Tag Archives: synbiotics

Practically every day, I get an email with a photo of patient poop. The worried owner is usually concerned about constipation or diarrhea. Assessing a pet’s stool quality is a critical part of a complete medical history — so much so that veterinarians use fecal scoring charts to quantify stool quality. This visual scale helps veterinarians communicate clearly about what is normal and what is not. Quantifying stool quality helps veterinarians and clients to speak the same language, ensuring you and your veterinarian agree on whether your pet truly has diarrhea, constipation, or a healthy stool.

If you watch television, you’ve likely seen advertisements promoting the health benefits of yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha. These foods contain probiotics—“good” bacteria and fungi with health-promoting properties. Just like humans, all living creatures have a resident population of bacteria and fungi called the microbiome, and I’ll discuss the microbiome of dogs in today’s blogpost.