Dog gut health is a crucial factor for your dog’s overall health. In simple terms, the gut is an organ that processes food and liquids before it can be absorbed by the body. In humans, rich probiotic cultures in foods such as yogurt help promote a healthy gut flora or microbiome. The same goes for dogs!
The microbiome of a dog’s digestive system consists primarily of good bacteria that aid in the digestion and absorption of nutrients from food. Digestive problems often occur when harmful bacteria outnumber the beneficial ones- creating a condition known as dysbiosis. Dysbiosis results in bad breath, loose stool, bloating, and weight loss.
Even though there are many things you can do to support your dog’s gut health, always consult with your veterinarian to prevent potential problems.
What the gut does for your dog
Intestinal health could be defined as a healthy balance in intestinal flora- a harmonious existence in the intestines between beneficial and harmful bacteria. When that balance is disturbed, your dog could suffer from a wide range of intestinal problems such as constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and flatulence.
About 80% of a dog’s immune system is located within the digestive tract. The gut also has another important function- it regulates blood sugar levels. In order for this to happen properly, sufficient amounts of good bacteria are needed to produce essential nutrients such as biotin and vitamin K.
The gut hosts both good and bad bacteria. Good bacteria are needed for proper digestion, but they also have many other benefits. For example, they keep the intestinal walls clean and healthy, support the growth of healthy cells in your dog’s body.
Bad bacteria are harmful because they can cause infection and gastrointestinal problems. They also break down protein into toxic substances which might worsen symptoms of kidney disease or contribute to cancer growth. This is why it is so important to maintain a balanced microbiome in your dog’s gut!
What is the gut microbiome?
The gut microbiome is a collection of germs that live in the digestive system. They account for over 95% of all bacteria found within a healthy dog. As it has been already mentioned, these “good” bacteria have the following benefits:
– Helps to produce essential nutrients such as biotin and vitamin K
– Maintain intestinal walls clean and healthy
– Support immune system health
Intestinal flora is subject to change with age, diet, stress levels, and exposure to certain diseases. A few examples of things that might harm your dog’s microbiome are:
– Antibiotics (even if they’re only used for a short period of time)
– Diets high in sugars or carbohydrates
– Stressful events such as surgery or boarding at a kennel
What is the microbiome of the dog’s gut like?
Your pet’s digestive system is most likely to be most influenced by its raw diet. This means that dogs who are fed mostly raw meat, bones, and vegetables have more good bacteria in their guts than those that eat processed food. All dogs experience some changes in their microbiome as they age- but it happens much faster for those on a dry diet.
A six-month-old puppy has a very rich and diverse gut microbiome, containing about five hundred different types of bacteria. The number decreases as your dog grows older because it has less food available for any remaining bacteria to grow on. That being said, older dogs might still have over four hundred different types of bacteria in their guts.
Most dogs have around 80% of good bacteria and 20% of bad bacteria in their gut microbiome. The percentages are slightly different for each dog but this is the most common proportion found. Although it might not seem like a big difference, having too many harmful bacteria can cause serious problems for your pet’s health.
Conditions linked to gut imbalances
Gut imbalances are common. Many factors contribute to this, but sometimes they are not linked to any apparent cause. This is why it’s crucial for veterinarians to help owners determine whether the problem is due to an unhealthy microbiome or some other reason.
The most common conditions linked to gut imbalances are:
- Allergies: Many dogs suffer from allergies, and the intestinal wall is a commonplace to find inflammation. Plenty of vets believe that this could be caused by an imbalance between good and bad bacteria in the gut microbiome.
- Arthritis: Arthritis is another common ailment found in dogs. Whether your dog’s arthritis is caused by an imbalanced microbiome or not remains unclear, but there are studies suggesting this might be the case.
- Diabetes: The quantity of good bacteria in your pet’s gut directly affects its ability to absorb certain nutrients including glucose. This could lead to diabetes if your pet’s microbiome is out of balance as a result of a poor diet.
