18 Jul 2025
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Gut-health
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The best way to investigate your dog’s gut health, and truly get a vision of what’s going on inside their tum, is through a Gut Health Test for dogs.
Here at Pooch & Mutt, we provide an easy-peasy at-home Gut Health Test kit for your dog so you can get to know your dog from the inside out, and get them on the road towards optimal health and wellbeing.
But what exactly does the Gut Health Test tell you, and if you did a Pooch & Mutt Gut Health Test, what would the results look like? Read on to explore why a Gut Health Test is the first step towards great gut health and overall wellbeing, and what you can expect to see after you’ve done one for your dog.
Did you know that your dog’s gut microbiome plays a crucial role in the overall health and wellbeing of your dog? The gut microbiome, and the bacteria that live within it, support the function and strength of some of your dog’s main bodily processes- those that keep your dog alive and thriving!
These include, but aren’t limited to:
Having an impact on such important bodily processes, when the gut microbiome isn’t in tip-top shape, it can cause disruption throughout your dog’s body and consequently, cause detrimental symptoms.
For the gut microbiome to be working as it should, the bacteria within it should be rich and balanced, in this case meaning of varying species but in equal proportion to each other. When this isn’t the case, and one particular bacterial species is lacking or has overrun the microbiota, it becomes imbalanced, and the bacteria can no longer support those important processes as they should. This is referred to as dysbiosis.
So, with this in mind, it’s important to test your dog’s gut health to see whether dysbiosis is behind some of those pesky symptoms they just can’t seem to kick, including;
It’ll also help you identify target areas and what they need in their diet, whether that’s specific natural ingredients or supplements, to help combat their issues and get their gut balanced again.
Whilst it’s a huge benefit, helping to tackle symptoms of dysbiosis isn’t the only reason to do a Gut Health Test. Some dogs can suffer with dysbiosis without having any noticeable or troubling symptoms.
The balance of the gut microbiome is so delicate it can be knocked out of whack by a long list of factors, many of which aren’t in our control. These include their age, breed and even how they came into the world. So, as a dog owner, if you want to have a full view of your dog’s health and wellbeing, as well as maintain a good gut or prevent dysbiosis from settling in, a Gut Health Test is always a great idea.
Here at Pooch & Mutt, we offer a Gut Health Test that requires just a small sample of your dog’s poop to provide a comprehensive Gut Health Report. One that lists their results, as well as a completely tailored diet and supplement plan backed by science to help your dog get back on track.
When you order a Gut Health Test from Pooch & Mutt, you’ll receive a kit that includes everything you need to collect your dog’s sample.
In a kit, you’ll find:
An instructional leaflet
A QR Code to a step-by-step video
Gloves
An antiseptic wipe
A test tube with a wooden scoop and preservation liquid
A zip bag for taking on walks
An absorbent bag and a specimen bag for safe sample transport
A return label to pop on the box, ready for posting
When it comes to collecting the sample, simply use the wooden spatula to scoop a sample of your dog’s fresh poop and pop it into the test tube. It should be around the size of 2 kidney beans, covered by the preservation liquid in the tube, tightly sealed, and then placed into the specimen bag.
During the process, it’s really important that you scan the QR code on your leaflet to complete the quiz and activate your kit. This way, we can match your test to your dog, have as much information as possible about your pooch, and get the most accurate and tailored results.
Then pop the free returns label onto the box, seal everything up and drop it into your closest post box! It’s that simple.
When you send off your dog’s sample, it’ll reach one of our labs where it’ll be analysed.
Your dog’s poop is teeming with bacteria, providing a representative look into what exactly is, or isn’t, living within their gut microbiome. Alongside this, things like your dog’s age, breed, medical history, weight, current diet and lifestyle are taken into account to gain a picture of their overall gut health, the diversity of their microbiome and how it may be affecting other areas of the body.
Once you receive the results of your Pooch & Mutt Gut Health Test, you'll receive an email within around 4 weeks to tell you that your results are ready to view in your Pooch Profile. There you’ll find an easy-to-digest (if you pardon the pun) report that summarises your dog’s Gut Health Test results and guides you on what to do next.
In particular, it’ll show how balanced your dog’s gut microbiome is, its bacterial diversity, its bacterial richness, and their gut resilience, giving them a numerical Invisible Health Score so you can really see where the work’s needed throughout your dog’s gut health journey.
As well as this, it’ll give you an insight into the health of digestive function, immunity and levels of inflammation, which includes the joints, and other areas that can indicate health issues. These include breath odour, skin and coat health, behaviour and cardiovascular health - all of which are directly linked and affected by the gut microbiome.
It’ll also tell our experts what kind of diet and additional Gut Health Supplements your dog will need to target their highlighted areas, and get them feeling back on track.
