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Abstract Background Diet may induce clinical remission in dogs with chronic enteropathy (CE). Elemental diets (EDs), providing protein as amino acids, modulate intestinal immunity and microbiome in rodents and humans. Hypothesis Evaluate the impact of an amino acid‐based kibble (EL) on CE clinical activity and gastrointestinal (GI)‐relevant variables. Animals Client‐owned dogs (n = 23) with inadequately controlled CE. Methods Prospective, uncontrolled clinical trial. Diagnostic evaluation including upper and lower GI endoscopy was performed before study entry. Canine chronic enteropathy clinical activity index (CCECAI), serum biomarkers, and fecal microbiome were evaluated before and after 2 weeks of EL. Dogs with stable or improved CE remained in the study for another 6 weeks. Pre‐ and post‐EL clinical and microbiological variables were compared statistically using a mixed model. Results After 2 weeks of EL, 15 of 22 dogs (68%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 47%‐84%) consuming the diet were classified as responders with a median (range) decrease in CCECAI from 6 (3‐12) to 2 (0‐9; P

Abstract Background Use of diets with increased concentrations of dietary fiber is thought to be beneficial in the management of dogs with large bowel diarrhea. Objective To determine whether feeding a diet with high concentrations of soluble and insoluble fiber to dogs with acute colitis would be superior to feeding a diet with typical fiber levels. Animals A total of 52 dogs with acute signs of large bowel diarrhea housed in an animal shelter were entered into the study; 11 dogs per diet completed the protocol. Methods In this randomized, prospective study, dogs with a fecal score of 4, 5, 6, or 7 and signs of acute colitis were fed a high fiber diet (4.54% soluble; 15.16% insoluble fiber) or a standard diet (0.6% soluble; 5.33% insoluble fiber) and fecal scores compared over the course of the study with significance defined as P 4 were greater (P = .0001) in the dogs fed the standard diet (29/48 samples; 60%; 95% CI: 45‐74) compared to the high fiber diet (8/50 samples; 16%; 95% CI: 7‐29). Conclusions and Clinical Importance The results support feeding the high fiber diet described herein to dogs with acute large bowel diarrhea.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding healthy adult cats with foods containing variable protein concentrations on the fecal microbiome and serum concentrations of the gut-derived uremic toxins indoxyl sulfate, p-cresol sulfate (pCS), and trimethylamine-n-oxide. Twenty healthy young adult cats were randomized into two groups and fed either a low-protein diet (LPD; 7.4 g/100 kcal ME) or a high-protein diet (HPD; 11.0 g/100 kcal ME) for a 12-week period. Serum uremic toxin concentrations were measured via liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, and the fecal microbiome was characterized using shallow sequence shotgun metagenomics. Cats that consumed the HPD had higher pCS concentrations at 8 weeks (p = 0.028) when compared to baseline. After 12 weeks, cats fed the HPD had higher fecal alpha diversity indices at both the taxonomic and functional levels and lower fecal Bifidobacterium relative abundance compared to those cats fed the LPD. In conclusion, a change in diet and dietary protein concentration shifted the fecal microbial community and microbial function. Feeding cats a high amount of protein increased serum concentrations of the uremic toxin pCS; however, the effect was short-lived.