Allergy Case Study

‘’Finn is an 11-year-old Yorkshire Terrier with a history of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE). In the first episode, he had bloody diarrhea and vomiting with a painful abdomen, loss of appetite with no energy or desire to play and go for walks. The first episode came out of the blue when Finn was just over a year old, he then developed severe skin allergies about 6 months later which I thought might be the result of the NSAID medication he was given at the time, we tried probiotics, then moved onto Apoquel, none of which worked. My vets wanted to try steroids, but I want to avoid giving him long-term medication, especially steroids and started to look for other options. I found Petbiome and decided this would be the best most logical route to try to develop a long-term gut health management strategy.’’

Results of the Petbiome Test

1 A low diversity score

Using the Shannon Index a scoring system that not only counts the numbers of bacteria in the microbial community but also gives value to how many within each species are present ie number and richness. Possibly because of the long-term NSAID medication.

2. An increase in enterococcus bacteria, contributing to 10% of the total microbiome, the average from 100 healthy dogs is 0.5% of the total biome.

Enterococcus is a common component of the healthy dog microbiome but is also linked to infections and is an indication of dysbiosis (imbalance) in dogs, known to significantly reduce immune response, bile acid and antibody production.

Enterococcus alters the gut environment in favour of inflammation and biofilm production.

Actions

1. Increase Diversity

Diversity is King! It provides stability, energy, health, and vitality. Foods that increase diversity are herbs high in triterpenes and saponins such as oregano and rosemary. These can be added dry or as tinctures. A teaspoon of kefir is also beneficial.

2. Reduce the enterococcus

Many plants contain antimicrobial compounds that kill off pathogenic bacteria that form biofilms or cause infections and allergies, these can be easily added to the diet to help restore the normal balance. A 6-week course of Antimicrobic was recommended for this purpose.

The Outcome

A retest nine months later showed a 55% increase in diversity and a significant reduction in Enterococcus. Finn’s gut is more comfortable and has no symptoms of discomfort, the skin allergies are no longer a problem.

Way to Go.

For reasons unknown the good gut bacteria such as bifidobacteria are still low, Finn will always need to be provided with food support for these bacteria which can be monitored using the Petbiome test.