Does Your Dog Need Probiotocs?

By Brian Spilner

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Nutritional support can be as important for your dog as it is for you. He may not have to go play office politics with the harpies Monday through Friday, or cope with an unreasonable boss (you'd never make ridiculous demands of him), so he may not have quite the same amount of stress in his life, sapping his energy and depleting his body of essential nutrients, but you can count on it, even with the best diet there may be times when he needs something extra.

One of those times is after a course of antibiotics.

Look at the base of that word: biotic - of, pertaining to, or produced by life or living organisms. The Science Dictionary is more explicit: consisting of living organisms. An ecosystem is made up of a biotic community (all of the naturally occurring organisms within the system) together with the physical environment. Now look at antibiotic -- “destroying life or preventing the inception or continuance of life.”

The simple definition of the word, probiotic is “for life.” The more involved definition goes on to try to explain what they are, which is the beneficial bacteria, generally considered to be flora, that are supposed to live in the gut, helping to break down nutrients for availability by the body and to keep harmful bacteria, molds, fungus and yeast from being able to set up camp and attack the host body.

After a course of antibiotics, a significant amount of that beneficial bacteria can be wiped out along with the stuff you sent the antibiotics down to wipe out, setting the host system up for follow up and sometimes more complicated infections. That's not to say that you shouldn't give your dog antibiotics when the vet prescribes them. You should, and follow the instructions to the letter, no skipping, no stopping early, but, when the prescription is empty, it's time to replenish the intestinal flora, the probiotics -- the stuff that's for life.

One of the most common problems to follow antibiotics is yeast infections. All too often they are unrecognized in dogs, the symptoms being attributed to allergies or diseases. “Yeast” doesn't sound all that frightening, so most of us pay little attention to it. A systemic infection can manifest in different parts of the body, one of the most common being red, itchy ears or feet. While those are irritants and certainly uncomfortable for our dogs, that's not where the real danger lies though.

Among the most dreaded veterinary emergencies is bloat. It can kill a dog that was seemingly fit and healthy in a matter of a few short hours. There are reasonable hypothesis backed by sound scientific evidence that one of the factors in bloat is yeast or fungus overgrowth, such as the overgrowth of candida Albicans which causes Leaky Gut syndrome, as well as other chronic problems.

There is no guarantee that including probiotic supplements in your dog's diet will keep him safe from bloat, but the evidence is there and the more we learn about the role of probiotics in health, the more it becomes clear that their role in protecting the body from disease and conditions brought on by imbalances is vital.

Many of the more nutritionally sound dog foods are including probiotics in their formulations now, adding them after all high heat processes are over since they don't survive in extreme heat. Foods like yogurt and buttermilk containing active cultures of probiotic bacteria are another source. After an illness that has been treated with antibiotics, though, it may be necessary to use a probiotic supplement to ensure the intestinal flora regains the levels needed to perform adequately.

Often the veterinary versions of probiotic supplements will be more expensive than their more standard human grade counterparts, but the good news is that this is one type of supplement it's safe to go ahead and save a few bucks and use the human variety. You'll often get a better quality as well, since there are more stringent regulations regarding the production and use of human grade products than those destined for animal applications.

Or you can tell the Activia lady in the grocery store you need some samples to take home to your dog.