Probiotics and their role in veterinary medicine

Probiotics have been used to help treat antibiotic-associated gastrointestinal signs (AAGS) such as vomiting, drooling, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea, all of which can lead to reduced nutritional intake. When it comes to treating people, there are signs that probiotics help alleviate these symptoms in people, but how effective are they in veterinary patients?

During her talk “The Role of Probiotics in Veterinary Medicine” at the 2023 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Convention in Denver, Colorado, Nicola Lakeman, MSc BSc (Hons), RVN, CertVNECC, CertSAN, VTS (Nutrition), gave a brief overview of probiotics, as well as some of the general public’s misconceptions and how you can combat them.

Overview of Probiotics

As little as is known about probiotics and the biome, antibiotics have been proven to cause disruption in patients. When antibiotics are introduced to the biome, studies have shown that they cause disruption primarily decreasing the diversity of organisms present in cats and dogs. Regarding the treatment of patients, Lakeman explained that these probiotics used in veterinary medicine have great synergistic effects.

“Synergy is when you have more than 2 or more things that work better together. So we relate that to something else, and then the industry, we know that acepromazine and buprenorphine when you put them together and have more of a sedative and analgesic effect than the 2 given alone, they’re synergistic,” Lakeman informed attendees.

When it comes to probiotics, how do you know which ones to recommend to your patients? Veterinary professionals can explain to customers that when reviewing probiotics, all labels should include expiration dates, exact species, number of microorganisms in the product, and a guarantee for the number of live organisms in the supplement.² If customers have specific questions, veterinary teams may be able to call the manufacturer for support on the efficacy of their product, preferably a study by accredited researchers.

Misconceptions about probiotics

Lakeman explained to attendees that if they left the Colorado Convention Center and went up to someone on the street to ask if fiber was carbs, she thought they would say no. It is important to correct this misconception in patients, as carbohydrates can play an important role in increasing fiber-based probiotics in a patient’s diet. Lakeman told attendees that the key to correcting this misconception is to pay attention to the words and descriptors used when talking to customers about fiber in carbohydrates, so they understand. For example, she explained how customers may worry about an increase in fiber content that could lead to low digestibility.

“[Another] thing we still have misconceptions [about] is when we say we need to make sure we have carbohydrates in the diet, [clients believe] This [carbs] will reduce the digestibility of the feed and yes it will, but it can be positive in some cases. For things like constipation, we might want a fiber-rich food. [because] we want low digestibility. In some diets, we want high digestibility, but we just have to adapt the type of carbohydrates in it,” Lakeman said.

“Some of the GI diets we have, whether they’re made by Royal Canin, Hills or Purina, or all those sorts of veterinary therapeutic diet companies. Yes, they are going to contain carbs, but the digestibility can be as high as 96% in some of these foods, so they contain the right kinds of fiber and that’s what we need to pass on to the owner,” Lakeman said.

In conclusion

Probiotics can be an important tool to help keep pets healthy while they are on medication, suffer from gastrointestinal illnesses and have other medical issues. Since clients will ask questions about themselves and the types of products they could give their pet, it is important that the entire clinic learns and understands the different products and treatments available.

The references

1. Lakeman N. The role of probiotics in veterinary medicine. Presented at: AVMA Convention; Denver, Colorado. July 14, 2023.
2. The power of probiotics. Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Published July 7, 2021. Accessed July 20, 2023. https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/riney-canine-health-center/health-info/power-probiotics