Understanding the Gut

Diet and the Canine Gut Microbiome

What a dog eats helps shape the nutritional environment within the gut. Protein, fat, carbohydrate and fibre can all influence which substrates reach microbial communities and what those microbes are able to do with them.

Introduction

The gut microbiome is not separate from the food a dog eats.

Every meal changes the mixture of nutrients entering the digestive system.

Some of those nutrients are digested and absorbed earlier in the gastrointestinal tract. Others continue further downstream, where they become part of the environment encountered by microbial communities.

That means diet can influence both which microorganisms are present and what those microorganisms are doing.

The relationship is complex, but the basic principle is simple:

What reaches the microbiome depends partly on what happened to the food before it got there.

Understanding the issue

What is happening?

A dog's diet contains different proportions and types of protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre and other nutrients.

As food moves through the digestive system, enzymes and other digestive processes break some of these nutrients into smaller components that can be absorbed.

Material that is not absorbed continues further through the gut.

This remaining material can act as substrate for microbial communities.

Different substrates can favour different types of microbial activity.

For example, certain carbohydrates and fibres can be fermented by gut microorganisms, producing compounds such as short-chain fatty acids.

Protein reaching the lower gut can also be fermented, producing a different range of metabolites.

The microbiome is therefore responding to the nutritional environment it encounters, not simply to the ingredient list printed on the food bag.

Common factors

What can influence it?

Several aspects of diet can influence the gut environment.

Protein

The amount, source and digestibility of dietary protein can affect how much reaches the lower gastrointestinal tract.

Carbohydrate

Different carbohydrate sources vary in how readily they are digested and how much becomes available for microbial fermentation.

Fibre

Some fibres are highly fermentable, while others mainly influence stool bulk and transit.

Fat

Changes in dietary fat can influence digestion, bile acid metabolism and the wider gastrointestinal environment.

Digestibility

Two foods with similar nutrient labels can behave differently if their ingredients are digested to different extents.

Processing

Cooking, extrusion and other forms of processing can alter how nutrients behave during digestion.

Overall dietary pattern

The microbiome responds to the whole nutritional environment, not one ingredient in isolation.

What you may notice

What can you observe?

You cannot see the microbiome directly, but you can observe some of the everyday outcomes associated with digestion.

Stool consistency

Changes in diet can alter stool firmness and water content.

Stool volume

Different levels of digestibility and fibre can influence how much stool is produced.

Gas

Changes in fermentable substrate can sometimes alter gas production.

Frequency

Different diets can affect how often a dog passes stools.

Appetite and body condition

Over longer periods, these provide useful context when thinking about whether a diet suits the individual dog.

These observations do not tell you exactly what the microbiome is doing, but they can help you recognise when the digestive environment has changed.

Everyday considerations

Consistency is often useful when thinking about diet and digestion.

Frequent changes in food, treats and chews can make it difficult to understand what your dog responds well to.

If you are changing diet, doing so gradually can give the digestive system and microbial community time to adapt to a different nutritional environment.

It is also worth thinking about the whole diet rather than the main food alone.

Treats, chews, supplements, table food and scavenged items all contribute nutrients and substrates to the gut.

Most importantly, there is no single microbiome or diet that is ideal for every dog.

Individual dogs vary in age, size, activity, genetics, environment and digestive physiology.

The most useful approach is therefore usually to consider the individual dog rather than chasing one supposedly perfect microbiome profile.

When to speak to your vet

Speak to your vet if you are considering a major dietary change for a dog with an existing health condition or if digestive changes are persistent or concerning.

Veterinary advice is particularly appropriate if your dog has:

repeated or persistent loose stools
vomiting
unexplained weight loss
reduced appetite
blood in the stool
marked lethargy
recurrent digestive problems
difficulty maintaining body condition
an existing condition requiring a prescribed or therapeutic diet

If your dog is already eating a veterinary diet, discuss changes with your veterinary team before switching foods.

Where CaniNectar fits

CaniNectar is a complementary feed designed for use as part of the normal diet of healthy dogs.

It contains enzyme-rich malt extract — ERME — produced using a patented process designed to preserve naturally occurring digestive enzyme activity.

The nutritional rationale behind CaniNectar begins with the relationship between digestion and the microbial environment.

What is digested and absorbed earlier helps determine which nutrients continue further through the gastrointestinal tract and become available to microbial communities.

This is why our approach looks not only at the microbiome itself, but also at the nutritional environment reaching it.

CaniNectar is not intended to treat digestive disease or to correct an abnormal microbiome. Persistent or concerning digestive changes should be discussed with your vet.

References

Further reading:

Pilla R, Suchodolski JS. The Gut Microbiome of Dogs and Cats, and the Influence of Diet. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice. 2021;51(3):605–621.

Wernimont SM, Radosevich J, Jackson MI, et al. The Effects of Nutrition on the Gastrointestinal Microbiome of Cats and Dogs: Impact on Health and Disease. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2020;11:1266.

Pilla R, Suchodolski JS. The Role of the Canine Gut Microbiome and Metabolome in Health and Gastrointestinal Disease. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 2020;6:498.

Hooda S, Minamoto Y, Suchodolski JS, Swanson KS. Current state of knowledge: the canine gastrointestinal microbiome. Animal Health Research Reviews. 2012;13(1):78–88.

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