Replace Good Bacteria Using PET Plus
My puppy recently had to have antibiotics and as she is being naturally reared I am keen to put the good bacteria back that the antibiotics would have wiped out. My vet has suggested two or three things but I'm not happy about the ingredients and want something more natural with no nasties in it. Can you suggest anything?
Dr Susanna's Response
PET Plus is an excellent source of probiotics (Lactobacillus acidophilus) and the prebiotics required to support the probiotics.
There is much debate about how many species of probiotic bacteria to give, but the most up to date conclusion is that if you supply several probiotic species, they end up competing with each other for space to live.
This means it's best to have one excellent species in any supplement. So we chose the very best and safest coloniser, L acidophilus, as it has been shown to be extremely safe and very effective.
If you'd feel happier giving several species, you can get probiotic capsules from the health food shop.
Open the capsule and give half the contents of the capsule mixed in food once a day for 3-4 days. As long as you're using the Pet Plus as well, she'll have plenty of prebiotics to support them.
I expect you are also giving some liquidised greens in her food too.
Jackie further pointed out that she had used PET Plus before and hadn't noticed it had probiotics in it! She also wanted to know what omega oils I would recommend for dogs?
But I expect you can guess the answer! It's all in Pet Plus! I have included flaxseed for omega 3 and safflower petals for omega 6 and lots of other wonderful things. If you'd like to know what's in PET Plus, please check out my post on PET Plus ingredients.
When formulating PET Plus, I toyed with the idea of using krill, but I don't really want to be contributing to the destruction of our oceans. Stealing whale food just doesn't seem fair.
Omega 3 is the one to focus on and walnuts are a rich source of omega 3. Soak them first to release the enzyme inhibitors that otherwise make nuts so hard to digest.
Generally, aim for greens to be mixed with the meat and bone; not too much fruit as it tends to ferment as it's so quickly digested. It's best to give fruit as snacks between meals.