Comments on Probiotics: Quick Fix for Antibiotic Damage?

I have wondered if the "problem" of some dogs eating their own feces is actually a God given instinct in the dog to try to replace gut bacteria that it is lacking. A self administered fecal transplant. Sadly I had this happen with a dog after a chemical worming. No more chemical wormings for us. I gave a probiotic and she stopped. I sure am glad to hear about the tripe and kraut. Will be adding some to my girls diet.

I'm with you Doc! Working in the natural nutrition field for 40 years, I've found prebiotics to a problem for many dogs. I remember when they first became popular as an addition to probiotics. Suddenly the dogs that were doing well on a probiotic began to have problems when the product added prebiotics. Makes sense to me though as most are made from ingredients our dogs don't need and could actually help feed yeast. Woof!

I give my dogs raw green lamb trip in huge pieces. Believe you me, it STINKS, and I have to cut it because the piece is three pounds. But my girls love it. That is the only pro or pre biotics they have ever had. I had their guts tested last year and all looked good.

First thing I would do is stop the antibiotics and fast the dog for at least a day - maybe 2 days.
And start looking for a holistic vet.
Meanwhile, I would marinate dozen chicken or turkey legs by digging a hole in the backyard and burying them for a couple of days.
Then feed the dog couple of those a day plus some raw eggs and chicken drum sticks and then look into switching the dog to a holistic raw diet.
I'm assuming since the presence of grain in the diet may be problematic, then dog is probably a kibble junkie - or maybe it's an assumption by the vet.
I wouldn't be surprised if the owner takes the dog back to the vet because it's suffering from the side effects of doxycycline - and then the vet recommends vaccinations for kennel cough, lepto and the flu.
Note, I've never had a flu vaccination - or any vaccination since I left high school.
And I've never had the flu which I attribute to having a dog when I was growing up.

Hey Doc,
What is your opinion of Kefir which has more probiotics than any supplement and fortunately my dog loves, gets a cup a day (he would drink a gallon if I let him). Also Golden Paste (turmeric recipe) which he also loves. I think my Chauncy just knows what is good for him. We both are on the mentioned and are doing great. We do holistic all the way.

Can the FMT be done as MBRT (microbiome replacement therapy) and just feed a healthy dog's poop to the sick dog or is it not as effective?

Great article, Dr F! This is a timely topic with the probiotic "craze" we've been experiencing. In my human functional med studies we assume at least one year is required to begin to restore the gut from a course of antibiotics, IF EVER. And remember, this goes for skin health too---not so fast with the neosporin salve!!
A short course in mammalian physiology might help. Remember, the actual gut lining is only the thickness of one skin cell. On it and in it floats a layer of mucous which anchors the microvilli, colonies of tiny fingers which serve as home to all the bacteria living there. Embedded here also are the factories for making--and developing---the white blood (immune) cells, and also the neurotransmitters, which are proteins essential for for brain function, among others. When we kill the bacteria we also damage the microvilli, the mucosal membrane, and even the layer of epithelial (skin) cells, resulting in what we commonly now call "leaky gut". And here is the big surprise---there is so much affinity between the gut and the brain, and between inflammation here, and the gut barrier and the blood-brain barrier, which is designed to protect the brain from all sorts of things, we know now that these two parallel each other. For example, when a person experiences a concussion, within six hours, they also have a leaky gut. Holy cow.
So back to the gut: it not only takes time, but a healthy environment to rebuild all these structures and relationships. If a gut is constantly inflamed by inappropriate foods, chemicals, GMOs, heavy metals, etc etc, re-establishing a robust environment may be impossible.
It's just not as simple as taking some bacteria in a pill.
Thanks for reading! Dr Mary

I have a rescued Amstaff who has the itchy, corn chip smelling problem. It took me two years to figure out that it was a yeast infection due to gut micro biome imbalance. I live on a small Greek island, all the vets here are fully paid up vet Pharma agents, usually failed medical students. Anyway they diagnosed various things; allergies, leishmaniasis etc. The first one prescribed antibiotics and cortisol. Sure the cortisol worked but the antibiotics !! In hindsight this was a disaster. So I soon realised I was on my own. I tried colloidal silver and turmeric paste, worked ok for a while, but the foot chewing and disgusting smell came back and was too much Then I did some research and asked animal communicator friend to do some gestalt communication with the dog. That's when the penny dropped, we both came up with the same answer...yeast infection. I am on a tight budget so instead of fancy expensive pills I make sauerkraut and water kefir. She gets a dose every mealtime and there's been a big improvement. I will get some tripe too....good tip, thanks.
She had leishmaniasis when I picked her off the street but she's tested negative for two years in a row which is officially leish free. However she was prescribed Zilapur, the human medicine for gout for more than a year. I suspect this is what tipped her over the edge.

