Scratchings-and-Sniffings

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Probiotic Success Story Posted: 08 Feb 2010 10:36 AM PST You've probably heard a lot about probiotics over the last couple of years. Some major food producers have introduced probiotic supplements into the grocery store and advertised these products heavily. You can find probiotics in some yogurt brands and there are probiotic drinks and pills in health food stores. At Purina, we studied the health benefits of probiotics for several years. In fact, yours truly was intimately involved as part of the product development work I did late in my tenure at Purina. I was part of the team that introduced Forti Flora to market in 2006. Forti Flora was the first probiotic supplement introduced for veterinary use with a guaranteed level of microorganisms.   The last statement is really important.   Many products claiming to have probiotics don't have enough, if any, live organisms to work their magic in the intestine. Forti Flora also has a special coating that allows the live bugs to pass though the acid environment of the stomach unscathed so they are alive and kicking when they reach the part of the intestine where they take up residence.   The folks over at Purina Veterinary Diets, including our own Dr. Grace Long, have compiled a series of success stories involving probiotic use in pets suffering from chronic diarrhea. I got an e-mail with a link to one such story last week. It's pretty cool to see something you worked on come to life and be a benefit to a sick pet.   Alice, my buddy Phil's dog, is on Forti Flora, too. As you may recall from last year Alice was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease or IBD. She developed chronic vomiting and was losing weight. She probably has a food allergy, too, and she is currently on PVD HA formula and Forti Flora. She's fine when she stays on her diet but any deviation from the HA and she starts to vomit within 48 hours.   Forti Flora may be helping Alice due to the effect probiotics have on the immune system. In addition to strengthening the immune response probiotics have the ability to modulate the immune response. Basically, this means that they help the immune system respond normally as opposed to being overactive.   In the case of IBD, where the gut is suffering from an abnormal immune response, probiotics can lead to a more normal immune reaction which leads to less inflammation and relief of clinical signs.   If your dog develops chronic diarrhea, or suffers from a short term problem that alters his gut microflora balance, your veterinarian may prescribe probiotics. If so, we'd love to hear about the results. Send us an e-mail or comment on any of our posts and we'll let others know about your real life experiences with probiotics.

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