Content
- Gut flora in a dog
- Imbalances in the dog's intestinal flora
- What are probiotics for dogs?
- How to choose a good probiotic for our dog
When we welcome a dog into our home, we must be able to meet its basic needs and this goes through a good nutrition, which allows you to feel healthy and energetic.
Sometimes, due to an inadequate diet or due to other factors, the intestinal flora in a dog is altered and this can have serious consequences for its health, which can be prevented in a natural way.
Therefore, in this PeritoAnimal article we show you the probiotics for dogs.
Gut flora in a dog
As with humans, puppies also have intestinal flora or gut microbiota. This references a set of beneficial bacteria that are naturally present in the intestine and are of vital importance for the health of our pet, as they fulfill the following functions:
- They intervene in the digestion of food and are necessary for an adequate absorption of nutrients.
- They are essential for the synthesis of some vitamins and minerals
- Protect the digestive system from pathogenic bacteria
- Help the dog to have an optimal level of vigor and energy
there are numerous strains of beneficial bacteria in our dog's intestinal flora, but we must highlight the following as the most important:
- Bifidobacterium animalis
- Bifidobacterium lactis
- Lactobacillus acidophilus
- Bifidobacterium bifidum
- Bifidobacterium longum
- Lactobacillus casei
- Lactobacillus plantarum
- Lactobacillus bulgarious
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus
- Bacillus coagulans
Imbalances in the dog's intestinal flora
Imbalances in the dog's intestinal flora directly affect health and can cause the following symptoms:
- abdominal swelling
- Signs of abdominal pain
- Increased intestinal gas
- Diarrhea
- Decreased immune response
Changes in the intestinal flora may have various causes: although the most common are changes in diet, the administration of a poor quality feed, high in non-digestible proteins or treatment with antibiotics has been started.
To restore our pet's intestinal flora it is essential to determine the underlying cause to eliminate it, but at the same time we need resort to probiotics.
What are probiotics for dogs?
Probiotics for dogs are products formulated based on bacterial strains that normally inhabit the dog's intestine and are beneficial to its health. They are not considered a pharmacological treatment, but a nutritional supplement.
We must distinguish probiotics from prebiotics and symbiotics, let's see below the differences between each product:
- probiotics: Directly contain strains of beneficial bacteria present in the dog's intestines.
- prebiotics: Contains non-assimilable substances (such as certain types of fibre) that serve as food for beneficial bacteria and allow them to develop.
- symbiotics: These are products that incorporate a mixture of probiotics and prebiotics.
How to choose a good probiotic for our dog
Probiotics are especially recommended for diarrhea or gastrointestinal disorders and after an antibiotic treatment or in parallel with it.
It is very important to offer our pet a good quality product, and to ensure this we recommend that you follow these tips:
- Choose a specific probiotic for dogs
- Choose a probiotic that contains at least 10 strains of bacteria
- Choose a quality product, for this, the label must observe the GMP certification (Good manufacturing practices)
- Get the advice of a veterinarian
Probiotics for dogs are nutritional supplements totally safe. Treatment as indicated on the package is recommended to ensure adequate restoration of the intestinal flora.
