Probiotics: How to help your veterinary clients shop smart

Just last year, we shared about Purina's Calming Care, a probiotic used to help treat canine anxiety. But what if your veterinary clients want to use probiotics to treat other conditions in their pets? With probiotics readily on shelves, it's important to educate clients about how to best select probiotics for their animal companions.

Gail Czarnecki-Maulden, PhD, Purina's Senior Nutrition Researcher, urges veterinarians to advise clients against buying inactive probiotics. “If you buy a probiotic that is not active, there's not any danger [posed] to your pet, it's just that you will be wasting your money and you will end up buying a probiotic that doesn't have any efficacy,” she said.

In this video, Dr. Czarneck-Mauden shares a few more golden nuggets that veterinarians can discuss with their clients. She also explains that in certain situations, probiotics might be not be an appropriate treatment.