I found this,
http://www.monicasegal.com/newsletters/2005-05NL.php
"Myth of The Month
All Probiotics Are Good.
This isn’t always the case. Remember that not only is this a fairly recent area of study but that so many of us look at studies based on the human population and assume the result would apply to dogs. In fact, it can be risky to interpret things that way. Just as we know that dogs are a different species with their own unique requirements, we need to consider that their reactions may be quite different from their human owners.
Case in point is the probiotic E. faecium. Some studies show that it actually increased the levels of salmonella and campylobacter in healthy dogs – not a good thing. Read labels and consider that your dog is a dog, not a person, before adding what should be good stuff in to the food bowl.
Our health section lists a study that covers this topic: PubMed Abstract PMID: 12903867. along with other relevant canine studies. This abstract is also posted in the files seciton of the K9Kitchen discussion group.
The study's full title, by the way, is The effect of a probiotic Enterococcus faecium product in diets of healthy dogs on bacteriological counts of Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp. and Clostridium spp. in faeces"
I know that Acidophilus has been studied and proven good for dogs,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez...Pubmed_RVDocSum
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Kitchen/message/14595
Probiotics - As little as is known about how these things work in humans, there is even less info about probiotics and animals. Some studies have been done but most of those were in farm animals such as cows. A very different animal from a dog - obviously.
As for which strain might be best, again, nobody knows but acidophillus seems to give great results. Many people believe that one of the benefits of using a single strain is that there is no competition this way. When we use a product that contains a variety of strains, there is a chance that they compete and either cancel each other out or reduce benefit.
With or without FOS - Fructooligosaccharides can provide "food" for a bacteria such as acidophilus and others. It's a simple carbohydrate. Some dogs can handle it while others can't. Some ( most? ) of the FOS in probiotics is dervied from cane sugar. This is not usually a problem but some dogs ( Zoey is one of them ) react poorly. FOS is said to be digested in the colon and may alter the bacteria
due to this. So to be on the safe side, I prefer to use a probiotic without FOS for dogs suffering with digestive problems. Many dogs, however, have no issues with FOS and the only way to know is to try it.
Remember that your dog already has beneficial bacteria in the system. You are not attempting to plant a brand new crop of something that doesn't exist. Probiotics may be helpful in perking up the system but your dog is not walking around without any beneficial bacteria so boosting one strain at a time is not unreasonable.
And,
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9Kitchen/message/61564
"Hi Sandy
You wrote:
do dog probiotics use dog-specific strains of bacteria, or are they using human strains and assuming they work in dogs?
*** Many strains are under investigation. The one that has been studied best, and seems to work best without escalating numbers of unfriendly organisms is acidophilus.
Monica Segal - AHCW"
Soooooo, perhaps we should look for fewer strains or just acidophilus. . .
I am a big believer in probiotics after antibiotics, but have never used them daily for general wellness.