It’s all well and good talking about your Gut Health Report, so why don’t we just show you!
From a sample report, we’ve pulled out some of the juicy bits to break down exactly what you’ll be met with when you receive your own dog’s report, and explain what some of the things mean. This way, you can have a full understanding of your dog’s results and how to act on them.
Without further ado, here’s a sneak peek into what your dog’s gut health test report will look like after testing:
The first thing to note is your dog’s Invisible Health Score.
Unique to a Pooch & Much Gut Health Test, this is a summarised, numerical score that encompasses both the microbial health and diversity, and the analysis of the other health indicators. This way you can easily have an overarching view on the overall health of your dog’s gut, and see changes and improvements when it comes to retesting. Plus, the handy traffic light system makes it easy to immediately see how your dog’s insides are really doing.
The other half of the gut health report is where we break down everything that makes up their InvisibleHealth score. Their Phyla Score - the numerical score given to how rich and balanced the bacteria are within your dog’s microbiome. This is calculated by comparing it to the ideal score of a healthy dog. This will only be displayed ahead of your dog's retest, which we advise 6 months after their first Gut Health Test. This is so you can accurately keep track of their improvements.
Dr Bushra Schuitemaker, our Head of Microbiology, states:
Next, the health of their gut microbiome is broken down. Their Diversity Score, Balance (Phyla), Richness and Resilience is given a numerical score to show you how it compares to that of a healthy dog, where the microbiome is rich and balanced.
The Diversity Score tells you whether there’s a diverse amount of bacterial species living within your dog’s gut microbiome. In a healthy dog, there should be a good amount of different bacteria living and thriving in the gut, but they should be in equal proportion to each other. In other words, there’s not one bacterial species trying to conquer the entire microbial community.
This leads us onto their Balance (Phyla) Score which indicates, when compared to that of a healthy dog, how well the groups of bacteria are distributed. So a low Phyla Score may mean that one particular group of bacteria has in fact dethroned the rest, causing bacterial havoc and an unbalanced gut microbiome.
Then we have their Richness Score, which tells us how much bacteria of the same strain is living within your dog’s gut microbiome. Through analysis, our microbiologists can detect the bacteria sequences in order to identify what genus types are living in their microbiome. With this, we can tell what different kinds of bacteria are in there, and whether they’re in the right proportion.
Finally, we have their Resilience Score. This tells us how well your dog’s gut is prepared to fight off any nasties, and how armed their gut is to bounce back from illness or anything else that could disrupt the gut, including something as simple as a change in diet. More specifically, the Resilience Score measures the presence of bacteria that form protective biofilms - a physical barrier that shields the gut lining. This interconnected bacterial community helps defend against pathogens (disease-causing bacteria) and supports gut health. This is scored by comparing it to that of a healthy dog’s level of resilience.
The last part of your gut health test report and results is the exploration of their Health Indicators. This includes a closer look at some of the main bodily processes that are impacted by their microbial community and contribute heavily to their overall health and wellbeing.
Digestive Function is broken down by their ability to digest protein, fibre, fats, carbohydrates and how their gut absorbs vitamins and minerals. Comparing it to that of an ideal, healthy dog, each function is given a percentage and scored via the traffic light system to indicate how well these processes are functioning.
Next is Immunity and Inflammation, which is separated by Immunological Function, Joints and Mobility, Skin and Coat Health, Cardiovascular Health and Gut Inflammation.
Immunological Health is linked directly to their gut and their microbiome, with 70% of their immune cells interacting with the gut. This score shows how well your dog’s gut is equipped to fight off bacteria that could lead to infection and illness. This also includes inflammation as well as joint health and mobility, since inflammation of the gut can also lead to inflammation of the joints. The scores show how well their gut is supporting the ability to fight off inflammation and support the health of their joints.
Then we have the Supportive Health Indicators, which are all the areas of your dog that, if something’s quite not right, could be causing them noticeable trouble. These include Breath Odour and Behaviour. These scores show how well their gut and microbiome are supporting the function and health of these areas of the body.
After their results, you’ll also be able to view their proposed treatment plan where their results have been used to devise the perfect diet and supplement plan - to either tackle their highlighted issues, or maintain great gut health.
As you can see, doing a Gut Health Test for your dog reveals so much about their health that, otherwise, may have remained unknown! Doing a Gut Health Test for your dog is the first step in the journey towards great gut health and of course, a happy, healthy and thriving pooch that’s here for the long haul.
If you’re interested in kicking off their gut health journey and helping to get your pooch back on their feet and achieving optimal health, explore gut health at Pooch & Mutt , including a Gut Health Test, and our natural, science-backed Gut Health Supplement range. Any questions, be sure to drop a message to our expert team at [email protected]
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