27 Oct 2025
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Gut-health
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Kefir is something you may have recently noticed cropping up in the yoghurt aisle of your local supermarket. Whilst it may be new to your shopping list, Kefir has been around for thousands of years.
However, it’s only been in the last few years that it’s entered the mainstream as gut health gold dust.
As huge advocates of dog gut health here at Pooch & Mutt, it’s no surprise that we’re totally behind the power it holds for us, and how our dogs can also get in on the action.
Read on to explore what exactly Kefir is, its benefits, why it’s renowned as such a show stopper for gut health, and how both you and your dog could benefit.
Our friends and the people behind the UK's favourite Kefir*, Biotiful Gut Health, tell us that Kefir is crafted using British milk and a unique blend of Kefir cultures.
Kefir is full to the brim with beneficial probiotics and bacteria that do absolute wonders for the gut, helping to restore and maintain a healthy microbial balance, and thus supporting all the good the gut does for the body.
In both dogs and humans, this includes everything from healthy skin, good digestion, immunity, oral health, heart and brain function, and overall top-notch gut health.
Similar to other healthy, fermented food and drinks like Kombucha, Kimchi and Sauerkraut, adding a portion of Kefir to your everyday diet helps support your gut microbiome -making for a healthy gut and a healthy you.
Kefir is available as a drink, or when fermented into a thicker consistency, can be enjoyed as a spoonable Kefir Yogurt.
In this form, it can be easily added to granola, fruit or popped into your favourite smoothie. That said, Kefir and regular yoghurt are certainly not the same:
Simple answer, yes! Kefir is great for dogs, and adding some to their everyday diet means they too can reap all its beneficial properties.
Where dogs do have some no-gos when it comes to human food, plain, unsweetened Kefir Yogurt can safely be enjoyed by dogs.
Biotiful’s own Lennie the Italian Greyhound enjoys a dollop of Kefir as a part of his everyday diet. We’ve recently tested his gut to see what impact this gut health gold has had.
Take a look!
When feeding something new to your dog, try starting off with a small quantity so their gut can get used to the new food, and you can easily look out for any allergy symptoms or adverse effects.
Kefir is good for dogs in the same way that it’s good for us humans.
As it’s teeming with gut-supporting probiotics, Kefir joins a long list of other gut-friendly, natural superfoods that can help get your dog’s gut health back on track.
The balance of your dog’s gut microbiome (otherwise known as the ecosystem of bacteria that live within the gut) is extremely important.
Pooch & Mutt’s Head of Microbiology Dr Bushra Schuitemaker describes a healthy gut microbiome as ‘rich and balanced’ like “a thriving forest - teeming with trees of different species in equal proportion to each other, thriving off soil and working together to produce beneficial properties like oxygen. There’s not one tree species taking over, creating a maintainable balance”.
The same can be said for the bacteria in your dog’s gut microbiome.
When the bacterial ecosystem inside your dog’s gut is well balanced, your gut can efficiently create different acids, sugars, neurotransmitters and vitamins that actively support other crucial bodily functions. This massively contributes to your dog’s overall health, wellbeing and longevity.
These bodily functions include but aren’t limited to:
When eaten as a part of their diet, the high level of probiotics found in Kefir helps to restore and maintain that gut balance, making for a healthy gut and all-around healthy pooch!
Here at Pooch, we make it our mission to get dogs feeling happy, healthy and their best possible selves. And as experts in gut health, we recognise that the key to optimum health and wellbeing for your dog is through their gut!
And with Kefir harbouring so many benefits via its symbiotic power and surplus of Lactobacillus (beneficial bacteria), there’s no question that we fully encourage introducing it into your dog’s diet.
Plus, if we take a look at the data:
In our database of over 1,600 dogs, only 29.09% had Lactobacillus present, and just 3% reached healthy levels.
This shows how common it is for dogs to lack these beneficial bacteria, and why introducing them through fermented foods like Kefir or targeted supplements can make a real difference.
Importantly, Kefir is a natural way to introduce live, beneficial bacteria that start working immediately, supporting both human and canine gut health. For dogs, it helps fill gaps in their microbiome, improving digestion, immunity, and overall wellbeing.
What’s not to love?
With all the gut health goodness it brings, we've naturally partnered with fellow gut health experts over at Biotiful, who's own pooches make Kefir a part of their every day diet.
We had a chat with our Head of Microbiology here at Pooch & Mutt, Dr Bushra Schuitemaker, to delve a little deeper into what exactly it is that makes Kefir so good for our dogs’ gut health.
She said:
“Kefir contains live bacteria that survive the journey through the stomach thanks to the dairy matrix that protects them.
By the time they reach the lower gut, they’re ready to colonise immediately, providing support where it’s most needed.
For dogs, this means they gain the same benefits as humans - better digestion, immunity, and microbial balance.” - Dr Bushra Schuitemaker
When it comes to our gut, we have a lot more in common with our dogs than you think.
Whilst Kefir can work wonders for our gut, those benefits also transfer to our pooches!
Our Head of Microbiology, Dr Bushra Schuitemaker tells us:
‘Humans and dogs have coevolved, sharing environments and microbiomes.
Recent studies show dogs’ gut communities are more similar to their owners’ than to any other species, meaning that supporting your own gut health can subtly influence your dog’s microbial balance too.
Kefir is rich in Lactobacillus, a bacterium that acts as a natural antispoilage agent, deterring pathogens and moulds.
Importantly, Lactobacillus is never harmful and plays a crucial role in early-life gut development in both humans and dogs, helping establish a resilient immune system.’ - Dr Bushra Schuitemaker
Sometimes it’s easy to spot poor gut health in dogs thanks to the long list of symptoms it can cause.
Then again, dogs can have microbial imbalance (or dysbiosis) without showing any concerning symptoms.
An unbalanced gut microbiome in dogs is extremely common, as there are so many factors that can cause it, many that are out of our control.
These include, but aren’t limited to:
Whilst they might not be showing symptoms now, when left without intervention, it can lead to symptoms rearing their ugly head later in life.
This makes investigation, maintenance, and prevention key!
There is a way to take a peek into what’s going on inside your dog’s gut, and that’s with a Gut Health Test at Pooch & Mutt.
With an at-home Pooch & Mutt Gut Health Test, we provide everything you need to collect your dog’s poop sample and send it off to our lab.
Then, after analysing their poop, we provide an easy-to-follow Gut Health Test Report.
This not only gives you an insight into their microbial diversity, but their overall gut health and how well their gut can help support those important bodily functions. Plus, it includes a completely tailored supplement plan that, when incorporated into your dog’s diet, will help maintain or restore their gut health.
Yes! Kefir is safe to feed to dogs. But with any new food, you should always be cautious with feeding - providing gradual, small portions whilst looking out for any symptoms of allergies or intolerances. These might include:
If your dog shows any of these symptoms after feeding Kefir, be sure to stop feeding them Kefir and contact your vet for further advice.
The amount of Kefir you feed your dog will depend on their size:
1 teaspoon per day for small dogs
1 tablespoon per day for medium dogs
2 tablespoons per day for large dogs
It’s recommended that when giving your dog a new food, you should do so gradually and in small portions. That way, you can easily monitor any allergy symptoms or other unwanted effects.
Due to the versatility of Kefir, it’s easy to incorporate it into your dog’s diet in a variety of ways.
You could try:
If you’re looking to learn more about your dog’s gut health, or even about introducing the power of Kefir to their diet, be sure to explore Gut Health at Pooch & Mutt, and Biotiful Kefir . Any questions, feel free to reach out to our expert team.
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