Improve pets’ microbiome, improve their quality of life

Sponsored content by Hill’s 

Impacting immune system health, organ function & so much more, the key to transforming pet health could be hiding right under your nose — and in your patient’s gut.

What is the microbiome?

If you were to take a look inside a pet’s gut, you would find it teeming with life: tiny microorganisms like bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa and viruses.¹ These microorganisms live within the pet’s gastrointestinal (GI) tract and play a critical role in the health of the gut and beyond.

Each pet has their own unique microbiome with a distinct composition of microorganisms — some good for the pet, some potentially bad and some we don’t completely understand yet. When the normally healthy balance between these microorganisms shifts, it creates an imbalance called dysbiosis, which can lead to health concerns like GI issues.⁴ The microbiome has even been shown to have an impact on other disease conditions such as renal disease.

Luckily, you have the power to help shape these microorganisms. The health of the microbiome is impacted by a variety of influences, such as environment, age, breed and, most importantly, food — which can encourage balance through ingredients like probiotics and prebiotic fibers.⁵

How does the microbiome affect pet health?

The role the microbiome plays in pet health cannot be overstated. Digestive health, for one, is dramatically impacted by the state of the microbiome. A healthy microbiome helps support healthy digestion and normal bowel movements, working to keep diarrhea and constipation at bay — but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

The microbiome has its ‘hands’ in everything. Take the immune system: with 70% of the canine immune system in the gastrointestinal tract, a tough day for the microbiome is a tough day for pets.² Because a large number of immune cells are housed in the GI tract, a healthy microbiome plays a big role in normal immune system function. A well-balanced microbiome helps strengthen immune defense, helping to reduce infections and manage allergies.⁴

The GI microbiome can impact more than just physical health of the GI tract — even a pet’s mental well-being is on the line. A healthy microbiome has been linked to decreased anxiety and improved mood while an imbalanced microbiome can be associated with behavioral issues in pets.³

Obesity, energy levels, skin health, cognitive function, allergies — all of these factors can be influenced by the GI microbiome.¹ It’s no exaggeration, then, to say that the GI microbiome is at the core of pet health, which means promoting a healthy GI microbiome is a top priority in addressing patient wellness.

Probiotics vs. Prebiotics

That’s where probiotics and prebiotics come in. Probiotics are live bacteria that can be introduced to a pet’s microbiome, and they may increase the overall level of beneficial microbes in a pet’s gut.¹ These include strains of bacteria like Bacillus coagulans, Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus acidophilus. Probiotics may be helpful in supporting GI recovery after acute gastroenteritis, helping to manage chronic enteropathies, or supporting healing after surgery or chemotherapy.⁵

However, probiotics have their limitations. Digestive enzymes and stomach acids sometimes degrade the probiotic organisms before they reach the GI tract and have a chance to offer any benefit. Additionally, since each pet has their own unique microbiome, the specific live probiotics introduced may not be exactly what a pet needs to correct the imbalance of bacteria. Too much of a probiotic can also overpopulate a pet’s microbiome with a specific organism, which can cause their own form of dysbiosis..

Unlike probiotics, prebiotics don’t introduce new bacteria. They instead support the good bacteria already living inside a pet’s microbiome. This helps restore the unique balance of a pet’s microbiome — providing support to the GI tract, immune system health and overall quality of life that comes with a healthy microbiome. Prebiotic fibers like fructans, galactooligosaccharides and pectic oligosaccharides act like tailored nutrition for each unique gut microbiome, helping it thrive and support the pet’s health and well-being. And since prebiotics are dietary fibers, they are not degraded by stomach acid and digestive enzymes and arrive intact to the large colon. Once there, they’re able to be utilized by the bacteria and contribute to an environment that is favorable for good bacteria. In the large intestine, prebiotics are fermented by bacteria and release several beneficial compounds including short-chain fatty acids. Butyrate, one of the short-chain fatty acids, is beneficial because it acts as an energy source for colonocytes. Acetate and propionate are absorbed into the systemic circulation and converted into energy by the host.

Using prebiotics can be less challenging than probiotics as fibers are easy to include in pet food and can be digested by the bacteria in every pet’s gut.¹ It is important to feed prebiotics in balanced amounts, though, as the fermentation in the large intestine can lead to gas, cramps, soft stool and bloating.⁵ Feeding a diet designed with targeted levels of prebiotics, such as those found in Hill’s Prescription Diet Gastrointestinal Biome or i/d foods, can help provide the incredible benefits of prebiotics in carefully balanced amounts. And this is no small thing — prebiotics have been shown to improve stool quality, reduce inflammation, enhance immune response, improve mineral absorption, and help manage chronic kidney disease, insulin sensitivity, anxiety and large bowel diarrhea.¹

Prebiotics and probiotics can be important tools to shape the microbiome — and that means directly impacting the quality of life of your patients. Thanks to the power of nutrition, you have the capacity to fuel a healthy pet microbiome, improving their gastrointestinal and overall health by supporting digestive health, immune system health, organ function and beyond.

1. Creech R. Nurturing the microbiome. DVM360. 26 August 2024. https://www.dvm360.com/view/nurturing-the-microbiome
2. The power of probiotics. Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. 2025.
3. Creech R. The link between gut microbiome and behavior in dogs. DVM360. 2024;55(11). https://www.dvm360.com/view/the-link-between-gut-microbiome-and-behavior-in-dogs
4. Creech R. Decoding dysbiosis. DVM360. 31 July 2024. https://www.dvm360.com/view/decoding-dysbiosis
5. Wooten S. Time for a Gut Check: Prebiotics and Probiotics for Dogs. Hill’s Pet Nutrition. 11 July 2024. https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/nutrition-feeding/prebiotics-and-probiotics-for-dogs