Dog Probiotics Buyer’s Guide
Probiotics are living good bacteria that assist your dog in developing and maintaining a healthy digestive system and stomach. We often consider bacteria as unhealthy organisms that can cause problems in your body or your pet's body. However, most vets recommend the use of probiotics to help your dog deal with a wide range of health issues such as intestinal infections, diarrhea, and many other health issues.
What Are The Benefits Of Probiotics?
Here are some of the key benefits of probiotics for your dog:
Treatment Of Irritable Bowel Syndrome And Intestinal Inflammation
Intestinal inflammation usually result from irritable bowel syndrome mostly caused by toxins that irritate the dog’s intestines and colon lining. The problem can be mitigated by introducing live cultures of useful bacteria to suppress and eliminate the activity of these offending microorganisms. You can do this by giving your dog probiotics that produce SCFAs.
Boost Your Dog's Immune System
Probiotics are immune boosters and help to maintain your dog's wellbeing. The digestive tract of your dog is aligned with lymph vessels that carry different types of disease-fighting cells. The cells fight pathogens including bacteria and viruses present in the gut. They, however, can only fight the pathogens if the good health of the intestinal wall is properly maintained. Probiotics help to improve the integrity of the intestinal wall lining and boosts the function of lymphatic cells. This helps to improve the dog's immunity system.
Prevent Infections In The Dog's Urinary Tract
As stated above, probiotics help to improve your dog's immunity system by strengthening the gut’s walls and the lymphatic vessels. Viruses and bacteria residing in the gut cannot enter the lymph and the general circulation. Without such protection, harmful microorganisms can easily circulate through the kidneys and attach to the urinary tract causing serious infections. Probiotic supplements help to prevent such urinary tract infections.
Reduce Or Eliminate Allergic Reactions
When the activities of microorganisms in the dog's body are eliminated or reduced, the immune system is further strengthened and allergic reactions are significantly reduced. Probiotics strengthen the intestinal linings and reduce contact between allergens and hyperactive immune system cells in the dog’s gut. This helps to reduce and eliminate allergic reactions caused by unfamiliar or offensive ingredients in the dog’s diet.
Improve Your Dog’s Skin And Coat Health
When you feed your dog with probiotic supplements, you help to keep his digestive tract healthy and functional, which also helps to improve the dog’s skin and coat condition. Probiotics eliminate the chances of harmful bacteria colonizing the dog's skin because there will be fewer bacteria in the dog's digestive system. The dog’s skin and coat will remain healthy at all times.
Eliminate Stomach Upsets After Changing The Dog's Diet
Your dog is likely to suffer stomach upsets when you switch its usual diet. This might happen if you don't transition between the two diets gradually to give the dog ample time to adjust to the new diet. Abrupt changes in the dog's diet can eliminate useful bacteria in the intestinal tract and cause excessive gas or diarrhea. When you give the dog probiotic supplements while switching foods, it is more likely to maintain good health while making the diet transition.
Factors to Consider When Buying Probiotics for Your Dog
Dog probiotics come with different ingredients and different health benefits. Finding the right probiotic product for your dog can be an overwhelming task given the huge number of such products available on the market today.
Here are some of the key factors to guide you when looking for the best probiotic product for your dog.
Capsule vs. Powder Form
The first thing you need to consider is how you will serve the probiotic to your dog. Different dogs have different preferences. For instance, some dogs will not eat anything served in pill form so buying probiotic capsules will definitely not work. You can disguise the probiotic by mixing it with your dog's food. Probiotics for dogs are available in capsule or powder form. Capsules can be mixed in the dog's food or opened and sprinkled in the food. Powder probiotics are easier to serve because they are usually odorless and flavorless. If your dog is a picky eater, you may need to go for probiotic products that are available in powder form.
Allergy-Friendly To Your Dog
Check if your dog has an allergic reaction to any of the probiotics ingredients. You don't want to cause more problems to your dog while trying to solve one problem. For instance, avoid probiotics that have wheat or dairy ingredients which can aggravate reactions if your dog has food allergies. Check the ingredients carefully and confirm that the product is allergy friendly before you purchase. Look for key phrases such as gluten-free, wheat-free, and dairy-free. There are probiotic for dogs that come with natural ingredients including grass which may not react well with your dog.
Health Benefits Claims
All probiotics are manufactured to boost your dog’s digestive and intestinal health. Some provide better health benefits than others. It will, therefore, be important to check the exact health benefit the probiotic product has before buying it. Most probiotics improve your dog’s gut health and reduce diarrhea and constipation. There are other advanced probiotics with microorganisms that help to prevent vomiting, limit gas, and give your dog a healthier and shinier skin. While looking for health benefits, avoid going overboard by buying probiotics with too many ingredients that could be harmful to your dog. Just look for a product that's beneficial to your dog’s health and well-being.
Number Of Servings Per Package
There isn’t an exact formula for the right size or package of probiotics that work best for all dogs. Usage depends on how many times you'll feed the supplement to your dog each day. Probiotics in powder form provide more servings in each package and will, therefore, last longer. Powder servings can be adjusted easily and even save you money in the long run. However, probiotics in capsule form tend to be cheaper when you buy them in bulk.
Does The Manufacturer Offer A Money-Back Guarantee?
Most probiotic products are comparatively pricey. It’s, therefore, important to ensure that the product delivers the promised results or you will end up feeling cheated. So look for a probiotic product that comes with a solid money-back guarantee from the manufacturer. Most brands provide a 60-day money-back guarantee while others offer guarantees of up to 90 days. However, your buying decision shouldn’t solely depend on a money-back guarantee but on the quality and benefits of the product.
