4 Ways Probiotics Improve the Lives of You & Your Pets (and How Prebiotics Play a Part Too)
Feeding your four-legged friends requires more than filling their empty stomachs. Pet owners are not only responsible for the nutrition of their cats and dogs, but also ensuring their pets can use those nutrients to the fullest. One easy way to do that: feed your pets probiotics.
For those who don’t know, probiotics are the beneficial microorganisms living throughout the digestive tracts of animals large and small. The good bacteria and yeast that take part in a mutualistic relationship with cats and dogs offer them many incredible advantages in return.
Here are just a few of the benefits of probiotics for pets that people and businesses need to know about – and why you need to make sure your sustainable pet food includes prebiotics as well.
Better Digestion
The digestive system of mammals is effective at breaking down food. Chewing, the constriction of esophagus muscles and decomposition from digestive juices in the stomach prepare what they eat to become energy. Yet the ability to use the full extent of those nutrients for energy purposes may require an extra nudge.
When dogs and cats have a healthy population of the right gut microbes, they’re better at maintaining healthy digestion. For example, the right amount of the bacteria Bacillus coagulans helps prevent diarrhea in dogs caused by a variety of harmful bacteria or even stressful situations. Plus, everything from ulcerative colitis to Crohn’s disease can be partially alleviated when this probiotic is available and abundant.
Stronger Immune Response
Many of the illnesses that your pets suffer from start in their digestive tract. The opposition pathogens face in putting down roots in the digestive system determines how effective those microbes will be at infecting your animals. If they are forced to compete for limited space and resources against any helpful microorganisms, they’ll struggle to infect digestive cells.
Plus, probiotics often encourage the functionality of pets’ immune system, interacting with their immune cells to encourage them to produce cytokines, which can influence inflammation as part of their internal self-defense. In young and old animals, this extra layer of warning supplements the developing or depleted immune response, giving pets further reactions against harmful bacteria.
Improved Breath
Tired of your cat or dog’s bad case of halitosis? One of the benefits of probiotics for pets is its ability to suppress the growth of the bad bacteria that produces stinky breath.
Studies show that various probiotics enhance the oral hygiene of both dogs and cats when they are supplied in combination with dry feed or even with a toothpaste. Certain bacteria like Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus rhamnosus inhibit the bad microbes that cause gingivitis and other oral infections. In other words, you can say goodbye to bad breath.
Recover from Antibiotics
Though antibiotics are essential to eliminating some infections in your pets, there are some side effects that can cause problems in the short term. For instance, antibiotics are indiscriminate about the types of bacteria they prevent from multiplying, killing any and all microbes that end up in their path.
At the end of an antibiotic prescription, your pets may be severely lacking the gut biodiversity that keeps them healthy. Fortunately, the right amount of probiotics in their feed can start them back on the path to replenishing populations of their healthy gut microbes. That way, harmful bacteria are unable to fill the void left by good microbes.
Help Pet Probiotics Thrive
Even with the benefits of probiotics for pets, these beneficial bacteria and yeast don’t thrive without the right conditions. They need an ample source of dietary fiber, or prebiotics, to help them function at full efficiency. One excellent source of prebiotics for animals is Ascophyllum nodosum.
But can cats eat seaweed? And can dogs eat seaweed? Yes, if you feed them the right amounts. In fact, the prebiotic benefits of seaweed found in our Tasco® products provides your pets with all the dietary fiber they need to cultivate healthy gut microbes and elevate their overall health and hardiness.
Want to get the full benefits of probiotics for pets from your feed? Learn how a steady supply of prebiotics like seaweed boosts their health and well-being.
For Cats
For Dogs
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