Probiotics vs. Prebiotics for Dogs & Cats
Dogs and cats can sometimes struggle with health issues, and the most prevalent one we encounter is gastrointestinal or stomach problems. From protein allergies to irritable bowel disease, there are several solutions you can use to help alleviate the symptoms of stomach upsets in dogs and cats. In this post, I’ll be talking about probiotics and prebiotics, what the differences are, and the benefits of each for your animal. If you’re looking for more help or other solutions for chronic bowel problems, please visit us at the store or read our other blog posts on similar topics, which you can find at the end of this post.
One of solutions or tools you can use to help your animal with upset stomach are probiotics. Probiotics are healthy, beneficial bacteria that are part of a complex ecosystem that resides in our pet’s gut. In this ecosystem, a lack of good bacteria can result in poor digestion and nutrient absorption, which can result in a spider-web of other symptoms such as skin and coat issues, bad breath, or persistent, loose stool. This complex ecosystem of bacteria can be thrown off by balance by a variety of factors, including your pet’s genes, environmental factors, or medicines like antibiotics. Some dogs or cats with IBS or IBD (irritable bowl syndrome or irritable bowel disease) need an extra boost of these beneficial bacteria to help stabilize them during certain periods when they’re showing symptoms.
Adding probiotics to the food of a dog or cat with a chronic issue will help alleviate these symptoms and improve the overall gastrointestinal (GI) health of your animal. Probiotics can be found in the form of powders or naturally in raw foods such as goat’s milk. We carry both forms at The Happy Beast, and are happy to talk through the benefits of specific brands. We typically recommend probiotics for people having an active or acute problem or symptom with their animal.
Compared to probiotics, prebiotics are the foods that probiotic bacteria feed on in the gut to reproduce and thrive. Many brands of pet food supplement their products with prebiotics, such as chicory root, which helps with digestion, but you can find a variety of supplements to give your animal that provide an overall boost to improve digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Digestive enzymes are also a great addition to a supplement regimen and are often found alongside prebiotics. Adding digestive enzymes can help your animal’s body more easily digest its meals, boost absorption, and improve their stools. This allows your animal to gain more nutrients from every meals. Here at The Happy Beast, we carry a variety of prebiotic and enzyme powders that are fast and easy to add to your daily feeding, including InClover’s Optagest, Honest Kitchen’s Perfect Form, and Super Snout’s GI Balance powder.
In summary, you can think about prebiotics as a great long-term supplement, whereas we believe probiotics are most useful in the short-term while your animal is going through a current phase of digestive upset. Dealing with digestive problems for your animal can be stressful and hard to manage, but using whole, raw foods and supplementation can ease many of the common ailments pets experience.
If you have any questions about probiotics, prebiotics, or digestive health in general, please call or visit us for a one-on-one diet consultation where we can help evaluate your pet and his or her specific needs.
Other Diet & Digestive Health blog posts from The Happy Beast
Thank you for sharing your post regarding probiotics vs prebiotics for dogs and cats. Animals are like humans. We need the same supplements and have the same issues. Very useful and interesting information. I will bookmark this site.
Wonderful post hoѡever , І was wondering if yoᥙ
coսld write a litte more օn tһis topic? I’Ԁ be νery grateful if you could elaborate
a littlе ƅit further. Kudos!
my website – sportbetio (sportbetio.com)
I like the helpful іnformation yߋu provide οn your
articles. I wiⅼl bookmark yoᥙr blog ɑnd check once moгe rіght here regularly.
I’m quite ѕure I wiⅼl Ьe informed plenty ߋf new stuff right һere!
Ԍood luck fߋr thе following!
Here іѕ my web-site: slotban (Maximo)
%%
Here is my site; backlink intelligence Software
But the Trump administration DOJ sensationally and unexpectedly overturned the 2011 opinion in late 2018, determining that the Wire Act covered
all forms of gambling.
Feel free to surf tto my web-site; mariarmy.com
Hello there! Wouⅼd you mind іf I share your blog with my twitter group?
There’s a lot of folks that I think w᧐uld rеally enjoy ʏour content.
Ⲣlease ⅼet mе know. Thank you
Herе is my website :: gambling
Производитель спецодежды в Москве магазин спецодежды
в москве (http://specodegdaoptom.ru) – купить оптом спецодежду.
I visited several sites but the audio feature for audio
songs present at this website is in fact marvelous.