Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Helped our dogs for sure. After some acute issues cleared up and balance was achieved, we backed off to 1/2 packet per dog each morning on food as a maintenance dose. This had worked very well and the benefits have been preserved for months. We started off paying about $20 per 30 packets and and then the *** PRICE JUMPED by 50%!!!! ***... all you regular users know what I mean. Well, that was enough for us to give an alternative a try. We went with a widely (and highly) reviewed bulk (i.e., not individ packets) product that was far more reasonably priced. I read the label carefully and did note that the primary microorganism in Fortiflora is not even represented in the alternate brand I chose. Considering how well Fortiflora worked I was definitely hesitant. This other brand we are trying has a broad series of organisms and some other potentially beneficial additives. It's been over 3 weeks and so far so good. One notable advantage of Fortiflora is that the dogs seems to really like the flavor. They licked their bowls clean. The other brand... they seem indifferent about. So we add a tiny bit of water to wet their dry food and add the powder. They gobble it right up. I might have given 5 stars but if an alternative product at a fraction of the price works just as well then this is not a stand out and DEFINITELY NOT at the inflated price. Now, even if the price went back to the orig <$20 / 30pk, I see no reason to go back. Yet. I will update if something changes. The aggressive pricing motivated us to try an alternative and we are done with this product. For now, we aren't looking back. Again, I'll update if anything changes. Congratulations to the marketing geniuses. ***UPDATE 1/25/17 I came to update and found my review was pushed far away from visibility by a sudden, curiously-high number of super brief 5-star reviews. I'll let you be the judge of what's going on here but the skeptic in me says this smells funny. Given the fact the alternative is working at a fraction of the price, I am revising my rating to one star (I award stars on relative value and I am now substantially underwhelmed). Anyway, the alternative product we switched to for the past couple of months seems to still be working great. The benefits we observed with Forti-Flora are still there but WITHOUT THE UNNECESSARILY JACKED UP PRICE. PLEASE don't be afraid to try another brand. These jokers think they have a captive audience as we don't want to chance our pet's health. They are capitalizing on our fear. And yes I am a real customer not trying to market another product. If you want to keep using this and are happy and you choose to absorb the price gouging, then go with it. ***UPDATE 4/27/17 Noticed the price is dropping... hmmmm. Anyway, the alternative product we've been using is still working great. I believe it has officially passed the "springtime special" (annual diarrhea) period WITHOUT flying colors ;-). A couple months ago the herd expanded to three and all doing very well. For us, the alternative is still working.