Importance of gut microbiota for the health and disease of dogs and cats

• Molecular tools for bacterial identification and metagenomics, and mass spectroscopy for metabolomics allow a better understanding of the role of intestinal microbiota in health and disease • Profound alterations in the intestinal microbiota are found in chronic and acute gastrointestinal diseases of dogs and cats, but the microbiota also play roles in extraintestinal diseases such as atopic dermatitis, obesity, and diabetes • Phylogenetic and functional changes in the microbiota of animals with inflammatory bowel disease appear to be similar across dogs, cats, and humans, suggesting a core microbiome with conserved functions across mammals. © Blake and Suchodolski.