What's Actually in PetLab's Probiotic Chews
We ran the ingredient list from PetLab Co's Probiotic Chews through our analyzer. Here's the honest breakdown.
The good (12 ingredients)
A genuinely strong probiotic blend — Bacillus coagulans plus multiple Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains — backed by prebiotic fiber (FOS, chicory root) and real functional extras like salmon oil, pork liver, pumpkin, and mixed tocopherols (a natural preservative — the right call). Credit where it's due: this is a well-built probiotic.
The neutral (6 ingredients)
Binders and flavor carriers — coconut glycerin, dried whey, gelatin, soy lecithin, honey, and ascorbic acid. Fine, and expected in a soft chew.
The minor cautions (3 ingredients)
Molasses (added sugar), tapioca starch (a filler binder), and smoke flavor. None are harmful — but none are earning their spot nutritionally, either.
Honest Verdict on the Product
If your dog needs targeted gut support, PetLab Co's Probiotic Chew is a legitimate, well-formulated choice — we're not going to pretend otherwise. The strain blend is solid, the prebiotics are there, and there's nothing genuinely bad in it. The only real knocks are the handful of binders and flavorings, and the fact that it does exactly one thing.
The Real Difference: Format, Breadth & Delivery
PetLab makes a good probiotic. But it's a single-purpose soft chew, and Better Dailies is a whole-food air-dried daily — here's the side-by-side.
| PetLab Co Probiotic Chews | Watts Better Dailies | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Gut only | Gut + immune + cellular |
| Base & format | Soft chew (needs binders) | Air-dried beef & organs |
| Fillers / binders | Tapioca starch, glycerin, gelatin | None |
| Added sugar | Molasses, honey | None |
| Gut delivery | Live probiotics (viability varies) | EpiCor® postbiotic (stable) |
| To cover the bases | Stack 3–4 products | One daily |
Fillers, binders, and flavor carriers
A soft chew has to be made into a chew — so it needs binders and starches to hold together (tapioca starch, gelatin, coconut glycerin) and flavor carriers to be palatable (molasses, honey, smoke flavor). None of that nourishes your dog; it's structural. That's not PetLab doing something wrong — it's the unavoidable cost of the soft-chew format.
Better Dailies is built the opposite way. The base is grass-fed beef, beef heart, and beef liver, air-dried — so the chew is the food. Nothing is added to make it hold together: no starch, no glycerin, no added sugar. Everything in it is there to nourish, not to bind or flavor.
Postbiotic vs. probiotic
PetLab relies on live probiotics — and to their credit, they lead with Bacillus coagulans, a spore-forming strain that's more heat- and shelf-stable than most. But live probiotics face a built-in challenge: they have to survive manufacturing, storage, and stomach acid alive to work, and the stated CFU count is measured at time of manufacture, not at the bowl. Better Dailies uses a postbiotic — EpiCor®, the beneficial compounds fermentation produces, without the living organism. Because it isn't alive, it can't die off: it stays stable through processing and storage and delivers the same dose every time.
Processing
This ties directly to how each is made. Soft chews are typically cooked or extruded with heat and moisture — exactly why live-probiotic chews wrestle with viability. Better Dailies is gently air-dried, and by using a postbiotic it sidesteps the heat-versus-live-bacteria problem entirely.
Breadth: one daily vs. a stack
PetLab's chew covers gut — full stop. To also cover immune and cellular/antioxidant support, you'd add their separate multivitamin and other single-purpose products: three or four chews, three or four subscriptions. Better Dailies covers gut (EpiCor® postbiotic), immune (Wellmune® beta-glucan), and cellular/antioxidant (NutriFusion® and Zanthin® astaxanthin) in a single daily.
Bottom line
PetLab makes a solid, single-purpose probiotic — if that's all you want, it's a fair choice. But if you'd rather feed a whole-food, air-dried daily with no fillers or binders, a stable postbiotic, and broader coverage in one chew, that's the case for Better Dailies. (Full disclosure: Watts makes Better Dailies.)
Analyze Your Own Dog's Supplement
Curious how your dog's current food or supplement stacks up? Paste the ingredient list into our free ingredient analyzer and get the same honest, ingredient-by-ingredient breakdown — no spin.