title: Intestinal microbiota of dogs and cats: a bigger world than we thought.
abstract: Gut microbes play a crucial role in the regulation of host health, but the true complexity of the gastrointestinal microbiota has been underestimated using traditional culture techniques. Recent molecular-phylogenetic and metagenomic studies have revealed a highly diverse microbial community in the canine and feline gastrointestinal tract of healthy animals, consisting of bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. Alterations in microbial communities have also been reported in dogs and cats with chronic enteropathies, notably increases in Proteobacteria and depletions of Firmicutes. This review summarizes the current information about the intestinal microbial ecosystem in dogs and cats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Gastrointestinal Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843‑4474, USA. jsuchodolski@cvm.tamu.edu
authors.forename: Jan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Suchodolski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development*; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000662:veterinary; D002415:Cats / Q000382:microbiology*; D004285:Dogs / Q000382:microbiology*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny