Are probiotics benficial for a lamanitic?

Tiggy1

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Is it worth feeding probiotics to a recovering laminitic?
She is having 3 oversoaked haynets of hay a day
Feed in morning with happy hoof, codlivine joint supplement & formula4feet plus 1 sachet of bute
 

TGM

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Difficult question! A lot of people recommend probiotics for laminitics but there is a school of thought that probiotics may not be the best thing to give to them. Here is a quote from the Equilife website explaining why probiotics are not included in Formula4Feet:

"The latest evidence in the Equine Veterinary Journal casts doubts on the efficacy of the probiotics in common use today. It is a question of whether the most appropriate organisms are included in the probiotic and whether the individual strains of the organism are the right ones. Additionally, it is important that there is no genetic drift over time from the original probiotic strains used. Most probiotics provide lactobacilli, these are the very organisms which proliferate when an animal suffers from dietary laminitis, so the rationale of adding them to the diet, has for me, been questionable."

Personally, if her current diet seems to be working well I would stick with that!
 

spaniel

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Personally I wouldnt give a probiotic to a laminitic especially if they appear to be doing ok. The digestive system is so highly implicated in laminitis that anything which might upset the balance you have now cant be a good thing IMO.
 

Tiggy1

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I'll stick with the formula4feet and happy hoof then.
Just wondered as I know a lot of people do feed them to lamanitics and just wanted to give her the best care possible really.

Thanks
 
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