Effect of Dietary Lactosucrose on Faecal Flora and Faecal Metabolites of Dogs

The effects of lactosucrose on faecal flora and faecal metabolites, were studied in eight shepherd dogs fed 1.5 g of lactosucrose/each/day for 2 wk. During lactosucrose administration, the levels of bifidobacteria expressed as log 10 no./ g of stool were increased significantly ( P < 0.05) from 8.9 ± 0.5 to 9.4 ±0.4 (mean ± SD), while the levels of Clostridium perfringens decreased significantly ( P < 0.05) from 6.0 ± 1.2 to 4.4 ± 1.1 and 3.1 ± 0.8. No detectable change occurred in the levels of other organisms throughout the experimental periods. Faecal concentrations of ammonia, phenol, indole, skatol, ethylphenol and butyric acid were significantly ( P < 0.05) reduced from 427.4 ± 288.6 μg/g to I72.5 ± 84.5 μg/g, from 49.2 ± 25.7 μg/g to 25.9 ± 8.3 μg/g, from 34.4 ± 16.0 μg/g to 18.9 ± 9.2 μg/g, from 3.0 ± 2.1 μg/g to 1.3 ± 0.5 pg/g, from 8.5 ± 9.3 μg/g to 0 μg/g, and from 2.56 ± 0.98 mg/g to 1.53 ± 0.78 mg/g respectively on day 14 of lactosucrose administration compared to pre-administration. The water content of the faeces increased significantly ( P < 0.05) from 74.3 ± 2.8 per cent to 77.8 ± 1.2 per cent and 76.9 ± 1.5 per cent during administration, but the pH values decreased only slightly. The odour of the faeces decreased remarkably during lactosucrose administration.