Nzymes

Since I was the one who started bitching about Nzymes being recommended too much on another forum, I figured I'd better back up my whining. Let me start by saying that I don't think these are terrible products. BUT they have a fair number of ingredients and should be used cautiously, I think, with some dogs and some health issues.

Here are my concerns:
They recommend Bac-Pac Plus for skin issues. Ingredients are:
Dried Whey, Active dried yeast, ground flaxseed, Yucca, Dried Aspergillus oryzae fermentation product, silicon dioxide, bifidobacterium longum and thermophilium, Enterococcus faecium, bacillus subtilis and lactobacillus acidophilus.

I have concerns about this as a skin treatment given the whey, the yeast and the flaxseed. All of my yeast guys would have issues with these. As would any lactose intolerant dog.

Ox-E drops also recommended for skin issues:
Ingredients: 5% sodium Chlorite, 95% water.
As far as I can tell sodium chlorite is most often used as a bleaching agent. Not saying it doesn't have some medical use, but I couldn't find one. This product also has a very high ph (13) so wonder about that as a health issue. Here's a bit of a write about sodium chlorite:
Sodium chlorite is a strong oxidant and can therefore be expected to cause clinical symptoms similar to the well known sodium chlorate: methemoglobinemia, hemolysis, renal failure[7]. A dose of 10-15 grams of sodium chlorate can be lethal.[8]. Methemoglobemia had been demonstrated in rats and cats [9] and recent studies by the EMEA have confirmed that the clinical symptomatology is very similar to the one caused by sodium chlorate in the rat, mouse, rabbit, and the green monkey. [

There is only one human case in the medical literature of chlorite poisoning.[11] It seems to confirm that the toxicity is equal to sodium chlorate. From the analogy with sodium chlorate, even small amounts of about 1 gram can be expected to cause nausea, vomiting and even life-threatening hemolysis in Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase deficient persons.

Black-leaf tincture. Also recommended by them for skin issues. Ingredients are:
Black walnut, Olive leaf, Cayenne and 75% alcohol (which they say dissipates in 5 to 30 seconds). Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't. Again, dogs with plant allergies might not do well with this and the alcohol does worry me.

They recommend their Sprouted granules for a ton of stuff. This is essentially sprouted, dried and ground soy beans. I like soy beans as much as the next person, but many dogs react to them.

Again, I'm sure with research and used properly they are fine products, but it worries me when these kinds of homeopathic products are recommended willy-nilly for use in ill animals.

My issue is there's so many products out there available that have much fewer ingredients. The simpler the better especially for allergy dogs. Non dairy pro-biotics and prozyme are available, various chinese herb supplements and homeopathic combination remedies like homeopet (available in the USA too).

I'm probably spoilt working in a place with such an access to supplements, but there's way more out there now than ever before for pet supplements.

MandyPug wrote:My issue is there's so many products out there available that have much fewer ingredients. The simpler the better especially for allergy dogs. Non dairy pro-biotics and prozyme are available, various chinese herb supplements and homeopathic combination remedies like homeopet (available in the USA too).

I'm probably spoilt working in a place with such an access to supplements, but there's way more out there now than ever before for pet supplements.

That is ultimately my biggest concern--too many ingredients and too difficult to figure out what might be setting an animal off.

And people do tend to assume that if it's "natural", it is always safe and that's just not true.

I looked into the nzymes for Winston.

Initially, I was put off by the price. The small pet starter-pack for skin / yeast issues was $120. Um, yeah, I don't have a problem spending any amount on my pugs, and I can afford it... but, I was not convinced it was worth the money. The starter-pack had so many products to use / administer. I just was not confident in using that many products.

I actually ended up ordering supplements from B-Naturals, the stuff endorsed by Lew Olsen. I bought the seagreens supplement and the salmon fish oil capsules. Very happy I went that route. I've only been using it for about 3 days.

But, not to totally knock nzymes. Their website did have a lot of useful and informative information. I spent a good deal of time browsing the site.

northernwitch wrote:They recommend Bac-Pac Plus for skin issues. Ingredients are:
Dried Whey, Active dried yeast...

That just goes against everything I've learned about itchy dogs -- don't staph and other yuckies feed on yeast? And dairy is something I always avoid for fosters with skin issues.

Hmmm. I'll stick with coconut oil and grain-free food. Thanks for the info!

SacramentoPugs wrote:

northernwitch wrote:They recommend Bac-Pac Plus for skin issues. Ingredients are:
Dried Whey, Active dried yeast...

That just goes against everything I've learned about itchy dogs -- don't staph and other yuckies feed on yeast? And dairy is something I always avoid for fosters with skin issues.

Hmmm. I'll stick with coconut oil and grain-free food. Thanks for the info!

Yep. Really contraindicated for yeast dogs.