You’ve prescribed an increase in probiotics for your client’s animal, but they’ve seen no improvement.

What gives?

It might have something to do with what your client is buying for their pet.

Probiotics have been proven to aid in growth of beneficial bacteria in digestive tracts. We know that they work. So what’s keeping your clients from seeing any results?

If they’re purchasing probiotic food, that might just be the problem.

In a 2003 study on probiotics in pet food, it was revealed that the labels on the food were not completely accurate. Out of the nineteen types of food tested (all of which claimed to contain a specific type of probiotic), none of them showed growth in all of the bacteria that they claimed. It highlighted how thin the laws surrounding pet food labelling are while indicating that probiotic pet food is not the most efficient way to increase the helpful bacteria in an animal’s digestive tract.

Since then, the FDA has claimed that they confirm that “the ingredients used in pet food are safe and have an appropriate function in the pet food,” but since that was reported on February 9, 2016, there has not yet been a study to prove or disprove the truth of this statement in regards to probiotics.

Even if the labels do accurately represent the probiotic presence in the food, it is more important to know when the probiotics were added into the food. If they were added prior to cooking, it is likely that the microorganisms were killed in the heat and are no longer active nor helpful.

The only way to ensure that the probiotics are still alive and well is to purchase a separate supplement that is packaged in a way that would culture the bacteria. Bacteria should remain cool, but does not usually require cold environments; however, hot environments will kill the bacteria and all the possible results they could have. By purchasing a separate supplement, you can ensure that the probiotics live in an appropriate environment until consumption, which leads to proper usage.

Sources:

http://pets.webmd.com/ask-pet-health-11/pet-probiotics

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC340078/

http://www.fda.gov/animalveterinary/products/animalfoodfeeds/petfood/ucm2006475

http://www.animalhealthinternational.com/animalhealthinternational.com/media/Animal-Health-International/Publications/FINAL_Insider-SEPTEMBER-2014-1.pdf

Load more comments