After the antibiotics...

[Marty]

I have 3 dogs on antibiotics for various reasons, and I am thinking it is yogurt that is good for helping reestablish the bacteria levels. Is this right, and how much?

[Mary Plummer]

...re-establishing the "good" bacteria. I've given some plain yogurt to Mr. Blue, just a spoon on his dinner. There's also some acidophilus tablets you can buy at pharmacies or health food stores. Unfortunately, I don't remember what kind. Mr. Blue loves the yogurt - coming from the always-hungry hound, I guess that's not surprising!

[davet]

nm

[k9Karen]

There have been many studies that show Lactobacillus and related organisms can help restore a normal bacterial balance in the intestines and other mucous membranes. Yogurt is good - be sure to buy one that says on the label "Active yogurt cultures" or something similar that indicates the bacteria in the product are still alive. Some brands are pasteurized after the yogurt is produced, killing the Lactobacillus and Streptococcus organisms present in the product. A tablespoon or so twice a day is usually enough. Just be sure to give it between antibiotic doses, not with them, since the antibiotic will kill off the bacteria before it has a chance to get to work. It's usually a good idea to continue the yogurt for at least a week after the antibiotic treatment ends.

As mentioned above, tablets are also available. Lactinex is one brand of Lactobacillus acidophilus tablets that are available at most pharmacies. You'll have to ask for them since they have to be kept refrigerated. Most health food stores also sell acidophilus or bifidophilus (a mixture of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus).

[BoxerTom]

As mentioned above, tablets are also available. Lactinex is one brand of Lactobacillus acidophilus tablets that are available at most pharmacies. You'll have to ask for them since they have to be kept refrigerated. Most health food stores also sell acidophilus or bifidophilus (a mixture of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus).

I agree these products are worthwhile, but quality is always a concern with all of these since they are regulated as foods and not drugs and there is no guarantee of actual content. ConsumerLabs recently did a study and found over 30% of the products they tested (n=25) had only 1% or less of the claimed amount of bacteria. Always a good idea to check quality testing like this prior to buying one.

http://www.consumerlab.com/results/probiotics.asp

[newfie]

i buy the plain yogurt that states on the container, with accidopholus, i do NOT buy the low fat product, just the plain.
i give several heaping tablespoons on their food.

[jdf]

A product we used with Roxy, who had to take a lot of antibiotics because of chronic UTI's, was Sundown Acidophilus Xtra made by Rexall. It contains bulgaricus, thermophilus and bifidum as well as acidophilus. According to our vet, dogs don't benefit from acidophilus in the same way that humans do but the other bacteria present in the Sundown Acidophilus Xtra are of benefit to dogs. I think there are other products available which contain all of these bacteria but the Sundown product is a good one (by our experience at any rate). It's inexpensive and can be found at most drugstores.

<a href="http://www.sundownvitamins.com/products ... 018696#</a>