Meet your dog’s gut bacteria: Bacteroidetes

The Bacteroidetes phylum is extremely diverse, with over 7,000 known species. They can be found in many different environments: in soil, oceans, freshwater, as well as in animals’ gut and skin. Bacteroidetes have been found in the guts of mice, pigs, cows, domesticated and wild birds, and even termites and sea urchins.

Newborn pups don’t have much Bacteroidetes in their gut. However, this phylum multiplies quickly as the pups suckle their mother’s milk, and become one of the main groups in their gut by the time they are three weeks old.

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Fast Facts:

• In the gut, Bacteroidetes specialize in breaking down large organic molecules like proteins and carbohydrates.
• Bacteroidetes are important for your dog’s health, and studies have shown that dogs with chronic gut disease have fewer Bacteroidetes in their gut than healthy dogs.

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Fiber-rich diets help important members of the Bacteroidetes group grow. Most of the Bacteroidetes in your dog’s gut belong to two main subgroups (genera) named Bacteroides and Prevotella. Yet the microbiome is a complex system. Research found that Fusobacteria, another group of bacteria with important functions in the gut (more details below), compete with these two genera (Bacteroides and Prevotella) over territory in the gut.

Therefore, a healthy gut is dependent on maintaining a delicate balance between these groups with the help of nutrition. Stay’s unique recipes are rich in a variety of digestible proteins, dietary fibers, and other nutrients specially designed to feed the different beneficial bacteria in your dog’s gut and sustain a healthy balance between the five common phyla.

Our biofeedback process and seasonal microbiome checks allow us to understand how nutrition is impacting this delicate balance, as well as specific important bacteria in each phylum, and make sure your dog’s food is meeting the needs of the beneficial bacteria in their gut.