A synbiotic approach to gut health

Appropriate early nutritional support is increasingly recognised as a key strategy in managing gastrointestinal (GI) conditions.

Although there are many causes of GI upset, they all disrupt digestion, affecting the breakdown and absorption of nutrients. This can lead to nutrient deficiencies, slowed recovery and impaired well-being¹.

Disrupted digestion – what happens at gut level?

• Intestinal epithelium and gut lining may be damaged²
• Malabsorption, resulting in increased gas and loss of water and electrolytes
• Undigested fats are metabolised by non-beneficial bacteria³
• Microbiome is altered, leading to dysbiosis ⁴

Early nutritional support

A highly digestible diet has been the main dietary strategy of GI conditions for many years. Highly digestible ingredients can help minimise nutrient malassimilation and reduce gut workload, preventing bacterial fermentation of unabsorbed nutrients and maintaining the mucosal barrier^5,6. But it is increasingly appreciated that nutrition has much more to offer in restoring the gut to normal function.

• Medium chain triglycerides – require fewer steps to digest compared to long chain triglycerides⁷
• Selected carbohydrate sources and their processing can benefit diet digestibility¹
• High quality proteins improve amino acid uptake and faecal quality¹
• Prebiotic fibre ferments to produce short chain fatty acids, such as butyrate, which fuel colonocytes⁸
• Probiotics help maintain the balance of gut bacteria¹
• Small and frequent meals can aid nutrient assimilation
• Mixing dry and wet food or rehydrating kibble helps increase moisture and hydration

Synbiotic approach

Combining prebiotics and probiotics can create a beneficial synbiotic effect, with both the individual benefits of the prebiotic and probiotic, and complementary and/or synergistic effects together. The probiotic adds beneficial bacteria in a sufficient amount to provide a health benefit,⁹ while the prebiotic serves as a nondigestible food source for the probiotic¹⁰.

A synbiotic effect can promote a healthy gut microbiome with a high capacity to ferment prebiotic fibre, resulting in higher short-chain fatty acid production and greater microbial diversity, which benefits pets’ overall health¹⁰.

Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EN Gastrointestinal^TM contains inulin – a prebiotic fibre – and can be used in conjunction with FortiFlora®, which contains the probiotic Enterococcus faecium (SF68) to produce a synbiotic effect.

Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EN Gastrointestinal™ is also suitable as a limited fat diet for nutritional support of gastroenteritis, gastritis, colitis and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

FortiFlora® is suitable for cats and dogs of all ages and, as well as supporting intestinal balance and a healthy immune system, it can also act as a palatability enhancer.

Ready to find out more? Watch the webinar

Date: Tuesday 7 October 2025

Speaker: Dr Aarti Kathrani BVetMed (Hons), PhD, DACVIM

Title: Dietary fat sensitive disorders in dogs

Register here

Quick look up – 5 minute summaries

Intestinal dysbiosis in dogs and cats: https://www.purinainstitute.com/centresquare/therapeutic-nutrition/intestinal-dysbiosis-in-dogs-and-cats

Food-Responsive Enteropathy (Diarrhoea) in Dogs

https://www.purinainstitute.com/centresquare/therapeutic-nutrition/food-responsive-enteropathy-diarrhea-in-dogs

Managing the Gut Microbiome

https://www.purinainstitute.com/centresquare/focused-nutrition/managing-the-gut-microbiome

References

1. Lenox CE (2021). Nutritional management for dogs and cats with gastrointestinal diseases, Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice 51(3): 669-684.
2. Keszthelyi D (2012). “All Disease Begins in the Gut”: Elucidating Disease Mechanism Related to Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction, Purina Companion Animal Nutrition Summit: The Gastrointestinal Tract in Health and Disease.
3. Zoran D (2003). Nutritional Management of Gastrointestinal Disease, Clinical Techniques in Small Animal Practice 18(4):  211-217.
4. Blake AB and Suchodolski JS (2016). Importance of gut microbiota for the health and disease of dogs and cats, Animal Frontiers 6(3): 37-42.
5. Zoran D (2003). Nutritional Management of Gastrointestinal Disease, Clinical Techniques in Small Animal Practice 18(4): 211-217.
6. Davenport DJ and Remillard RL (2010). Acute Gastroenteritis and Enteritis. In Hand MS, Thatcher CD and Remillard RL (eds), Small Animal Clinical Nutrition (5th edn), Mark Morris Ins, Topeka, KS, USA: 1,053-1,064.
7. Laflamme DP (1998). Use of Medium Chain Triglycerides in Clinical Nutrition. Purina Research Report.
8. Slavin J (2013). Fiber and Prebiotics: Mechanisms and Health Benefits, Nutrients 5: 1,417-1,435.
9. FAO/WHO. Report of a joint FAO/WHO expert consultation on evaluation of health and nutritional properties of probiotics in food including powder milk with live lactic acid bacteria, Cordoba, Argentina. 1-4 October 2001.
10. Redfern A, Suchodolski J and Jergens A (2017). Role of the gastrointestinal microbiota in small animal health and disease, Vet Rec 181(14): 370-377.