Qld company’s gutsy move into pet health

A Gold Coast business has moved to take a bite out of the multi-billion dollar pet care industry with a new line that also taps into a health food craze sweeping society.

It’s not quite kombucha for kitties and canines.

But a Gold Coast human gut health company has just unleashed a range of pet probiotics that it reckons will have Fido feeling just fine, and Puss positively purring.

Ormeau-based Probiotics Australia has moved to take a bite out of the multi-billion dollar pet care industry with the new line that also taps into the gut health food craze sweeping society.

Humans have taken to swigging kombucha, sipping bone broth and fermented milk, swallowing sauerkraut and popping probiotic pills in recent years to promote good bacteria in the stomach and ward off a range of health problems.

Probiotics Australia, which has been making gut health products for people since 2009, says the same science applies to dogs and cats.

Dr Claire Stevens, vet and author of Dr Claire’s Love Your Dog, with her dog Frankie. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

The company last month launched a new pet probiotics brand, Ipromea, with a range of products including a ‘microbiome-friendly broth’ dubbed Tummy Time, as well as probiotic snacks and shampoo.

There’s even a probiotic collagen powder for pooches and felines – fur-real!

Probiotics Australia general manager Shane Roux said many pet owners placed the same importance on their pet’s health as they did on that of their family members.

He said just as poor gut health could cause a range of ailments in humans, bacteria imbalance in cats or dogs could cause problems including diabetes, diarrhoea, gum disease and skin afflictions.

“We recognised that the number of scientifically-backed probiotic products for pets was severely limited in the Australian market,” Mr Roux said.

Prominent Gold Coast vet Claire Stevens, who specialises in gastrointestinal health and microbiology, said Australia was only just catching up on the science behind gut health for domestic animals.

Dr Stevens said she became accustomed to recommending probiotics for her patients while working in the UK, but few products were available when she returned to Australia.

“Thankfully, we are now seeing more options for gut health and immunity products for our pets, which supports general canine and feline health,” she said.

“We are entering a time when pet owners are adopting these holistic and immune-boosting supplements, in a similar way they have for themselves.”