Probiotics for Dogs, Cats & Horses

Ensuring your furry friend’s gut health is paramount to their overall well-being. Probiotics play a crucial role in supporting digestion, boosting immunity, and maintaining a balanced internal ecosystem.

These microorganisms support your animal’s health by:

  • Aiding digestion and nutrient absorption
  • Producing essential vitamins (K and B complex)
  • Generating serotonin to influence mood
  • Creating an environment that deters harmful bacteria
  • Supporting immune function through enzyme and fatty acid production

Probiotics can help manage various conditions:


To select the most effective probiotic for your pet, consider the following essential factors:

  1. Opt for Pet-Specific Probiotics

While it might be tempting to share your own probiotics with your pet, it’s important to recognize that animals have unique gastrointestinal (GI) tracts. Human probiotics may not provide the same benefits to animals and could even be ineffective. Therefore, choose probiotics specifically formulated for animals to ensure they receive the appropriate strains and dosages tailored to their needs.

  1. Prioritize Diversity in Bacterial Strains

A diverse microbiome is a healthy microbiome. When selecting a probiotic, look for products that contain a variety of bacterial strains. Research suggests that probiotics with 10 or more different strains can offer optimal benefits for your animal’s health. This diversity helps in supporting various aspects of their digestive and immune systems.

  1. Ensure High Bacterial Potency

The effectiveness of a probiotic is also determined by the number of beneficial bacteria it delivers per serving. Many products on the market contain between 1 million and 3 million colony-forming units (CFUs) per serving. However, for optimal health benefits, aim for probiotics that provide 40 million CFUs or more. This higher potency ensures that enough beneficial bacteria reach the GI tract to exert their positive effects.

  1. Ensure the Probiotic contains Prebiotics or lists prebiotic foods in the ingredients

Probiotics are essential for your animal’s gut health, but they need prebiotics—indigestible fibers that feed probiotics—to thrive. Without prebiotics, probiotics become less effective and may die off, failing to support your animal’s gut microbiome. Many probiotic supplements lack prebiotics, meaning their benefits are lost. To ensure effectiveness, choose supplements that include prebiotic ingredients like dandelion root, chicory, or inulin. Or add prebiotic-rich foods such as garlic, bananas, Jerusalem artichokes, apples, cooked mushrooms, or asparagus to your animal’s diet. Together, prebiotics and probiotics can optimize your animal’s digestive health and crowd out harmful bacteria.

  1. Avoid Probiotic-Fortified Pet Foods

While some commercial pet foods claim to contain added probiotics, the manufacturing process often diminishes their efficacy. It’s more reliable to provide probiotics through dedicated supplements to ensure your pet receives the full benefits.

By focusing on these key factors, you can confidently select a probiotic that supports your animal’s digestive health, bolsters their immune system, and contributes to their overall vitality. Remember, a healthy gut is the foundation of a happy animal!

Best Probiotics For Animals On Antibiotics

The best probiotic strains to help restore your animal’s microbiome after antibiotics are Saccharomyces boulardii (S. boulardii) and soil-based probiotics Bacillus subtiliis and Bacillus coagulans:

Petz Park Probiotic for Dogs
Petz Park Probiotic for Cats
Nectar Gut-Brain + Digestion
PetArk PetBiotics: Probiotic
Hi Form BioEquus for Horses
Hi Form BioEquus Gold

Best Probiotic With Diarrhoea

High CFU (colony forming units) lactic acid (e.g. Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species or B. Longum or L. acidophilus) multi-strain probiotics:

Synbiotic 180-S Probiotic & Enzymes
Pet Probiotic with Turmeric
Anipal Gut Formula
Natural Pet Supplements Gut Support
Hi Form BioEquus for Horses
Hi Form BioEquus Gold for Horses

For chronic diarrhoea or a digestive disorder, choose a multi-strain probiotic with gut-soothing herbs (peppermint, slippery elm, marshmallow root, psyllium husk, etc.) and use long-term or until diarrhoea completing resolves:

PetArk Petbiotics
Anipal Gut Formula
Natural Pet Supplements Gut Restore
Hi Form BioEquus Gold for Horses
Hi Form BioEquus for Horses

Best Probiotic For Allergies

Soil-based probiotics (Bacilli) are more resilient than standard probiotics as they’re more likely to survive the trip through your animal’s gut so you only need 1 to 5 billion CFU. If you’re using a Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium product, you want to make sure that the probiotics have more than one strain of bacteria and at least 30 billion CFU.

Petz Park Probiotic for Dogs
Petz Park Probiotic for Cats
Natural Pet Supplements Gut Restore

Does my animal need probiotics even if they don’t have a health issue?

For most animals, a daily probiotic is beneficial, particularly those on kibble or high-starch diets. However, animals with conditions like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) or those experiencing excessive gas may not tolerate daily probiotics well. Always consult your vet to determine the best approach for your animal’s needs.

The best way for animals to meet their nutritional needs, including probiotics, is through fresh, whole foods. Incorporate probiotic-rich options into your animal’s balanced, species-appropriate diet, or offer them as occasional treats. Such as: Green Tripe, and fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, medicinal mushrooms, culinary mushrooms. Ensure they’re onion free, dairy free and unpasteurised and keep these extras within 10% of your animal’s daily calorie intake to maintain a healthy balance.

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