- Liver Disease: In the liver, good and bad bacteria break down toxins from food to be eliminated from blood. An unhealthy microbiome can lead to increased production of these toxins because there aren’t enough good bacteria to absorb them.
- Pancreatitis: Bad bacteria which grow on undigested food feed off of it and produce more toxins. This can lead to inflammation of the pancreas, which is very serious for your pet’s health.
- Colon Cancer: Having too many of certain types of harmful bacteria in the gut is one of the most important risk factors for colon cancer.
- Inflammation: The microbiome of the gut might play a role in inflammation throughout your pet’s body, including their joints and organs.
- Obesity: Bad bacteria in the gut make it harder to break down food and may lead to more inflammation, which might cause your pet to gain weight.
How to spot signs of gut problems in dogs
- Diagnosing and Testing: there are many different tests you can do like checking for parasites or checking your pet’s stool. AnimlaBiome has a DoggyBiome Gut Health Test kit that you can do. This at-home test detects bacterial imbalances and provides actionable insights for personalized diet, supplement, or lifestyle changes to improve your dog’s health.
- Take note of changes: sudden changes in your pet’s behavior are an important sign something is wrong. For example, if your normally friendly dog doesn’t want to play or walks around with his tail between his legs, this could be a sign of an unhealthy microbiome.
- Pay attention to ingredients: Dogs with an unhealthy microbiome usually have low levels of good bacteria and/or high levels of bad bacteria. This can be seen in the ingredients used to make their food. For example, if your dog’s food has carbohydrates – such as wheat or soy – it might lead to problems like diarrhea due to a lack of good bacteria in their gut microbiome. Most commercial pet foods are also filled with synthetic vitamins and preservatives that your dog’s body does not recognize and thinks are toxins.
- Is your dog stressed: anxiety can also affect your dog’s microbiome. This means that if your pet is constantly under stress, the balance between good and bad bacteria will be affected. Try helping your dog reduce stress by taking them on more walks, playing with them more, and giving them a bed of their own to sleep in.
Steps To Regenerate Your Dog’s Gut Health
Regenerating your dog’s gut health is key. In order to do this, you must first understand that your pet’s microbiome is a complex ecosystem full of billions of good and bad bacteria all living together. Depending on your dog’s current health it may take many weeks or even months for you to regenerate your dog’s gut health.
Feed a nutrient-dense, species-appropriate diet.
According to Dr. Conor Brady, Author of the book “Feeding Dogs”, the species-appropriate diet for dogs is raw feeding. Raw feeding is the practice of feeding your dog a diet of fresh, whole foods including whole meats, bones, and organs. Dog’s biological make-up is similar to wolves and they are carnivores who require large amounts of protein from animal sources.
Feeding your dog a species-appropriate diet will help you regenerate their gut health because it helps support a healthy microbiome with plenty of bacteria that can fight off bad bacteria without any harmful side effects. This leads to more nutrients being absorbed into your pet’s body for optimal health and wellness.
Enrich your pet’s microbiome by adding prebiotics & probiotics to his/her food.
Prebiotics are indigestible carbohydrates that act like fertilizer for your pet’s microbiome. They help good bacteria grow by providing them with the nutrients they need to multiply
Probiotics are live cultures of beneficial bacteria which can be found in fermented foods, supplements, or added to your pet’s food. Adding prebiotics and probiotics to your pet’s diet will support their gut health by increasing the diversity of their microbiome by adding different types of healthy bacteria. By doing this, you may notice an improvement in their immune system, reduced inflammation, decreased gas & bloating, increase in nutrient absorption, reduced allergies, and more!
*RELATED: Top 5 Best Probiotics For Dogs
Add Superfoods For Dogs
Superfoods for dogs are exactly what they sound like – foods that are incredibly nutritious for your pet.
