Pron8ure/Protexin/ Probiotics everyday

[M&MBunnies]

Hi all

I have a bunny very prone to stasis. Only eats hay and some grass. Can’t tolerate veggies or pellets.

I have been giving her Pron8ture (protexin) probiotic oil everyday for 2 months.

Is it ok to give this to her everyday? Will it make her gain weight? Are there any side effects of giving this to her daily?

Thanks

 

 

 

 

[Bam]

Probiotics can as a rule be given every day, but I have never used probiotic oil. I dont suppose its a very big dose volume-wise? Oil is of course very high in calories.

Probiotics don’t make buns fat. They help balance the gut microbiota so the bun can make better use of its food i e take up all the important nutrients. Some probiotics have been shown to help small- and large-scale industrially farmed baby buns put on weight, which is needed because those buns have very stressful lives and many perish soon after weaning. The situation for our house buns is very different. (We dont discuss farming of rabbits on these forums, so I’m only mentioning it briefly).

[M&MBunnies]

Thank you for the response.

It says it’s oil based, not entirely oil.

Can I ask which probiotics you use?

 

[Bam]

I use Protexin, but it doesnt seem to be the same Protexin as in Australia (which is now Pron8ure). The one’s I have contain a strain of saccaromyces cerevisiae (brewer’s yeast) which occurs naturally in the healthy rabbit gut.

I also have capsules with enterococcus faecium, which I can see that Pron8ture probiotics also contain. It is a bacterium that also is highly prevalent in the healthy rabbit gut. Lactobacilli are not beleived to be of much use for rabbits, but many rabbit owners still find them helpful, and tbh, noone really knows how the various microorganisms interact in the gut, because its an incredibly intricate interplay. It is an area of intensive reasearch though. We humans depend a lot on our gut microbes, but rabbits do so to an even greater extent, because they rely more on gut microbes than on digestive enzymes.

What seems clear is that probiotics wont hurt -if the rabbit gut cant use it, or if the microbes perish in the highly acidic environment in the rabbit stomach, it just gets pooped out – as will any surplus (so you cant really overdose unintentionally).

[M&MBunnies]

Awesome. Is there a website you buy yours from? I want to see if they will ship to Australia.

I don’t have an issue giving it to her because that’s the only thing she is getting apart from hay and grass. She gets max 3ml a day. All pellets and veggies seem to make her tummy upset.

It’s like her treat at the moment. Poor thing I feel so bad for her.

There is so much lacking in rabbit research and more so in Australia because rabbits aren’t native like in Europe.

Thank you

[Bam]

From what I can see, the UK brand Protexin has launched a few products in Australia (my guess is that’s why your domestic Protexin has changed its name to Pron8ure). They dont seem to have launched any of their rabbit-specific products in Australia, though, but maybe they will? You could perhaps e-mail them and ask? It seems Synbiotic D-C is available, which is the enteroccocus faecium-containing product that I use. It comes in capsules but they can be opened and the contents added to water or food. For your purposes, I think an oil-based prodict would be more useful though, although a powder could perhaps stick to fresh grass if you serve the grass moist. (The product you already are using contains enterococcus faecium though).

https://www.protexinvet.com/australia-products

Here is some interesting info about probiotics for rabbits, from VetTimes. I hope the link works, if it doesnt, please let me know and I’ll figure out another way: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hEDBoZGk_3qXD6TZWdQki2YRwlSHUwOQ/view?usp=drivesdk

 

[M&MBunnies]

Thank you very much. The thing is here in Aus most rabbit savvy vets don’t actually prescribe probiotics because they don’t believe there’s enough scientific evidence proving it works.

So I’ve just had to do my own research after one random vet recommended it.

Ill contact protein and find out more.

[Bam]

Not all vets believe probiotics do much good for rabbits, some consider probiotics a waste of money. Probiotics are not known to cause any harm in rabbits though.

A probiotic that’s widely used for rabbits is Benebac, but I think that is very similar to the product you are using now.

[LBJ10]

There isn’t solid evidence that probiotics are beneficial. So yes, some vets may say they are a waste of money. Anecdotally, people have had good results from giving probiotics to their rabbits. And, as Bam said, you’re not going to hurt anything by giving them.

Benebac is the brand most people are familiar with. It’s sold on Amazon.

[M&MBunnies]

Thank you both. I’ve continued to give 3ml each day.

[Author]

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