Nutrition is a bridge between cells of the body and the microorganisms that inhabit the healthy gastrointestinal tract (GIT), which extends from the mouth to the anus, hosting approximately 400 different species of microorganisms, called endogenous flora or microflora.
All mammals require these beneficial organisms and biologically produce substances to create a hospitable environment for them to take up residency, for necessary health and proper functioning of the GIT.
You may ask why cancer is the number one killer of all pets?
Processed foods and stressful environments deprive dogs and the rest of us of these valuable organisms and nutrients we need to metabolize.
Endogenous microflora play an intrinsic role in your dogs digestive issues: gas, bloat, bad breath, inflammatory bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, stool eating, chronic skin problems and allergies. Included in the list are life-threatening vaccine reactions, parasites, worms, endurance fatigue, hypertension and joint problems, especially for elderly dogs, and immunology. The microflora and the immune system are intrinsically connected. What hurts one negatively affects the other. Few diseases are isolated in nature, and repercussions throughout the body are probable.
Stress, pH changes due to antibiotics, or cessation of nutrient flow in your dog or any mammal can kill off endogenous microflora attached to the walls of the GIT. As a result, areas within the GIT are stripped of the naturally protective microorganisms, creating an open invitation to opportunistic pathogens that can make animals sick by competing for available nutrients and starving the beneficial microorganisms or, more seriously, through the production of toxins. Food poisoning often involves bacterial toxins. The smallest amount of toxin can make an animal sick to deathly ill, and it can happen quickly.
Probiotics may assist in the dogs faster recovery.
Probiotics for our dogs and other mammals act as replacements until the endogenous microflora, decimated by antibiotics or stress, can recover.
Antibiotics may or may not kill the initial invading microorganisms, but they indiscriminately kill beneficial probiotics in dogs. Probiotics for dogs on antibiotics regimen should be given at twice the usual rate with doses staggered to maximize benefits. Antibiotics can kill probiotic microorganisms. Probiotics help control infections and prevent secondary infections, not in the GIT but by stimulating the immune system. They benefit our dogs by improving their microbial balance which includes bacteria, yeasts, and fungi that protect against pathogens and allow the endogenous microorganisms to recover.
To help your dog get the best protective coverage, rather than opportunistic pathogens, use a wide-spectrum probiotic, containing required amounts of the widest selection possible of different species. No one species is the best for every requirement or need and it can take 10 to 14 days for probiotics to fully activate in your dogs system. More concentrated forms begin working within a few hours.
An effective probiotic is Lactobacillus acidophilus, meaning "acid lover". Its a lactic acid-producing bacteria that lives in the stomach. It prefers acid and will secrete enough of its own acid to maintain a pH that is uncomfortable for many opportunistic pathogens. Other probiotics prefer the less acidic environs of the large intestine, and will successfully pass through the stomach and continue to the colon. There are always some probiotic microorganisms that succumb to the extreme conditions in the stomach, and that is why initial doses should be higher. The mechanisms are not completely understood, but probiotics act as regulators of the intestinal microflora, as a source of digestive enzymes, and as a positive stimulant to the immune system.
Giving probiotics to your pet helps produce natural antibiotics, which fight harmful bacteria. Probiotics benefit the dogs digestion of food, and aid in absorption of nutrients, antioxidants, and iron from food digested. They can help your dog with food intolerance while aiding in absorption of B vitamins, biotin and folic acid. Probiotics for dogs assist in controlling the growth of yeast, regulating hormone levels, stimulating the immune system, reducing inflammation and increasing energy levels.
Buying from a distributor or retailer, do you really know what you are getting?
Storage and handling of probiotics for your canine influences the actual quantity of viable microorganisms consumed. The package you buy may have had the CFU (colony forming units) of the various organisms listed on the label when it left the manufacturer, but are they there in the same amounts when your pet gets the product? The most effective probiotics are the freshest ones that spend the least time away from the manufacturer.
We have existed as a company since 1985, but it was a love of dogs, the dogs that have been a part of our life, and the passing of one dog in particular, Rusty, that inspired the creation of http://www.CalloftheDog.com and http://www.CalloftheDogShop.com -- created to provide the things your dogs and pets need. Visit us for great information and quality dog supplies! Be sure to see our About Us page as well.
The two sites are dedicated to the dogs we have loved so deeply, and who have given us so much love in return. Purebreds and mixed breeds, but mostly rescues in need of a home. We educated them, but each one has had something to teach us in exchange.
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