I'm fighting a tough case of fungus with probiotics right now, which don't really seem to be working on the fungus, but at least he's stopped barfing. No, I do not give antibiotics, ever. Usually colloidal silver is what works. This fungus showed up after we had the leach field replaced on the septic system and the soil was disturbed--sure hope it isn't Cryptococcus. Three of the cats had patches immediately. Only the old guy, Hamp, is still crusty. If probiotics were all that effective he'd be clear by now, I've been dousing him with Bannixx 3x a day. I gave him Sulfur Iodatum 6c for the sneezing and I'm going to try Sulphur 30c for the crusty rash. I've read there's an inherent problem with probiotics being destroyed by the stomach before they reach the intestines...do you think that's true?
Oh btw, doc--I'm a "flat earther." I don't believe we're on a spinning space ship, kind sir. Really laughed at flat-earthers at first, until I examined the evidence with an open mind. Ain't laughin' now! I'm a scripture junky, so...
Hugs!

Our dog had a severe UTI that came on suddenly after taking Collostrum for a month, Anti-Vaccinosis two weeks prior, and 2 days of a natural Heartworm preventative/dewormer, all from Dog'snaturally magazine/market.com...he was straining so badly with only bloody dribbles. He has flaky skin under his chin, his whole groin area and inside his back legs and his arm pits, & paws. We had no choice but to put him on an antibiotic. Colloidal Silver did nothing. A raw diet since last August made him lose weight and caused worst allergies than kibble. He is now on Hills prescription food & seems to be improving a little but still craves the sauerkraut we gave him with his raw diet. Hopefully it will bring back his good gut flora. I give him 1 of my capsules on days in between. Isn't there any hope for our sick dogs? We can't leave them not able to pee, straining & peeing blood. Sometimes antibiotics help. But, the vet says our dog has Anaplasma, again! She said his blood was clear but that the bacteria is hiding in his joints and organs from what the 2- $100.00 each blood tests shown. She wants to put him on antibiotics another 30 days... I don't know what to do!

I used a probiotic, live culture, refrigerated, w/over 100 billion CFUs @ $60 a bottle for my diarrhea but it didn't faze it in the least. I was also taking a live culture yogurt from raw cows milk and nothing. Eventually it passed.
Thankfully, my mini doxie hasn't had a problem that I know of (yet) but I like the idea of the fresh green tripe. I looked up Texas Tripe and they are about 100 miles north of me and deliver to a neighboring city so I'm going to do it. Preventative. Plus it'll be good for her.
Thanks for another great article and info...always enjoy them all and keep them.

I feed a variety of raw proteins; duck, lamb, lamb tripe and beef (Darwins Natural Selection) and venison (Primal-they assured me NO HPP on red meats) Read an article written by Dr. Karen Becker, Integrative DVM, that stated when feeding a species appropriate diet, supplementing with pre/probiotics could actually be causing a yeast-type overload. Our holistic vet, Dr. Pat Bradley (a colleague of Dr. Will's), suggested I stop the pre/probiotic for a couple weeks and see if it helped one of our dogs she's treating. Within 3 days, this particular dog quit her head shaking and scratching her ears. She's been much more comfortable in general and sleeping better at night. Dr. Pat did say to give it a couple weeks (we have a week to go) and then possibly start our dogs (we have 3 rescues), on digestive enzymes. I'm researching different brands so we can discuss and choose one. Dr. Will, do you have a particular brand of enzymes you prefer for raw fed dogs?

Question: explain capsules that are "probiotic & prebiotic? Is it necessary to take them daily to fullt benefit?
Thanks Doc!