Our Science

Our Gut Health Test kits for cats and dogs contain everything you need to collect a small sample of your pet’s stool and send it to our laboratory.

When we receive your pet’s sample, we first extract DNA from all bacteria. A fecal sample about the size of a pea contains roughly one billion bacterial cells. Using DNA sequencing and powerful analytic software, we identify all the types of bacteria living in your pet’s gut.

Then, we compare your cat’s or dog’s results to our large and growing database of healthy pets to determine how closely the types and amounts of bacteria in your pet’s gut match that healthy reference set. We can detect any bacterial imbalances, identify any key groups that are missing, and flag any harmful bacteria that may be causing troublesome symptoms, like diarrhea or itchy skin.

Many cats and dogs with digestive problems, skin issues, or other symptoms turn out to be missing certain important gut bacteria. In these cases, we need to add those missing bacteria to the microbiome and help those new populations grow and thrive.

Probiotic products contain beneficial microorganisms, but even the leading probiotics can’t restore an imbalanced microbiome. Fortunately, there’s a better option. A growing body of research has found that fecal transplants can help improve several different gastrointestinal disorders (as well as many other conditions) by changing the gut microbiome.

Also called fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), a fecal transplant is the process by which stool from a healthy donor is transferred to the intestines of a sick recipient. The stool from the donor contains a healthy community of bacteria that can take up residence in the sick recipient’s gut. In human medicine, for example, FMT is used to treat C. difficile (aka C. diff) infections.

AnimalBiome’s Gut Restore Supplement (fecal transplant in an oral capsule) provides a whole community of healthy cat- or dog-specific bacteria, sourced directly from carefully screened donor animals. By seeding your pet’s microbiome with all the right microbes in the right proportions, our supplement can help reestablish balance and resolve symptoms.

In a pilot study, AnimalBiome gave 72 cats and 40 dogs with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) a 25-day course of Gut Restore Supplement. After finishing the course of capsules, 83% of the cats and 80% of the dogs had improved symptoms. Appetite also increased for a quarter of the cats and half of the dogs. Researchers continue to learn about the therapeutic benefits of FMT for many different health issues, and this study showed that even for pets with chronic conditions like IBD, FMT can improve symptoms and increase quality of life.

Sometimes competitive exclusion on its own can’t win control back from the pathogens causing your pet’s symptoms. In these cases, the introduction of an array of healthy gut microbes will be much more likely to have a positive result if we first knock out particular harmful bacteria with bacteriophages or antibiotics.

Bacteriophages are viruses that attack specific types of bacteria. Some bacteriophages, for example, specifically target E. coli. One of the ingredients in our Gut Maintenance Plus (GMP) product is a prebiotic bacteriophage cocktail called PreforPro, which helps take harmful bacteria out of the mix so that the beneficial bacteria in your pet’s microbiome have more room to grow.

Simple changes to your pet’s diet may be enough to restore balance. The personalized recommendations in the Gut Health Test report will explain exactly what specific nutritional changes can do for your pet. Adding more protein to the diet, for example, supports the growth of the important Fusobacteria group, which do best in a high-protein environment.

If dietary changes and prebiotic supplements aren’t enough to correct the proportions among your pet’s gut bacteria, a course of Gut Restore Supplement can fill in missing bacterial groups and crowd out harmful ones, allowing the members of the microbiome to reestablish a healthy balance.

Some pets, especially older animals and those with chronic health conditions, may need daily supplementation with prebiotics or postbiotics to help the microbiome stay in balance. While prebiotics provide food for beneficial gut bacteria, postbiotics—healthy byproducts of those bacteria’s metabolic activity—also benefit the gut, especially by helping to reduce inflammation.

We know that certain health issues can keep a pet’s microbiome permanently out of balance. Many kinds of cancer, for example, disrupt the gut microbiome. Genetic factors may also affect the gut’s microbial balance. Some Boxers, for example, have a genetic predisposition that disrupts the proper functioning of the microbiome. In such cases, Gut Restore Supplements can help minimize symptoms and may be an ongoing element of your pet’s care.

S. boulardii, a yeast-based probiotic, has been shown to resolve diarrhea caused by antibiotics.

Gut Maintenance Plus also contains the prebiotic FOS. FOS has been shown to work synergistically with S. boulardii to improve intestinal health.

PreforPro is a prebiotic bacteriophage cocktail that helps healthy bacteria flourish in the gut. More than 20 studies have confirmed the safety and efficacy of PreforPro.