07 Aug 2025
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Gut-health
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Any dog can benefit from a gut health test, regardless of whether they exhibit symptoms of dysbiosis or not.
But when symptoms do take hold, many can cause your dog daily strife. And when multiple trips to the vets, rounds of ‘let’s see if this works’ and hundreds of pounds worth of medication seem to yield no results, dog owners may be left desperately searching for the next step.
Well, the next and final step for Rodney the Akita was a Gut Health Test. And after actioning a tailored Gut Health Supplement plan and dedicated attention to his gut health, his symptoms became a thing of the past.
To truly show you what a Gut Health Test can do for the health of your dog, we wanted to introduce you to Rodney’s story and how a Gut Health Test turned his life around.
Rodney is an adult male Akita with a long list of medical conditions and special dietary needs. Due to multiple intolerances, including Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Pork, Wheat, Grains, Rice, Eggs, Gluten, Soya and Dairy, Rodney relies on an insect diet as his protein source.
Rodney is a rescue and now lives with his family in a house with a large garden. Despite now being settled with plenty of space to roam and exercise, and multiple dietary adaptations, Rodney still suffered with many issues, many of which relate to his gut health.
These included:
Alongside his food allergies and intolerances, one of Rodney’s main, overt symptoms was his skin condition. Stemming from his medical history and symptoms of hair loss and skin irritation, Rodney was diagnosed with atopic and allergic skin disease and prescribed a course of antibiotics. This, of course, whilst treating harmful bacteria, also knocked Rodney’s delicate microbial balance out of whack.
After battling with Rodney’s symptoms of constant itching and hair loss, and over-the-counter probiotics not working, his owners decided the next step was a Gut Health Test.
A Gut Health Test would provide them with a snapshot of not only his overall gut health, but the balance, diversity and richness of bacteria within his gut microbiome and how it impacts other areas of his body.
The Gut Health Test found that Rodney’s gut microbiome, and the bacteria that live within it, were suffering from an imbalance, or dysbiosis. This meant Rodney’s gut microbiome was not equipped with the right levels of bacteria needed to sufficiently support the health and function of many parts of his body, including the brain, behaviour, skin and coat. This would help explain Rodney’s behavioural issues, skin conditions, lacklustre coat and hair loss.
The balance of your dog’s gut microbiome can stem from a long list of factors, but the fact that Rodney was a rescue, had a rich medical history, and was on a course of antibiotics would have had a huge impact on his microbial diversity. To combat Rodney’s gut imbalance and dysbiosis, he was given a Gut Health Supplement Plan based on the target areas identified in his Gut Health Test.
Rodney’s supplement plan consisted of those focusing on vitamin and mineral support, skin and coat support and prebiotics to help the beneficial bacteria thrive.
The Gut Health Supplement plan that follows the results of a Gut Health Test is split into 3 key phases - Restore, Repopulate and Optimise. The first phase, to Restore, is there to rebuild your dog’s gut microbiome from the ground up.
The second phase, to Repopulate, helps balance the microbiota and ensure bacterial diversity by providing the means for the beneficial bacteria to thrive. The last phase, to Optimise, is the ongoing maintenance of their gut and microbial health.
Due to Rodney doing a retest, we’re able to see the impact of his Gut Health Supplements. Plus, due to Rodney’s level of ill health, his owner was keen to track his progression.
His first Gut Health Test showed an overgrowth of a certain genus type, which wasn’t leaving much room for more beneficial bacteria to grow and thrive. More specifically, it was found in Rodney’s first test that the first 20 species made up over 60% of the microbiome.
After phase one of his supplement course, this had dropped by half (30%), allowing for the space and resource to house more beneficial bacteria, exactly what we wanted, and expect to see! By his second phase, this had risen back to 60%, but this time, with more diversity, balance, richness and resilience. This makes for a more stable gut microbiome that’s able to support his complex medical history and his overall health and wellbeing. (Which is exactly what we’re after in a healthy gut microbiome).
Alongside increased microbial diversity, Rodney’s owners noticed an extreme difference in his skin conditions and hair loss.
Alongside improvements in his skin and coat health, Rodney’s owner claimed that they also saw a noticeable difference in his breath odour - another indicator of a dog’s overall health.
When it came to Rodney’s behaviour, their owner claimed that:
“Rodney has become much calmer on the lead and showed less reactivity towards other dogs. Previously, he had to be walked during early mornings or late at night to avoid encounters due to reactivity and concerns about his stool consistency. Now, he can be walked at normal times without any issues.”
To truly track the impact of his supplements and intervention on his gut health, Rodney had 3 Gut Health Tests. Here’s how his results showed improvement.
Significant increases in core beneficial bacteria/increased presence of beneficial bacteria increased by +30%, with significant increases in: Lactobacillus, Megamonas, Collinsella and Phascolarctobacterium.
If you think a Gut Health Test is the next step for your dog, then look no further than Pooch & Mutt. Offering a simple, at-home Gut Health Test Kit, you too can take a deep dive into your dog’s gut health, and see how diet adaptations and a truly tailored Gut Health Supplement Plan can help your dog. Start now to put your dog on the road to optimal health and wellbeing. Explore Gut Health at Pooch & Mutt for more information.
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