Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Probiotics and metronidazole for acute diarrhea in dogs compared
By Shmalberg, Justin et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2019·Department of Comparative, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A Randomized Double Blinded Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of a Probiotic or Metronidazole for Acute Canine Diarrhea.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with acute diarrhea was treated with either a probiotic or metronidazole, a common antibiotic, to see which worked better. The dogs receiving the probiotic had their diarrhea resolved in about 3.5 days, while those on metronidazole took about 4.6 days, and the placebo group took about 4.8 days. Although the probiotic seemed to work a bit faster, the differences weren't significant enough to recommend one treatment over the other. This study suggests that more research is needed to determine the best treatment for dogs with diarrhea.
People also search for: dog diarrhea treatment · probiotic for dogs · metronidazole for dog diarrhea
Abstract
Acute diarrhea is a common, often self-limiting, cause of presentation for veterinary care, yet there is a paucity of data on frequently-prescribed treatments. The purpose of this randomized, double blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial was to compare two anecdotally-recommended treatments: a probiotic combination and metronidazole. Sixty dogs without concurrent comorbidities were randomized into three treatment groups. The time to resolution of diarrheal signs was evaluated using owner surveys and fecal scoring charts. Dogs presenting with acute diarrhea achieved acceptable fecal consistency after 3.5 ± 2.2 days when receiving probiotic, 4.6 ± 2.4 days with oral metronidazole, and 4.8 ± 2.9 days with placebo; statistically significant differences were not identified between treatment groups (= 0.17). These findings failed to provide evidence for the common use of metronidazole in this cohort of dogs with acute canine diarrhea, and a larger study population would be required to identify a statistically significant effect of probiotics.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31275948/