Smart Fido Smart Fido Flora 30 Sachet Ct for Dogs “ Daily Feed Additive, Supports A Healthy Gut & Immune System, Leading Probiotics, for All Ages

I ordered this product because I wanted to have something to give our new rescue to help her with her digestive issues. Much to my dismay, when I receive the product, I saw that the first ingredient is maltodextrin, followed by sugar and salt as the fourth and fifth ingredients. If I had realized that there was so many ingredients in here that are unhealthy for a dog’s digestion , I never would’ve purchased it.

My dog eats very fast without some type of probiotic he usually throws up.. he will not even eat his food with this in it. I wish I returned it. Unfortunately my return window had passed. I will ,not not be buyi g this sgain

My very old min pin gets recurring pancreatitis. I think this helps her. I bought some very very expensive kind, she likes this better.

doesnt work

No positive effect

I have been reading about recent research finding the importance of probiotics in dogs. A recent study found that gut microbes can be strongly correlated with anxiety and aggression in dogs, and a good probiotic supplementation regimen can reverse anxiety and aggressive behavior in up to 90% of dogs. That's some pretty amazing stuff! And we all already know the benefits of probiotics when it comes to aiding digestion and improving the immune system, right?I recently adopted a puppy who was diagnosed with pneumonia and had to be on a long course of antibiotics. Antibiotics arent discriminatory though, and they kill the bad bacteria as well as all the good, beneficial gut bacteria. I thought it was important to reseed his gut with this good bacteria after the antibiotics wiped him clean.My dog will eagerly eat this brand of probiotics, which come in convient single serving packets to be sprinkled over something else. The palatable nature is not surprising when sugar and chicken liver are high on the ingredient list.I also really like that it is manufactured in Wisconsin, though it would be better if all the ingredients were sourced from the USA too.I can also confirm that mine arrived with live probiotics as advertised. I had good weather between order and delivery in that it never got above 75 degrees (if it were much hotter than that it could potentially kill the live bacteria in storage/transit.) These should always be stored in a cool place.In the photos above, the cup on the left is pure cream. The cup on the right is cream with one packet of fido flora added. After sitting in a slightly warm spot like on top of the fridge for 48 hours, you can see that the plain milk is still liquid, and the milk with probiotics added has turned to a keefer/yogurt type consistency. This means the bacteria were live and well and "eating"/fermenting the milk.However, the dose in each packet is very small. Probiotics are measured in the millions and billions as far as a useful dose. The box here lists 200 million, but it's not clear if they mean per box or per dose. Either way, it's a fairly low dose. This is evident in the milk test, as other probiotics I have tested for my own use have completely curdled and devoured my small cup of milk overnight, and this packet took a full 48 hours to thicken slightly. Therefore, I took one star off, as for the price point, I think the dose of live bacteria should be much higher per serving. That said, this product still gets 4 stars because it actually delivers live probiotics and eventually passed the milk test!

Recently something happened to our beloved family pet. The vet wasn’t able to determine what happened but her poop was full of fresh blood. (I was definitely freaked out)The immediate remedy was antibiotics and a probiotic and lots of tests. The tests didn’t point to what was wrong but the combination of anti- and pro- bionics seemed to have fixed the problem.The probiotic that the doc gave me had the following ingredients: Animal Digest, Enterococcus Faecium, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Brewers Dried Yeast, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Proteinate, Beta-Carotene, Salt, Manganese Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite.This product has different ingredients: Maltodextrin, Dried Chicken Liver, Dicalcium Phosphate, Sugar, Salt, Silicon Dioxide, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermantation Product, Dried Lactobascillus plantarium fermentation Product, Dried Lactobascillus case Fermantation Product, Inulin, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Taurine, Vitamine A Acetate, Vitamin E Supplement, and Zinc Amino Acid Chelate.Which means what?I think it means that we fur-parents have to do some thinking. For one thing the Smart Fido product has sugar and maltodextrin, both of which can cause a spike in blood sugar. Obviously if you have a diabetic pooch this might not be the best choice.On the other hand, Smart Fido has more varieties of probiotic sources and more of them. The Purina product has 100,000,000 versus Smart Fido’s 200,000,000.I like the larger number and the fact that Smart Fido is manufactured in America. They do use non-USA ingredients but they are made in a SQF Code 7.2 Level 3 Certified plant. (You can find out more at the website)Charlie-Amanda is feeling better now but I was so upset by her illness that I’m going to continue giving her and Pippin probiotics. And I’m going to continue with Smart Fido because I trust them more than Purina —a company plagued by recalls.