Your dog’s gut is like a bustling city of microbes vital for digestion, immunity, metabolism, and overall wellness. But are prebiotics or probiotics the best thing to give your dog?
Your dog’s gut is like a bustling city of microbes vital for digestion, immunity, metabolism, and overall wellness.
Prebiotics
🌱 Prebiotics are the food for those good microbes already living in your dog’s gut. Unlike many probiotics, they resist stomach acid and digestive enzymes, making it all the way to the large intestine, where they get fermented producing short-chain fatty acids which are essential for gut health, immune regulation, metabolic balance, and even brain function.
Why prebiotics are often the better choice:
Prebiotics are essential for long-term gut health by nurturing your dog’s unique microbiome. Generally gentle and effective, these would be the first step to helping your dog unless they have a confirmed microbiome imbalance (following a microbiome test, after antibiotics or an illness).
Inulin powder and psyllium husk are two great prebiotics. Many fruits and veg contain prebiotics too (try green bananas, apples, berries, pumpkin, sweet potato, mushrooms)
Probiotics
🦠 Probiotics deliver live microbes to repopulate the gut. They’re especially useful after gut disruptions like infections, stress, surgery, or food changes.
⚠️But:
They must survive stomach acid which many commercial formulas don’t.
Studies show some pet probiotics contain only low levels of live species, or don’t match what’s listed on the label.
Too much of a single strain can throw off the delicate balance, worsening dysbiosis.
🌿 Soil-based probiotics are one of the better choices for probiotics.
These spore-forming microbes are naturally resilient and more likely to survive stomach acid and thrive in the gut. They mimic what dogs would encounter in nature, offering diverse, robust support.
We love Adored Beast here at Tilly’s.
🚨 Be wary of inferior probiotics! Not all probiotics are created equal. Many probiotics on the market have added fillers and often include only 1–3 microbial strains. That’s hardly enough diversity to support gut health.
✅ Bottom line for gut health:
Choose prebiotics first as they safely and effectively fuel your dog’s existing beneficial bacteria.
Add soil-based probiotics if there’s a confirmed imbalance or recovery needed.
Always check labels for live strain counts, transparent sourcing, and minimum fillers.
A healthy gut starts with nourishing the ecosystem, not just adding more bugs:
🥩 Choose species appropriate food (fresh food).
🥛Add natural sources of probiotics such as sauerkraut (make sure ingredients are dog friendly or ferment your own veg), kefir and raw goats milk.
🦴Feed bone broth.
☠️Reduce environment toxins and the use of nonessential pharmaceuticals
Remember a health gut is about an holistic approach, not just adding supplements.
Need advice? Pop into Tilly's to speak to our qualified canine nutritionist