Emerging research on the gut-brain axis in companion animals suggests that microbiome health affects mood, anxiety, and stress resilience in dogs and cats — with direct welfare management implications.
Dogs with anxiety disorders show different gut microbiome compositions than non-anxious controls. Probiotic supplementation in dogs shows modest benefits for anxiety-related behaviours in some studies. Dietary fibre provision promotes microbiome diversity associated with better stress resilience. Antibiotic treatment significantly disrupts companion animal microbiomes; welfare management should consider this impact. The field is early-stage for companion animals; human microbiome research provides more robust evidence that is being translated into animal applications.