When Are Digestive Enzymes For Dogs Needed?

by HealthyDogs

The quick, concise answer for when are digestive enzymes for dogs needed is whenever you feel your dog is not getting enough nutrition from their dog food or when they show signs of digestion problems. But how do you know when that is?

Common Symptoms of A Dog With Poor Digestion

Excessive dog gas
Loose stool
Extremely strong smelling stool
Excessive shedding
Eating dog poop
Allergies
Sensitive stomach
Bloating

What Are Digestive Enzymes?

First, let’s take a look at digestive enzymes in general. Some of the digestive enzymes are in the food we eat. Others are produced by the body (this goes for human and dogs). These enzymes help break down food to the particle level where it can be used by the cells in our bodies. There are different types of enzymes for different types of foods (fats, proteins, sucrose, fiber, etc….) If there are not sufficient enzymes to break down the food, the food is not usable for the body.

If a body does not have enough enzymes, other parts of the body come to try to help out. This puts extra stress on the rest of the body, as well as not getting all the nutrients they can from the food that is just not properly digested. The immune system will even attack these ‘foreign entities’ (the undigested food), as it is not something the body can use and must be removed. And using immune system resources for this, rather than protecting and healing the body from real threats, tends to stress out the immune system as well.

Eventually, the remainder of the undigested food goes out with the feces (one of the reasons dogs eat poop) and is never utilized by the body. What a waste!

Does Your Dog Need Digestive Enzymes?

So, does your dog need digestive enzymes? Probably not if they eat a completely raw dog food. Enzymes are present in raw food, and as soon as they reach a certain temperature (cooked food), they die. When raw food is eaten, the digestive enzymes in the food help to start breaking down the food as soon as it enters the body. Studies have shown that the body typically only produces 50% of the enzymes needed for full digestion. The other half should come from the food our dogs (and ourselves as well) eat. But if you are feeding a dog food that has been heat processed (about 80-90% of all dog foods), then your dog is probably not getting enough digestive enzymes to completely utilize the food. This means that the body must use other resources to try to produce more enzymes and also to rid the body of unused (not broken down) food particles.

Now, it may be that your dog’s body is producing enough digestive enzymes to get the nutrients they need to survive. But there is a difference between surviving and thriving – and we all want our pets to thrive – to get the most out of life!

Another reason to consider digestive enzymes is as your dog gets older, they tend to produce less digestive enzymes (just a fact of nature). So it is probably a good idea to add digestive enzymes to their food as they get up there in the years.

What Digestive Enzymes For Dogs Are Available?

I personally use Prozyme for dogs at my home for two reasons.

First, while I primarily feed raw dog food (about 75% of the time), I still like to try different pre-made foods for my dogs as well. I like the convenience of pre-made dog food, for when life gets hectic, and especially when I must board my dogs, as many kennels will not feed raw (if you really want to feed raw, the smaller kennels tend to be more friendly about raw dog food). And dog food is expensive, so I want my dog to get everything they can from the food. I feel better knowing I’m helping them get as much nutrients from their food as they can with these particular dog supplements.

Second, I do cook the grains (barley, oatmeal, lentil, rice) in their homemade dog food, so I feel the added enzymes could only help them break those ingredients down better as well.

One of the reasons I like Prozyme is that it is strictly enzymes, no added vitamins, etc. However, there are also many combination multi-vitamins for dogs that also contain enzymes as well, such as Organic Pet Superfood Digestion and Solid Gold SeaMeal.

Some other digestive enzymes (and nothing else) that get great reviews, but I have never used, are Ultra-Pet Total-Zymes and Integrative Therapeutics Bio-Zyme.