Probiotics & Tummy Troubles – Keeping your Dog’s Gut Healthy

Little Shiva has had tummy issues since I adopted him. The slightest change in weather and I can hear the grumbles from the other side of the house. At best it’s a day of no eating, diarrhoea a tin of Hills I/D food and some Protexin and we’re right as rain. At its worst its a few days of no eating, diarrhoea, tummy grumbles, fever, a super listless boy who is clearly in pain and a trip to the Vet for injections & meds.

Tummy issues can be caused by a few many things. In Shiva’s case, we think he has some form of IBS/GORD as he burps a lot and has these tummy issues a lot!

I thought I would share some of the remedies that I use at home, as well as list a few others that I discovered recently, but haven’t yet tried. Hopefully this can help those of you who may have similar issues with your furkids.

What I’ve been using when Shiva has a troubled tummy and get’s him back on track 90% of the time:

Protexin Soluble – he gets this on his food daily to help his gut stay healthy. Apparently has no taste and is completely soluble so you could mix it in water/milk/tea etc as well, or just sprinkle on food and mix in. I usually add a little bit of wet food to their pellets as the Protexin is very dry!

Description “A palatable powder containing nine strains of beneficial organisms (bacteria, yeasts and moulds)”

Where to Buy: Any pet or vet-shop, or online.

Hills I/D Digestive Care  – Described on the Hills site as “For the nutritional management of dogs with gastrointestinal disorders and dogs in recovery. ” These come in tins (wet food) and there are two flavours. It is not just dog food, but also contains some medicinal properties as well as probiotics to help stabilize the gut.  I used to feed Shiva the plain Turkey tin which he used to love. But I think that he got used to it as being a treatment for when he is not feeling well, so he stopped eating it (unless I literally hand-feed him). I recently bought the new flavour, which is more of a stew (more juicy with vegetables & rice) – he loved this one! *Shakti is licking her lips in this photo – of course you can’t give one and not the other – and she really does love this stuff! 😀

Where to Buy: Any vet-shop.

New products I’ve discovered, or that have been prescribed by Vet when it gets really bad:

DioMec – first time I have come across this, or was prescribed this. Vet’s description was that it gathers all the liquid together and makes it more solid. Like a binding agent. Kind of like the human “Smecta” if you’ve ever had tummy issues yourself! In fact, contains the same active ingredient. You have to squirt it in their mouth – but Shiva wouldn’t let me, so I put it on my finger and rubbed it on his tongue to get it in. 😛 He didn’t spit it out – so that’s good!

Described on their site: “A nutritional aid which assists in normalizing the digestive system in dogs and cats suffering with diarrhoea. Diomec contains Diosmectite, Prebiotics, L-Glutamine, Dextrose and Electrolytes.

Diosmectite binds bacteria, toxins and water in the gut which aids in solidifying the faeces. Mannan Oligosaccharides (MOS) is a prebiotic and has been shown, in clinical trials, to reduce faecal E.Coli levels. It also improves gut immunity. L-glutamine is a source of nutrition for rapidly dividing electrocytes and aids in recovery.”

Where to Buy: Any vet-shop, or online.

Pro-Kolin – I have been prescribed this previously for Shiva. Similar to the DioMec above, but this you can find in pet-stores too.

Described as “A palatable probiotic paste which aids in the normalisation of gut peristalsis. Probiotics are live microbial supplements which can be given orally to restore and maintain the balance of microorganisms in the intestinal tract, to combat bacterial overgrowth and episodes of diarrhoea caused by a transient imbalance of the gut flora.”

Where to Buy: Any vet-shop, or online.

Royal Canin Recovery Liquid for Dogs – This seems to be more for if your dog had an op and is not eating well, or just refusing food, this is another way of getting nutrition in.

Described on their site “a complete dietary food for dogs and adult cats, formulated to promote nutritional recovery during convalescence or in case of feline liver lipidosis. This food has a high energy content and a high concentration of very digestible essential nutrients in order to bring to your pet all the nutritional support during intensive care, convalescence and anorexia for dog and cat.”

I also found it as a food state (Royal Canin Recovery tin), but requires a script prior to being able to buy.

Where to Buy: Any vet-shop. I could not find it at an online store in South Africa, but you can find it online here.

EM Probiotic (Promix) – I’m super excited to try this! As an IBS sufferer myself, I actually ship in probiotics from USA for myself – it’s the only thing that keeps me “consistent” and without pain, so I’m very keen to try this on our dogs!

Described on their site “Probiotics stimulate immunity, creating many more areas of potential benefit and not only have the affect to balance gut flora, but can also positively influence diseases which occur in tissues other than the intestinal tract.”

Where to Buy: Order EM Probiotics online

Do you have any tips or products that you’ve used on your own furkids and would like to share with our community to help with gut health in dogs? Post below!

As with any medical or health condition, if your dog is not looking well, please always refer to your Vet for the best advice first!