Vitamin-rich Superfoods contain nutrients that have been proven to support the health of your pet’s microbiome because these foods provide essential vitamins and minerals to boost their immune system. Some examples include butternut squash & pumpkin seeds which both have selenium, chia & flax seeds which have zinc, and blueberries which have antioxidants.
Superfoods may also contain prebiotics that helps promote your pet’s microbiome by acting as fertilizer for their gut bacteria so they can multiply.
Examples include but are not limited to green bananas, green vegetables, kefir, and sweet potatoes. Even different types of herbs can help the gut in many ways.
Lastly, Superfoods for dogs contain probiotics to add healthy bacteria back into the gut microbiome – these foods will be discussed in more detail later in this article.
Avoid Unnecessary Vaccines & Antibiotics
Studies now show that vaccines and antibiotics can destroy your pet’s microbiome. This is because they are created using toxic chemicals that kill off all bacteria in the gut, including the good ones.
Common Vaccine Ingredients & Effects They May Cause On Our Pets:
Formaldehyde – A known cancer-causing agent which has been proven to cause damage to DNA. It is also a neurotoxin that may cause neurological disorders such as seizures, blindness, asthma attacks, and hives.
Aluminum – A neurotoxin that may be linked with Alzheimer’s disease & cancer/tumors.
Mercury – One of the most toxic substances on earth that may damage the central nervous system causing autism, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), seizures, mental retardation, and more.
Genetically Modified Ingredients – GM ingredients have been found to potentially cause organ damage, create tumors, and lead to premature death.
Antibiotic Effects On Our Pets:
Side effects of antibiotics on our pets can be horrible. They can cause urinary tract infections, yeast overgrowth & ear infections among other things which will only make your pet’s gut worse as they destroy even more of the microbiome.
Reduce Harmful Ingredients And Toxins In Your Home
You’d be surprised how many chemicals we unknowingly come into contact with each day. And when you think of your dog, they are much more sensitive than we are.
Reducing or removing harmful ingredients and toxins in the home is critical.
They can include BPA, pesticides – both in your home and outside. Use natural cleaning products in the home & use a natural pest control service to spray for bugs in your yard. You may even find these things on some toys.
Chemicals and unnecessary fillers in their food and treats.
Microbiome Restorative Therapy (MBRT)
Dr. Margo Roman is a veterinarian from the Boston area who has pioneered the use of MicroBiome Restorative Therapy (MBRT) and medical ozone therapy among colleagues.
MBRT works to restore balance to the entire system. With special donors who not only have the proper bacteria for restoring and balancing the gut bacteria, but can also transfer other benefits such as healthy skin, coat, gums, and teeth.
Samples are prepared by taking the raw donor samples and filtering out any foreign materials, such as leaves or bones, and separating them into larger sample sizes. These may be given whole orally or blended to make a slurry. They are frozen immediately and must remain frozen until ready to use.
Dr. Roman has transformed the health of thousands of dogs using this therapy over many years.
Improving your dogs gut health will improve their quality of life
Improving your dog’s gut health is critical to giving them a healthy life.
Most dogs, if not all will suffer from a variety of chronic illnesses and inflammatory conditions due to the poor quality of their gut microbiome.
This is why it is so important to have your dog’s microbiome tested regularly if you have a pet who tends to be sick often or has been acting differently recently.
You may discover an underlying condition that could be treated with simple natural remedies. While this article has given you many places to start, we recommend you contact your veterinarian to see what is right for your pet.
Your dog’s gut health will impact their immune system, weight, mental function (stress levels), skin/coat condition, dental condition, urinary tract health – among many other things. One thing this means is if you don’t take care of your dog’s gut microbiome now, it could mean many problems down the track. And we don’t want that.
For your convenience, we’ve provided some links below to other resources we like on dog gut health and pet health in general.
We also have a Pet Parent Support Group on Facebook with thousands of members on the same journey as you. We’d love to see you there.