Chow Chow gut health: beyond yogurt

Yogurt and kefir are a reasonable first instinct, but they rarely deliver enough of the right bacterial strains to move the needle for dogs with genuine gut issues — the probiotic counts are low and the strains aren't always ones that colonise the canine digestive tract effectively. Probiotics can make a real difference for dogs, but strain specificity and potency matter enormously, and what helps one dog may do nothing for another. To point you somewhere useful: what breed and age is your dog, what symptoms are you actually seeing, and have you had a vet look at this?

That's a really useful picture — and it's good the vet ruled out anything structural or infectious. Chronic loose stools with mucus in an older Chow Chow is a classic sensitive-gut pattern, and Chows in particular can have quite reactive digestive systems. The reason yogurt and kefir didn't land is almost certainly strain and dose: dairy-based sources give you maybe a few million CFUs of human-oriented Lactobacillus strains, whereas a dog's gut responds best to specific strains like Enterococcus faecium SF68, and in concentrations that food simply can't deliver. Since your vet has already signed off on trying a proper supplement, can I ask — has his diet stayed consistent, or have there been any changes to his food around the time this started?

That context really helps. Reduced activity plus a bit of extra weight can slow gut motility in older dogs, and Chows are already prone to a sluggish digestive transit — it can disrupt the balance of gut bacteria even without a diet change. Given that, you want a probiotic with a strong evidence base specifically for dogs, not something derived from human or dairy research. My recommendation is Purina Pro Plan FortiFlora. It contains Enterococcus faecium SF68, which is the strain with the most published veterinary research behind it for exactly this kind of chronic loose stool and gut sensitivity. It comes in individual sachets you sprinkle on his food once daily, which makes dosing consistent and easy. It's also frequently recommended by vets after ruling out infection — which fits exactly where you are. Give it a genuine four-week trial before assessing. You should start seeing firmer stools within ten to fourteen days if it's going to work for him.

FortiFlora has a very strong safety record and is widely used long-term in older dogs — there's no known issue with extended daily use, and given he's 9 and dealing with an ongoing sensitivity rather than a one-off upset, daily use is likely to be where he stays. Once his stools have been consistently firm for four to six weeks, you could trial dropping to every other day and see whether he maintains. Some dogs do, some need daily support ongoing. At 32kg he's on a larger daily calorie budget, so the sachet contents won't affect his weight, but if he does need to shed a few kilos, that's worth addressing separately with your vet — gut motility in Chows genuinely improves with even modest weight loss and more gentle daily movement.

That's the right approach — a full month gives you a proper read. Keep a simple note of stool consistency every few days so you have something concrete to report back to your vet. If things improve significantly, great; if there's no change after four weeks, go back to your vet and ask about investigating colonic motility or a dietary trial with a hydrolysed protein food. But FortiFlora is genuinely the best first step beyond where you've already been, and many dogs with exactly this presentation respond well to it. Hope he's feeling more settled soon.