In the literature

Werner M, Suchodolski JS, Lidbury JA, Steiner JM, Hartmann K, Unterer S. Diagnostic value of fecal cultures in dogs with chronic diarrhea. J Vet Intern Med. 2021;35(1):199-208.

The Research …

In dogs, chronic inflammatory enteropathies are a common cause of chronic diarrhea and can be classified as food-responsive (50%-60%), antibiotic-responsive (10%-15%), infectious (10%), or corticosteroid-responsive (10%-20%).^1-4 Primary bacterial infection is a rare cause of chronic diarrhea; however, many chronic enteropathies are accompanied by alterations in the composition of the resident bacterial flora. These alterations (ie, intestinal dysbiosis) can contribute to ongoing inflammation, and treatment to reestablish normal bacterial flora can be therapeutic.^5-7 Thus, there is clinical interest in the ability to detect the presence of dysbiosis.