You\u2019ve probably heard of probiotics \u2014 and possibly prebiotics \u2014 from food shows, supplement commercials, your doctor or even your pet\u2019s veterinarian. But do you know what they are and what they do? More importantly, should your pet be getting either one or both?<\/p>\n
Researchers have learned a lot about the gastrointestinal (GI) tract\u2019s role in health and wellness, including things like the benefits of fiber<\/a> and the influence of the microorganism communities that live in the GI tract. Armed with this knowledge, many people have become interested in probiotics, prebiotics and how they support digestive health. And of course, this interest and awareness has been extended by pet owners to their dogs and cats.<\/p>\n While research continues in this area of pet nutrition and veterinary medicine, here are the basics.<\/p>\n Yes! The GI tract is one place where invisible communities of highly active and adaptable microorganisms thrive. Collectively called the intestinal microbiota, an estimated\u00a0100 trillion microbes<\/a>\u00a0are present in the intestines of dogs \u2014 that\u2019s roughly 10 times the number of cells in their whole body. Similar numbers are thought to comprise the intestinal microbiota of people and cats. Most \u2014 about 99 percent \u2014 of the community members are bacteria, which can be simply described as a balance of \u201cgood\u201d and potentially \u201cbad\u201d bacteria. In a normal, healthy GI tract, intestinal microbes:<\/p>\n Simply put, probiotics are live microorganisms, such as bacteria and yeasts, that may provide health benefits when administered in adequate amounts. The microorganisms chosen for probiotics are similar to the \u201cgood\u201d bacteria found naturally in the intestines. Common probiotic bacteria that may be beneficial to pets include certain\u00a0Lactobacillus<\/em>,\u00a0Enterococcus<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Bifidobacterium<\/em>\u00a0species.<\/p>\n Prebiotics are nondigestible components of food ingredients that promote growth and activity of select \u201cgood,\u201d or beneficial, bacteria in the large intestine. To be considered a prebiotic, a compound must not be broken down by stomach acid or digestive enzymes and must be selectively fermented by certain microorganisms.<\/p>\n While the term prebiotic may seem unfamiliar, chances are you\u2019re already well-acquainted with some types of prebiotics. One of the most common is dietary fiber, such as the fiber found in chicory root and dried plain beet pulp. In fact, prebiotics \u2014 in the form of fermentable fibers \u2014 have been used in pet foods for decades.<\/p>\n A balanced microbiota is very important to maintaining good intestinal health. However, stressful situations, such as boarding, traveling or moving; abrupt food changes; dietary indiscretions, such as eating spoiled food, garbage and other non-food items; antibiotic treatment; parasites and other factors can disrupt the balance of intestinal bacteria. When that happens, populations of harmful microorganisms can grow, damage the intestinal lining and cause diarrhea and other health issues.<\/p>\n Probiotics are designed to introduce beneficial bacteria into the GI tract, helping to restore the balance back to normal. When probiotic bacteria are able to take up residence in the intestines, they help other good bacteria compete with harmful ones for nutrients and intestinal binding sites and help the immune system fight off disease-causing microbes.<\/p>\n Prebiotics work by providing intestinal bacteria with fuel they can use to thrive. Although prebiotic fibers aren\u2019t broken down by digestive enzymes, bacteria can ferment them. Byproducts of this process can then be used for energy by cells of the large intestine.<\/p>\n As some pet owners learn more about their pets\u2019 nutrition and health, they\u2019re choosing to feed pet food enhanced with prebiotics and probiotics. It\u2019s an easy way to supplement your pet\u2019s diet with probiotics preemptively. (Fermentable fiber that doubles as a prebiotic is easily and frequently included in many commercial pet foods.) At Diamond, we believe healthy digestive and immune systems are vital to the overall health of your pet. That\u2019s why every\u00a0Diamond Naturals<\/a>\u00a0dry dog food formula is enhanced with K9 Strain Probiotics and every\u00a0Diamond Naturals dry cat food\u00a0formula is enhanced with Viables Probiotics.\u00a0K9 Strain and Viables Probiotics<\/a> were developed specifically for use with our dry dog and cat foods to help maintain a healthy gut. Each strain is guaranteed to be free of harmful pathogens or other contaminants. And because probiotics are added to our kibble after the cooking process, these beneficial bacteria are guaranteed to be live, active cultures.<\/p>\n As always, if you have any questions about your pet\u2019s health or nutrition, please talk with your veterinarian. Next to you, your veterinarian knows your pet and your pet\u2019s health issues best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You\u2019ve probably heard of probiotics \u2014 and possibly prebiotics \u2014 from food shows, supplement commercials, your doctor or even your pet\u2019s veterinarian. But do you know what they are and what they do? More importantly, should your pet be getting either one or both? Researchers have learned a lot about the gastrointestinal (GI) tract\u2019s role […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Prebiotics vs. Probiotics for Pets: Does Your Pet Need Them?","_seopress_titles_desc":"Discover the benefits of prebiotics and probiotics for your pet. Learn their role in digestive and immune health, and how they can enhance your pet's diet.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[233,27],"tags":[100,10,206,79],"class_list":["post-440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ingredients","category-nutrition","tag-cat","tag-dog","tag-ingredients","tag-nutrition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Are there really \u201cgood\u201d bacteria?<\/h2>\n
\n
What are probiotics?<\/h3>\n
What are prebiotics?<\/h3>\n
How do probiotics and prebiotics work?<\/h3>\n
You can find them in food<\/h3>\n