Probiotics can support the healthy bacteria in your dog’s gut contributing to a healthy immune system, but which probiotics are best for your pets?
The short answer is yes. A more complete answer is yes, but human probiotics is not the best treatment to maintain your dog’s gut health.
Vets often prescribe canine-specific probiotics for dogs showing signs of stomach upset. And over the years various studies have confirmed that probiotics can support the healthy bacteria in your dog’s gut, contributing to a healthy immune system. Just like they do in us.
But not all probiotics are created equal. Can you give your pets human probiotics for example? Although giving your dog human probiotics won’t do them any harm, it’s unlikely to have any significant benefits for their digestive system.
Human probiotics vs canine probiotics
Both humans and dogs have good and bad bacteria in their gut. Probiotics function by supporting the good bacteria and eliminating the bad. This keeps the digestive system healthy and balanced. But the main problem with giving human probiotics to dogs is that we don’t have the same types of bacteria living in our bodies compared to dogs and cats.
Every strain of live bacteria in human probiotics is designed to strengthen our gut health, not our canine friends’. These include beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. These bacteria strains can also be found in canine probiotics and evidence suggests they do help dogs with diarrhoea recover faster. But human probiotics contain other bacteria strains that aren’t relevant and haven’t been designed or tested for dogs. So there’s no way of knowing if they’ll have any positive effects.
Probiotics that are designed to improve your dog’s gut flora include Bacillus coagulans, Enterococcus faecium, Bifidobacterium animalis and Lactobacillus acidophilus. These bacteria combine to increase your dog’s antibody levels that fight against bacteria and viruses, protect against different types of diarrhoea, and reduce symptoms from common digestive problems.
You should look for these two particular strains as well as the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains when choosing a probiotic for your dog. This will ensure your dog receives the right bacteria strains that support all the good bacteria in your dog’s intestinal tract.
