Chewable acidophilus ?

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mishellyshel

mishellyshel

Chin Slave
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Messages
4,633
Location
New Jersey
Finally went to the health food store and picked up some chewable acidolphilus. They are strawberry flavored wafer.
Should I just cut them into 4 pieces and feed them 1 per day??
 
I wouldn't give them once a day, I'm pretty sure those wafers have sugar in them. Before I started giving the capsule form I cut them in fourths and gave them once a week. JMO.
 
They don't really need it every day, and as Stack mentioned, they do have sugar in them. If you were giving it during an illness, that would be one thing and you could give it more often, but if it's just as an overall health thing, I would go once a week.

If you give any kind of a supplement, the capsules can be opened and mixed in nicely.
 
I'm having trouble finding the chewables. I have the capsules for personal use but I don't think they will work for my chin as she is not taking any supplements. Any hints where I might find them? I've tried the pharmacy isle in grocery stores...maybe I need to go to a vitamin supply store instead...
 
Do you give your chin oats? I just sprinkle a capsule onto a pinch of oats once a week and my chins gobble it all up.

When I gave the chewables, I found them at a GNC. I stopped using them due to the sugar.
 
oh ok. no wonder they liked it so much! i will give my boy on meds 1/4 every other day for the next week and then just once a week. i do have the capsules that i personally use, how much of the capsule should i pour in, i can mix it with the lifeline 3 x per week.
should you give it to them everyday if it is in the capsule? Last week when I started the meds, and I was trying to get him to eat, I did mix some with a probiotic that I also use & ground it up with his food. he didnt eat it all but I hope he got some!
 
I would use JUST the capsules instead if he is sick. No need to add unnecessary sugar to his diet. Plus I'm pretty sure those wafers don't have as high of a cell count as you need to have an effect (in the billions).

You can give him a full capsule a day of acidophilus alone (no sugar!) while he's sick, and then as he gets better taper it off to every week. You cannot overdose on acidophilus.


Also, be sure to leave a few hours between antibiotic doses and giving him acidophilus. I'd wait 4 hours in between, that way the antibiotic won't kill the probiotics you have given him.
 
I bought the capsule form from The Vitamin shoppe (online). Shipping was only 4.99
and i got "Natrol Acidophilus Probiotic--3 Billion" 100 capsules @ $7.49
 
I use the chewable strawberry acidophilus. I break each "wafer" into 4 pieces and give each 1/4 piece once a day to a chin I am doing a food switch on. There is sugar in them, but each whole "wafer" has -1mg of sugar in it, so the 1/4 has even less.

On the chins I am not doing a food switch on I usually give them 1/4 every other day.

I would use JUST the capsules instead if he is sick. No need to add unnecessary sugar to his diet. Plus I'm pretty sure those wafers don't have as high of a cell count as you need to have an effect (in the billions).
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The ones I buy are 2 billion and they are the chewable. They have worked great for me. My chins actually eat the whole piece I give them which I never was sure how much they were getting when I sprinkled it on their food.

I give the sick chins 1/4 a wafer a day, and then I always use a broken open capsule of 3 billion in their CC. Considering half the CC gets on them, at least I know they are getting enough.
 
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I buy the chewable ones too and get mine at a local organic grocery store. They keep them in the refrigerated vitamin section.
 
I give mine 1/4 wafer a day, and they're doing great. The serving size for humans, if I remember correctly, is 2 wafers per day, and there's only 2 g sugar per serving. That means that for each wafer, there's only 1 g and for each chin-sized serving, there's only 1/4 g. I don't think that's that's too much sugar, is it? And it is healthy for them (with the good tummy bugs and all), and they've been on it for a little over a month with no ill effects. Also, they only ever get one other small treat a week (a rosebud, a few rosehip bits, or a small piece of whole-wheat pasta). Am I wrong?
 
I don't consider the wafers very useful because they are low in bacteria count. Having such a low number, a very small amount of bacteria actually even make it to the cut. That's why I buy the capsules with a high billion count. Coupled with the wafers having sugar, and the low bacteria count, I really see no point in giving them when you can give capsules that have no sugar and have more bacteria that can actually make it to the gut.
 
Stackie said:
I don't consider the wafers very useful because they are low in bacteria count. Having such a low number, a very small amount of bacteria actually even make it to the cut. That's why I buy the capsules with a high billion count. Coupled with the wafers having sugar, and the low bacteria count, I really see no point in giving them when you can give capsules that have no sugar and have more bacteria that can actually make it to the gut.
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I have the capsules for myself, but if I only feed pellets and hay-no supplements, how do I give them the capsule effectively?
 
I break Shredded Wheat in half and put some acidophilus from a capsule inside.
 
Breaking a shreddie in half and pouring the acidophilus in is a great way to get most of it actually inside the chin---they gobble it up very fast, and don't spill a lot.

If you want to ensure that your chin gets all of it, mix it with a little water and feed with a medicine dropper. The chin will simply lick it off the dropper, and it's always good to get a little extra water in a sick chin anyway.
 
Wonderful, 3 different ideas on how to administer the acidophilus! Thanks Stackie, Tanya and Susan. I'll try your suggestions and see what works best for Tinkerbell.
 
I tried making a paste of the acidophilus and oats, but Tink turned her nose to it. I then grabbed a few cheerios, as I don't have shreddies at the moment, and smeared some on the bottom of the cheerio. She ate 3 or 4 so I feel like she did get a bit of the powder in her. I'll have to get some shreddies and see if that works better.
 
If your chin won't eat it it doesn't do any good LOL. My chins won't eat anything that I sprinkle the acidophilus capsules in, they are masters at detecting it and then avoiding it. I mix it in with CC when I have to force feed but otherwise I give pieces of the flavored wafers on occasion because they will eat those (or most of them will).
 
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