Reply To: Fecal microbiota transplantation in puppies with canine parvovirus infection

Thank you so much for this. I hope all is well with you.

1. would transplanting faeces from a skinny dog help an obese one. There certainly seems to be some evidence from humans but I am not sure of how good it is.

I have had a look at the human and canine literature. Looks like there is limited evidence for this concept in both. Definitely nothing in the dog that would support this being useful. Do you know what the theory behind this is?

2. would transplanting faeces into a dog with chronic GI disease have the potential to precipitate something other than the effect you are looking for.

Do you mean negative effects? Besides lack of data regarding treatment guidelines and methods of FMT, there are only limited data in a few cases on the clinical efficacy of FMT in small animals. It is therefore impossible to determine the safety of the procedure, although adverse effects are uncommon in humans. Potential adverse effects might include direct pathogen transmission of infectious agents or weight gain; however, rigid screening guidelines for donors might exclude them in the first place.

3. how would you rule out potential pathogens and still have a fresh viable population?

It is best to have pre-screened donors which you would keep up to date with screening/worming and take a fresh donation from them. No need to screen every donation.

The following is a good review (and is free) and has some good references:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6055767/

Hope that helps.

Scott x