The gut microbiome is known to be the epicentre of your dog’s body, having an impact on many crucial processes in the body, and your dog’s overall health and wellbeing.
A healthy dog’s gut microbiome is rich and balanced - this means the bacterial ecosystem that lives within the gut is full of bacteria of varying species, that are all in proportion to each other. In other words, not one bacterium has become overgrown, and each species can play its role and allow bodily processes to function as they should.
However, when the balance is knocked off course, or in a state of dysbiosis, the bacteria are not able to properly support these functions, leading to a number of common, yet detrimental, symptoms for your dog. That said, sometimes a dog who has an unbalanced gut microbiome can have no symptoms at all!
So, how do we know whether our dog’s gut microbiome is healthy or not, and how do we know when the time is to intervene and prevent any further symptoms and damage?
Many of the common symptoms of an unbalanced gut microbiome, or dysbiosis, are what dog owners often recognise as common ailments that most dogs will suffer from at some point. This is often done without even considering that their gut may be to blame. When the gut microbiome is knocked out of balance, your dog can suffer from the following:
These symptoms aren’t always a result of dysbiosis, and can instead be signs of underlying health conditions. Investigating your dog’s gut health and microbiome is the only way to diagnose dysbiosis and properly tailor the next steps. If you’re worried about any of these persistent symptoms, be sure to contact your vet.
The best way to investigate your dog’s microbiome, and in turn their gut health, is to conduct a dog Gut Health Test.
A Gut Health Test for your dog includes testing a sample of their poop, to get a snapshot of the bacteria that lives in their gut.
Not only that - their breed, age, lifestyle, diet and medical history are taken into account to get an accurate representation of their microbiome and gut health. It also helps you get a look at what your dog needs in their diet to get them back on track.
Dogs who have an unbalanced microbiome don’t always display symptoms.
Since it’s tucked away inside your dog, an unbalanced gut microbiome can often go overlooked, especially when your dog otherwise seems happy and healthy!
But with so many factors able to impact the gut microbiome, many of which are natural and out of our control, as dog owners, we can never assume that everything’s working as it should.
We can change their diet and even some aspects of their lifestyle, but many of the other factors, including those to do with the host, and external and environmental considerations, we can’t. And often, these are the ones that weigh in the most.
Just some of the impacting factors that can affect the diversity of your dog’s gut microbiome include:
Studies have also shown that a dog’s microbial diversity can change according to the season. For example, in summer, we generally see slightly higher richness in dog microbiomes. This could be down to a multitude of reasons, including better weather leading to more varied walks, and a better chance of being exposed to different bacteria. Plus, in the summer, there is a different variety of birds, insects and animals on the prowl, which also leaves opportunities for your dog to come into contact with different bacteria.
With so many factors able to infiltrate your dog’s gut microbiome’s diversity, there are many opportunities for dysbiosis to take hold, and for inflammation and worsened symptoms to follow. With all that said, prevention and maintenance are key when it comes to looking after your dog’s health.
Even if your dog isn’t showing symptoms now, they might later down the line. So, tailoring their diet and making sure it’s benefiting their needs is crucial in helping them live a long and happy life.
Pablo is an adult Cockapoo who took part in a Gut Health Test. Before taking the test, we asked Pablo’s owner what he thought the test would highlight.
Pablo’s owner said:
When Pablo’s report came back, his owner was able to read his Invisible Health Score. This takes into account the dog’s individual characteristics and declared existing health conditions, combining them with the retrieved level of microbiome diversity.
Despite not showing any concerning symptoms, Pablo’s Invisible Health Score was low, and it was discovered his gut wasn’t performing as it should to support Pablo’s overall health and wellbeing.
In particular, it found the richness of Pablo’s gut microbiome was slightly lower than average. This means the variety of bacterial species wasn’t where it should be, and there was possibly an overgrowth of certain bacteria. Alongside that, his resilience was low, meaning his gut was lacking the bacteria needed to protect his gut and support its function.
Due to the imbalance of Pablo’s gut microbiome, some of the other vital functions like the digestion of carbohydrates, fibre, fats, and protein, as well as vitamin and mineral absorption, were impacted and flagged. This indicates that whilst Pablo has no symptoms now, this may cause problems later down the line.
If you’ve recently discovered that your dog’s gut microbiome isn’t performing as it should and potentially impacting their health, there’s no time like the present to take action. And the best way to do so is through their diet.
A Gut Health Test will reveal what your dog needs in their diet to improve their health, and get their gut microbiome back on track. Not only can you do this through their food and added natural, dog-friendly superfoods, but also through a course of supplements that will clear out, rebuild and balance their gut microbiome diversity. Basically starting from scratch and rebuilding from the ground up.
Here at Pooch & Mutt, not only do we offer a comprehensive dog Gut Health Test, but a course of supplements strictly tailored to your dog’s results. These, alongside their diet, will help get their microbiome and gut health back on course.
Keeping your dog happy and healthy from the inside out starts with their diet! Pooch & Mutt prioritise using natural and functional ingredients and supplements that are suited to your dog’s needs.
A dog Gut Health Test is the first step towards knowing exactly what that diet should be like, helping your dog truly live their best life. Want to know more? Contact our expert Pooch & Mutt team with any questions or queries, or click here to find out more about the gut microbiome and what we can do to help.
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