Restoring the Gut Microbiome

Health

While diet plays an essential role in supporting your dog’s gut health, several other factors such as exercise, supplements, medications, and even aging can significantly influence his gut microbiome.

Influences on Your Dog’s Gut Microbiome

By understanding what positively and negatively impacts your dog’s gut microbiome, you can create a comprehensive approach to restoring and maintaining a balanced gut microbiome. Luckily, when given the right support, it is possible to restore your dog’s microbiome to a healthier state.

EXERCISE POSITIVELY IMPACTS THE MICROBIOME

When your dog exercises, it triggers important changes throughout his body that benefit his digestive system:

  • Movement helps stimulate normal gut function, keeping food moving properly through the digestive tract and reducing the risk of harmful bacterial overgrowth.
  • During exercise, your dog’s body releases compounds that help regulate immune responses, leading to better control of inflammation.

ANTIBIOTICS NEGATIVELY IMPACT THE MICROBIOME

While necessary at times, antibiotics can significantly disrupt the gut microbiome:

  • Antibiotics work by killing bacteria in the body (both the harmful ones causing infection and the beneficial ones living in the gut).
  • Studies show that beneficial gut bacteria often don’t return to their previous levels without intervention after metronidazole use, an antibiotic treatment commonly used to treat diarrhea in dogs.

SUPPLEMENTS POSITIVELY IMPACT THE MICROBIOME

Prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics are scientifically proven to provide your dog with health benefits:

  • When beneficial bacteria break down prebiotics, they release important compounds that support gut and immune health.
  • Quality probiotics can either temporarily populate the gut or release beneficial compounds as they pass through.
  • Postbiotics ensure that cells get what they need to fulfill their functions and communicate effectively with one another.

AGING NEGATIVELY IMPACTS THE MICROBIOME

The Dog Aging Project discovered a link between aging dogs and a decline in beneficial bacteria in their gut microbiome:

  • Studies show that as dogs age, they experience a significant decline in Fusobacteria, which plays a beneficial role in your dog’s digestive system and is associated with a healthy gut microbiome in dogs.
  • Maintaining the right microbiome composition as your dog ages could be key to supporting a longer and healthier life.

RESTORING YOUR DOG’S GUT MICROBIOME

A healthy gut microbiome is essential for your dog’s overall wellbeing. Here’s how you can help restore and maintain optimal gut health:

  • Create opportunities for your dog to move his body regularly through walks, play sessions, and other activities they enjoy.
  • Choose quality supplements to complement your dog’s already healthy diet.
  • Support your dog’s gut during and after antibiotic treatment.
  • Consider annual gut microbiome testing as your dog ages.

For dogs with complex health issues related to gut imbalanced or more severe microbiome imbalances, dietary changes and the use of quality supplements may not be enough. Talk with your veterinarian about advanced therapies like fecal microbiota transplants (FMTs), which transfer beneficial gut bacteria from healthy donor dogs to restore microbial diversity and function in your dog’s digestive system without requiring sedation or invasive procedures.

Gut Microbiome Health Tests

Dr. Katie Woodley, the founder of The Natural Pet Doctor, has been pioneering integrative veterinary medicine for the last 15 years. She blends Eastern and Western medicine to address the root causes of disease, with a focus on gut and skin health. Dr. Woodley creates comprehensive treatment plans combining targeted nutrition and herbal remedies to promote overall well-being in pups.

For more information, check out Dr. Katie Woodley’s Better Gut Health Blueprint.

For More Information:

  • 2025 The Natural Pet Doctor. Better Gut Health Blueprint.
  • Ganz, PhD, Holly. State of the Gut 2024. Oakland, CA, AnimalBiome, www.animalbiome.com/pages/state-of-the-gut-2024.
  • Cooksey, DVM, Tonya. “The Roles of Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Postbiotics in Patient Health.” Animalbiome.vet, AnimalBiome Veterinary, 18 Apr. 2023, animalbiome.vet/blogs/pet-health/biotics-in-patient-health.
  • Pilla, Rachel et al. “Effects of metronidazole on the fecal microbiome and metabolome in healthy dogs.” Journal of veterinary internal medicine vol. 34,5 (2020): 1853-1866. doi:10.1111/jvim.15871
  • Kubinyi, Eniko et al. “Gut Microbiome Composition is Associated with Age and Memory Performance in Pet Dogs.” Animals : an open access journal from MDPI vol. 10,9 1488. 24 Aug. 2020, doi:10.3390/ani10091488
  • “Restore the Microbiome – AnimalBiome Veterinary.” Animalbiome.vet, 2015, animalbiome.vet/pages/restore-the-microbiome.

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