Antibiotics and probiotics?

[Andromeda]

I'm going to have to give my GCC another round of antibiotics but as he was just on an antibiotic for 10 days a few weeks ago I worry about a yeast infection.

I wanted to give him Bene-Bac but I read/heard somewhere not to use it because it was not human-grade. Does anyone have any experience using Bene-Bac with birds because I can't remember where I saw that information?

If I don't give Bene-Bac how else can I give a probiotic? I know yogurt has acidophilus but since birds don't have any lactase to digest lactose would that upset his stomach? I have heard that you shouldn't give birds milk products for that reason. Also yogurt is FULL of sugar...

Any input is appreciated!

[paper_lantern]

I'm not sure about the Bene-Bac, but I have heard that plain yogurt is fine for birds. In fact I sometimes give Chubby some. Apparently the yogurt doesn't contain the lactose that milk, cheese, and dairy do. I think it has something to do with the process used to make it.

What does your GCC have? I hope he feels better soon!

[marie83]

I give mine teeny amounts of natural live yogurt, well Ollie anyway as harlie wont.
There are also some bird probiotics available, different brands are supposidly better than others.

My personal opinion is I have given them myself but what good do they actually do? stomach acid is supposed to kill off anything like that, obviously some things get by like salmonella or e-coli for example but do the so called "good" bacteria in the probiotics survive the stomasch acids?

[Eric&Rebecca]

You can always try lacto-free. I have their yoghurts, they do a plain one for cereals and stuff. Never tried it with the birds but might be ok. Although I'm of the same opnion of marie, does it really do them any good... I mean probiotic yoghurts don't work that well on humans.

[Grey_Moon]

I don't use dried probiotics because they're mostly dead and dried and have a poor absorption rate. They don't make it past the gut in most situations. So you'd want a liquid one that needs refrigeration---a truly 'live' product.
Add to the preservatives and I usually steer clear.

So I'd either attempt a non-dairy yoghurt or pre-biotics found in natural foods which help the bird make their own beneficial bacteria etc.

[Andromeda]

Thanks for the responses.

As far as "What good do they do?" goes, I wouldn't give probiotics as a maintenance thing to my birds but antibiotics (especially repeated or extended courses) can suppress the normal flora in the digestive system and cause a yeast infection and acidophilus (and other lactobacilli) can prevent that from happening.

Although I'm of the same opnion of marie, does it really do them any good... I mean probiotic yoghurts don't work that well on humans.

Honestly I don't really know anything about the purported benefits of probiotic yogurt in general but the ability of acidophilus to prevent a yeast infection during a course of antibiotics is well documented.

[GreenWing]

As far as I know, yogurt in small amounts is okay to give to parrots. Like Marie, every once in a while I'll give some plain Greek yogurt to Tiki, just a tiny bit.

Probiotics are beneficial because bacteria digests for you; you get the benefits of the bacterial enzymes as they break down food...

Garlic is an antimicrobial food but I am not sure parrots can have them; I've read too much of it can cause anemia so it may be best to avoid.