvet.com/probiotics-for-pets

[Author]

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