Table of contents
Like us, our dogs have gut biomes that can be negatively impacted by food sensitivities and inflammatory bowel disorders, or simply by that box of half-eaten chicken and chips they found discarded in the local park. The results can be messy with soft, smelly poos and some dubious gas emissions! But although that may sound light-hearted, it can be distressing for dogs and dog-parents alike, particularly if it’s an ongoing issue. Our dog Coco has always had a sensitive tummy and despite elimination diets and various tests, we have never got to the bottom – if you’ll excuse the pun – of what the problem is. Consequently, we have always done what we can to boost her natural gut flora with a healthy diet, and now more recently with the addition of this dog gut health supplement. This review looks at the pros and cons of this dietary aid, and we look in some detail too at the benefits Coco has experienced as a result of taking it.
Editor’s rating: 4.8 / 5
Pros
- Contain pre & probiotics
- Vet formulated
- Tasty 1-a-day chews
Cons
- Cost
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This post has been sponsored by Omni, but reflects my genuine experience of using the product.
The positives
This easy-to-use Omni stool firming supplement – from vet-founded supplement brand Omni Rescue – contains evidence-based ingredients that are very tasty (to a dog). This section looks at those positive factors in more detail:
Contain pre & probiotics
Omni’s stool firming supplement contains pre & probiotics, which have separate functions in the body:
- prebiotics – like inulin – essentially feed the good bacteria in the gut, and also help with the absorption of nutrients
- probiotics – like the Bacillus Velezensis – actually contain the good bacteria and organisms that support the gut
With 5 active ingredients, selected because of their known and scientifically-proven efficacy, this supplement supports and boosts your dog’s gut flora with things like Bacillus Velezensis, inulin, kaolin, root powders and those all important beta-glucans. These ingredients all serve a different purpose, so kaolin for example helps to absorb toxins in the gut as well as to firm up those runnier poos, whereas inulin (also used in human gut supplements) is a nutrient that feeds good bacteria, helping them to flourish. So lots of good things in there that can have a positive effect on those canine tummies.
As with many supplements – for humans or dogs – the efficacy of pre & probiotics has still not been overwhelmingly proven, although there is certainly much more evidence for prebiotics. Some think that the good bacteria contained in probiotics never actually survive the journey to the gut. I guess the only way to really know at the moment is to measure whether a supplement has any positive effect, and in our experience, this Omni dog supplement has definitely benefitted Coco.
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Vet formulated
This is a vet-founded brand and so caring for the health and wellbeing of your pets seems to be at the heart of the business. This supplement, like Omni’s dog food range, has been formulated by vets and nutritionists using ingredients that have been peer-reviewed and this may be why their own survey of vets suggests that 9 out of 10 would recommend Omni Rescue dog supplements. In addition, this Omni stool firming supplement is classed as ‘vet-grade potency’ which I assume means that its ingredients are at an optimal level.
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Tasty 1-a-day chews
Providing you buy the right size of this supplement relative to the size of your dog (they come in Small, Medium, and Large), it will contain the appropriate dosage and you can feed your dog just 1 fruit pastille-sized chew per day. Pretty easy, right? And just to help the process along a little, these chews are very tasty too as you can see from Coco’s anticipation of eating hers! This is helpful because it means you are:
a) not trying to persuade your pooch to swallow a capsule you have carefully hidden inside a tasty morsel (which they invariably spit out) or
b) opening said capsule and scattering the contents over their food that they will subsequently refuse to eat, or eat round!
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The negatives
Price, and packaging, are a bit of a concern. Omni are keen to point out though that they have already made positive changes to the packaging of some of their other products, particularly their dry dog food, and continue to look for environmentally-friendly solutions for their remaining products. Consequently, I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt here and concentrating on price.
Cost
Dog supplements are not cheap, so you can expect to pay similar prices to the human equivalent products. So in comparison to Omni’s dog food, which I find very reasonably priced, their supplement range seems pricier. For example, a one-off purchase of this Omni stool firming supplement for a medium-sized dog will cost you £24.99 for 1 month’s supply (£19.99 if you subscribe). However, in fairness, their prices are on a par with similar quality products on the market, and subscribers also get unlimited online vet consultations for free which is quite a benefit. In addition to that, a subscription can make you ongoing significant savings, as does does buying a multi-pack.
You can make further significant savings too if you use Vegan Mum’s exclusive discount code: VEGANMUM
Our experience of Omni Stool Firming Supplements
I’m starting my conclusion of this review with a challenge – can you find me a dog-parenting household where the subject of their pooch’s poos isn’t a regular topic of conversation? OK, so they might exist, but I bet they’re few and far between. Many of us obsess over our dog’s faecal fruitfulness and when you think about it, there is probably good reason for that. We love them so much, and their health and wellbeing is very important to us, but if they’re not feeling so good for any reason they are completely unable to tell us. Consequently, we look for signs that they are OK – clear eyes, shiny coat, good appetite, and…healthy poos. And believe it or not, you can find dog poo image tables online too so you can compare them!
Anyway, Coco has a healthy vegan diet and because of her sensitive gut, I give her small amounts of fresh vegetables each day – like a broccoli stalk or carrot stick to try to keep her biome healthy. And her first poo generally starts out well-formed, but later ones become, well…a bit more difficult to scoop. And this is not unusual for dogs on any diet, vegan or not. In fact, raw meat diets can often cause a dog’s poo to be runnier than normal too. But I was keen to understand whether an appropriate supplement could improve her gut health.
So, I started giving her this Omni stool firming supplement every afternoon and within days, her runny poo issue dried up, literally! I’m guessing that the kaolin contained in this product started to act fairly quickly and they became much firmer (and dare I say a bit fatter). I have also seen a reduction in the number of poos, and more recently, her repeated, long-term ‘grass-eating then vomiting’ habit has also disappeared. This was an added bonus that I wasn’t expecting.
So I know that boosting a gut biome can take time and patience, but this supplement seems to have already had a positive impact on her gut health and I hope to see that improvement continue. It certainly contains all the ingredients that research suggests are appropriate, and the early signs are hopeful, so we have all our fingers, toes and paws crossed that it does!
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FAQs
Does my dog need supplements?
If your dog is eating a balanced, nutritionally complete diet, then providing they are fit, healthy and absorbing the nutrients from their food as a result, they should not need a canine equivalent of a multivitamin (unless you are homecooking – see below). In fact, according to this WebMD article on dog vitamins, like humans, they could end up having too much of a particular nutrient. However, apart from a low dose of vitamin C, this Omni stool firming supplement doesn’t add extra vitamins, and concentrates instead on additives that support the gut flora, so not risking any excessive intake of vitamins. Therefore, if your dog’s stools are runny or too frequent, then this product could be a good bet.
If you cook at home for your dog, advice from qualified dog nutritionists is different – see Vegan Mum’s guide to cooking food for dogs for more information about supplementation in these circumstances.
Research References
National Library of Medicine beta glucans and gut microbiota maintenance
Science Direct – dietary supplementation with Bacillus velezensis
More Dog Supplement reviews
Omni have some great dog supplements, many of which I have reviewed below. But if you’d like to see more, go to Omni’s online store to find their full range.
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