DIET & NUTRITION
How to Improve Your Dog’s Gut Health in Seven, Simple Ways
Are constant gut issues troubling your dog? Canine nutritionist Arpita T shares seven expert tips to restore their gut health for their overall well-being.
Table of contents
Every dog parent knows the sinking feeling when their dog’s poop comes out a runny mess, leaving them scrambling for answers. It's undoubtedly stressful, especially if it becomes a recurring issue. Maintaining your dog’s gut health can be quite simple but requires consistent and thoughtful efforts. It should be a top priority to avoid going through such nightmares.
Dogs with healthy guts enjoy a myriad of other benefits, as well. From a stronger immune system to improved skin & coat health to balanced hormones and better mood and temperament, their overall well-being is significantly improved.
The secret to maintaining gut health for dogs is taking care of and supporting their gut microbiome- a bustling community of gut bacteria, yeast, and other microorganisms in your dog’s gastrointestinal tract. These microbes work together and play a pivotal role in the digestion and absorption of nutrients, thereby contributing to your dog’s overall well-being.
Dogs with healthy guts enjoy a myriad of other benefits, as well. From a stronger immune system to improved skin & coat health to balanced hormones and better mood and temperament, their overall well-being is significantly improved.
The secret to maintaining gut health for dogs is taking care of and supporting their gut microbiome- a bustling community of gut bacteria, yeast, and other microorganisms in your dog’s gastrointestinal tract. These microbes work together and play a pivotal role in the digestion and absorption of nutrients, thereby contributing to your dog’s overall well-being.
Image courtesy: pixabat.com
What are the Signs of Gut Issues in Dogs?
If your dog has frequent skin rashes or infections, a dull coat, ear infections, food sensitivities, gas, dry, segmented or soft stools or an overall weakened immunity- they probably have unhealthy, imbalanced gut health. The most common and obvious signs of gut issues in dogs are vomiting, loose or semi-solid stools, increased frequency of bowel movement, flatulence, abdominal pain, weight loss, etc. Gastrointestinal issues in dogs can also affect behaviour by causing discomfort, leading to restlessness, irritability, lethargy, or changes in appetite and energy levels.
How to Improve Your Dog’s Gut Health in Seven, Simple Ways!
Taking care of your dog’s gut health and the gut microbiome involves keeping several factors in mind, such as their everyday diet, medications, breed tendencies, and lifestyle. Here are seven tips to boost your dog’s gut health.
Image courtesy: pexels.com
1. Avoid Processed Foods
Research shows that dogs eating extruded diets, commonly known as packaged food or kibble, have less diverse gut bacteria than those eating fresh food. Processed foods contain low-quality ingredients and fillers which leads to poor absorption in the gut. Additionally, many dogs may be unable to tolerate genetically modified ingredients such as soy, wheat and corn, often found in kibble. The synthetical fortification and the preservatives can cause inflammation and stress in dogs. If your dog has chronic gut issues, switching to a well-balanced, home-cooked diet is advisable.
2. Identify and Avoid Foods That Irritate Your Dog’s Gut
The most important step in healing your dog’s gut is identifying and eliminating ingredients that irritate their gut lining. The two common culprits are gluten found in wheat, corn, etc. and casein which can be found in dairy products such as milk and cheese.
The Elimination Diet for Dogs is a systematic approach to identifying possible allergens in your dog’s diet, learn the step-by-step process by clicking here.
The Elimination Diet for Dogs is a systematic approach to identifying possible allergens in your dog’s diet, learn the step-by-step process by clicking here.
3. Feed Fresh and Biologically-Appropriate Food
In their natural state, dogs are carnivorous scavengers, meaning, they thrive on a diet that is rich in meat but can adjust to other food types available to them. Animal protein sources are crucial in the production of Butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that helps in gut lining repair. Thus, a well-rounded diet consisting of meat and functional carbohydrates is vital to healing and improving your dog’s gut health.
4. Avoid Overuse of Antibiotics
Antibiotics can induce ‘Gut Dysbiosis’- a major imbalance in the good bacteria in your gut. Broad-spectrum antibiotics can rapidly and drastically decrease the richness and diversity of your dog’s gut microbiome which may be difficult to regain. Furthermore, the overuse of other medications be it steroids, painkillers, antihistamines, or tick & flea medication can also stress and disrupt your dog’s gut health. Therefore, it is essential to administer these medications cautiously and monitor for symptoms of any signs of adverse effects on the gut.
5. Repair using ‘Gut-friendly’ Foods
The bacteria in our dogs’ gut produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) that nourish the intestinal epithelium by producing mucus that feeds the beneficial bacteria and lines the guts. These fatty acids also reduce inflammation and modulate immune responses. Certain fibre-rich foods contain prebiotics or fermentable fibres that feed these helpful bacteria. Common prebiotic foods you can include in your dog’s diet are bananas, apples, asparagus, berries, oats bran, flaxseeds, etc. Fermented vegetables, curd, and kefir can also promote these beneficial microorganisms. Turmeric is another household supplement that may help decrease overall inflammation in your dog’s gut.
6. Repopulate the Gut Microbiome With a Probiotic
The next step involves restoring the microbiome to its healthy state by repopulating it with a healthy variety of bacteria and yeast. Probiotics are beneficial as they help in the production of metabolites and antimicrobial peptides that modify the gut microbiota. They also help in tightening the intestinal junctions and restore mucosal homeostasis. If your dog suffers from chronic diarrhoea, look for a multi-strain probiotic with Lactobacillus strains and Saccharomyces boulardii. For the general maintenance of gut health for dogs, a spore-based probiotic might be more useful. The important part of this step is to continue feeding the fermentable fibres as they serve as food for the probiotics.
Image courtesy:pexels.com
7. Provide Exercise & Reduce Stress
Regular exercise can enhance the gut microbiome and increase the production of a beneficial bacterial metabolite known as Butyrate. Butyrate has been shown to increase colonic epithelial cell proliferation, promote gut barrier integrity, and regulate the host immune system and gene expression. Regular physical activity, even if it is moderate, can also improve the balance of microorganisms in the gut, leading to a reduced risk of obesity and better metabolic function.
Stress can affect not only their behaviour but their gut health, as well. It can weaken the intestinal barrier and cause frequent inflammation. It is important to identify and eliminate the stressors in your dog’s life.
The composition of your dog’s gut microbiome dictates their gut health as well as their overall well-being. There is a clear correlation between several diseases, systemic or localized, and the gut microbiome. A healthy and stable gut microbiome can prevent excessive inflammation and promptly respond to infections, as well. By focusing on providing high-quality, fresh food, using medication wisely, and promoting physical activity, pet parents can improve and strengthen their dog’s gut health.
Happy Pet Parenting!
Stress can affect not only their behaviour but their gut health, as well. It can weaken the intestinal barrier and cause frequent inflammation. It is important to identify and eliminate the stressors in your dog’s life.
The composition of your dog’s gut microbiome dictates their gut health as well as their overall well-being. There is a clear correlation between several diseases, systemic or localized, and the gut microbiome. A healthy and stable gut microbiome can prevent excessive inflammation and promptly respond to infections, as well. By focusing on providing high-quality, fresh food, using medication wisely, and promoting physical activity, pet parents can improve and strengthen their dog’s gut health.
Happy Pet Parenting!
Keywords:
About the author
Get daily pet parenting tips to your Whatsapp
thePack.in
Happier together
with dogs
Copyright Interspecies Caretech Private Limited 2023