Probios Horse Treats?

[KytKattin]

I have seen them mentioned on a few bunny blogs where the owners seem to be on board with most of the other house rabbit stuff, but I haven’t seen them mentioned much here. Any thoughts on them? I wouldn’t mind picking up a bag when I go to get hay, but I’m a little worried about the sugar content. They are supposed to help with digestion (there are also ones for joint health but I’m not looking at those) by being a probiotic or something along those lines. I know that horses and rabbits have a fairly similar digestive system, but I also know that we would never dream of giving a rabbit a sugar cube (right?). The size difference between a horse and rabbit is just huge. On the other hand, I would rather give Eclipse half or 1/4 of one of these than her current 5+ baby carrots (yes, that is getting changed).

Here are the ingredients for the biscuits:

Wheat Flour, Rolled Oats, Soy Oil, Molasses, Carrots, Celery, Beets, Apple or Peppermint, Parsley, Lettuce, Water Cress, Dried Bacillus subtilisFermentation Product, Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation Product and Sodium Alumino Silicate.

And here are the ingredients for the soft chews:

Oat Flour, Cane Molasses, Barley Flour, Brewers Dried Yeast, Glycerin, Wheat Middlings, Soybean Oil, Soy Lecithin, Corn Starch, Inulin, DriedBacillus subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried B. licheniformis Fermentation Product, Dried Fermentation Extracts of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. lactis, L. plantarum, and L. casei, Salt, Artificial Apple Flavor, Potassium Sorbate, and Mixed Tocopherols (as preservatives).

[jerseygirl]

Mmm.. I’m a little wary of the molasses.

Have you seen the Oxbow digestive support supplements? (No probiotics).
http://store.binkybunny.com/mobile/natural-science-digestive-support-oxbow-p175.aspx

I bought capsules from the health food store that are L.Plantarum. I thought i had read years ago that critical care contained this but the packet I have doesn’t have any probiotics in it.
Anyway, I was going to use it on the buns food or after they’d been on antibiotics. L. acidophilus is easy enough to find also.

Raspberry leaf is supposed to be great for the bunny gut. And I think camomile is like a natural prebiotic or something, but don’t quote me in that!

[LongEaredLions]

Wheat and such are not the best for bunnies. I second the oxbow hay tabs, they come in a variety of different “benefits.” My bunnies love them as treats, and they are good for you bunnies.

[KytKattin]

Thank you both for weighing in! Yeah, I think I will give these a pass. If molasses was like, way further down on the ingredient list, I would consider them, but I just can’t trust it. I do know that molasses does have some good vitamins and such, as it is included for that reason in a “satin ball” recipe for getting dogs to gain weight quickly, but I think the sugar negates any real benefits. If I had a horse and was already buying these for said horse, I would probably give Eclipse a nibble, but they are just too expensive and I would have to use such a small amount, I doubt I would get through the whole bag.

Plus if I’m going to use sugar I might as well throw some dried papaya at her really. She’d probably like that just the same, if not more.

I used to give the Oxbow tabs for joint health to my older bunny. They were nice, but a little big for her size. Eclipse is more normal sized.

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