The developmental stages in gut microbiota, bile acids, and clostridial species in healthy puppies | VETgirl Veterinary Continuing Education Podcasts

In this VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we discuss the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome in puppies. Lately it seems that microbiome talk is all the rage! We are inundated with commercials for probiotics, catchy news articles about the microbiome, and news of novel medical treatments like fecal microbiota transplants (FMTs). In parallel to the newsworthy buzzwords, we are also seeing a tsunami of research being released about the microbiome, ranging across a broad spectrum of animal species, environmental ecosystems, and states of health and disease. Small animal veterinarians have joined this conversation as well, with plenty of exciting research being published regarding various aspects of canine and feline microbial communities. However, the development of the gut microbiome in puppies after birth and before doggy adulthood is one area where our research is lacking. So, Blake et al wanted to evaluate this in a study entitled Developmental stages in microbiota, bile acids, and clostridial species in healthy puppies to examine the composition of the fecal microbiome and fecal bile acid profiles in puppies, young adult dogs, and adult dogs.