I believe that friends who raise dogs now have some experience on how to buy dogs, and will not easily buy a dog last week. Most owners have also summarized some experiences in raising newly bought puppies through continuous practice, such as not bathing dogs, not feeding them too much, etc. However, in recent cases, pet doctors have found that An interesting phenomenon occurred when the pet owner gave the puppy probiotics for a newly bought dog. The pet doctor thought that the current owner has become more aware of preventing dog diseases. However, when the pet owner said that the purpose of taking probiotics was to prevent infectious diseases, the pet doctor was not calm at that time. How could probiotics prevent infectious diseases?

Today, the pet doctor clarified a rumor for everyone. Probiotics cannot prevent infectious diseases at all. Therefore, dog owners must not neglect the feeding and management of dogs and the prevention of infectious diseases just because they give probiotics to their dogs. In the end, the dogs will be more susceptible to infectious diseases.

First, let us understand what are probiotics?

Probiotics are active microorganisms that are beneficial to the human body. Its main function is to maintain the balance of the flora in a certain part. The probiotics we refer to in the pet field refer to intestinal probiotics. There are many bacteria in the normal intestines, but these bacteria are not harmful, but are used to help the intestines digest food and absorb nutrients. These beneficial bacteria are called probiotics.

What are the effects of probiotics for dogs?

The main functions of probiotics given to dogs are to maintain the balance of the intestinal flora of dogs,

enhance the digestive capacity of the intestines,

enhance the appetite of dogs,

have a very weak effect of indirectly regulating immunity, (this effect is indeed It is true, but whether it is pet probiotics or human probiotics, this effect has been infinitely exaggerated)

After we look at the functions of probiotics, we can hardly find one that can prevent viruses. Many people may say, doesn’t it have the effect of enhancing immunity? Wouldn't it be possible to prevent infectious diseases if the immunity is high?

Hahahaha! !

Taking probiotics to improve immunity will take at least 3 months to have some effect, and the effect is still minimal. Even taking globulin does not have the ability to quickly replenish immunity. Moreover, the principle of taking probiotics to improve immunity is to regulate the intestinal digestive function first, and then The absorption and utilization rate of the food we eat becomes higher, so we can indirectly obtain better immunity. Then we imagine that eating probiotics can immediately improve immunity. This is very unreliable and unrealistic, because the principle of enhancing immunity is the same as that of eating to enhance immunity.

What are the disadvantages of using probiotics to prevent infectious diseases in dogs?

First of all, let’s state that probiotics are not harmful to dogs, so why are using them to prevent infectious diseases harmful? Let’s analyze a few scenarios for you. This is actually something that everyone often does when raising dogs.

Dogs’ appetite increases:

Puppies don’t know if they are full. After they see the food, they will eat it as if they have been hungry for days. At this time, if we give it probiotics that enhance appetite, its appetite will be better and its gastrointestinal emptying will be better. The time will go faster, and its hunger will be stronger, so at this time, its desire for food will be stronger. At this time, it is most likely to eat some foreign objects, or food in the trash can, which will form intestinal foreign objects or gastroenteritis, so this time will also increase the chance of contracting infectious diseases.

Owner’s carelessness:

Many pet owners have the idea that probiotics for dogs can prevent infectious diseases. After that, they will forget the pet doctor’s instructions and the instructions for selling the dog. They will not feed the dog food, bathe the dog, take the dog out to play, and He eats meat and gives bones to dogs because of his own temperament, because he believes that dogs will not get infectious diseases if they eat probiotics. Dogs living under these wrong breeding methods will be particularly susceptible to illness. Once a puppy gets sick, it will be more susceptible to infectious diseases.

Blindly increasing the dose:

After the owner knows that probiotics can prevent infectious diseases, they feel like a treasure. They do not feed according to the health-care dosage at all. They will think that feeding more will have better effects. In addition, probiotics are not drugs, so the owners feel that probiotics have no side effects and will be more careless in feeding dosage.

The flora in the dog's intestinal tract is in a state of balance. Whether it is too much or too little, problems will occur. If we give the dog an excessive amount of probiotics, we are actually destroying its intestinal flora. Because when the intestinal flora is too large, these probiotics are extremely active and will increase the speed of intestinal peristalsis, so the dog will have symptoms of persistent diarrhea. After the puppy has diarrhea, its immunity will be reduced, so it will be more susceptible to infectious diseases at this time.

How should we prevent our newly purchased puppies from contracting infectious diseases?

Feed dog food with goat milk powder (dog food can be soaked until soft, but do not give it milk). Do not bathe the dog (to prevent the dog from catching colds and reducing immunity). Do not take the dog for a walk outside (to prevent contact with the excrement of sick dogs outside, causing cross-infection). Just keep the feeding amount at 70-80%, and do not let it eat until it is completely full.. (90% of puppy diseases are caused by overeating) Get vaccinated as soon as possible (this step is the most important, only after vaccination can you truly prevent infectious diseases)

So can newly bought puppies take probiotics?

The answer given by the pet doctor is yes, but we pet owners must understand that the purpose of giving probiotics to dogs is not to prevent infectious diseases, but to reduce the stress response caused by changes in the environment, water, and food in their gastrointestinal tract. Remember, the probiotics at this time are only auxiliary. The main role is that the owner needs to implement the 5 scientific feeding and management methods we mentioned above, because only by taking these measures can probiotics play their role. Probiotics are the icing on the cake. They are not a help in times of need. Without the support of healthy and scientific feeding and management, no matter how good the probiotics are, they will not be effective.

In fact, when we as owners raise dogs, we must know how to identify rumors about raising dogs, and fully understand the recommendations of pet doctors or dog sellers. For example, we should give our dogs small meals more frequently, and do not interpret them as starving dogs. For example, giving probiotics to dogs can reduce their gastrointestinal reactions in changing environments. Don’t understand that probiotics can prevent infectious diseases. For example, you can’t feed dogs human food, and don’t understand that you can’t eat boiled chicken breasts. Therefore, pet doctors always believe that pet owners should learn more about healthy and scientific feeding and management, as well as disease prevention, rather than disease treatment methods, because that is the job of pet doctors.