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ABOUT JACQUELINE

Dr Jacqueline Boyd is an animal scientist and humane education specialist with a passion for applying and sharing scientific knowledge to improve animal health and welfare. She has five ‘multi-purpose’ Cocker Spaniels who do cani-cross, agility, gundog work, and heelwork to music.

Gut health is an important part of a healthy lifestyle — for us and for our dogs. Nutritionist Dr Jacqueline Boyd explains how, and when, probiotics and prebiotics can help.

More and more scientific research is demonstrating a link between the gut and whole-body health. A key aspect of this is the population of micro-organisms, called the microbiome, that live in the gut. The microbiome consists of a range of microbial species; some are beneficial to health, while others can cause problems.

Different areas of the body have very distinct and characteristic microbiomes. Your dog’s skin will have a different population of microbes to his digestive system. Indeed, the digestive system is likely to have specific populations of micro-organisms in specific areas.

However, the microbiome of the digestive system can be extremely sensitive to changes in diet, the use of certain medications such as antibiotics, and other environmental changes.

We now know that the health of the microbiome is linked to whole-animal health, and keeping a stable microbiome population might help reduce the risk of disease-causing infections and other problems for your dog.

From a human perspective, there has been an awareness of the importance of ‘good bugs’ that might support digestive health for quite a few years. You can buy drinks, supplements, and tablets that claim to be a source of microbes, which support not only your digestive health, but your overall health and well-being too. You might already do this as part of your daily routine. But, what about your dog? What can you do to support him?