The effect of the oral administration of lactic-acid probiotic bacteria on the vaginal microflora of bitches
Piotr Andrzej Socha
Orcid-Profil und Sławomir Zduńczyk
Orcid-Profil 
Online veröffentlicht: 07. Aug. 2025
Eingereicht: 31. Jan. 2025
Akzeptiert: 22. Juli 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2025-0041
Schlüsselwörter
© 2025 Piotr Andrzej Socha et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Introduction
In recent years, probiotics have been increasingly used in companion animals. However, there are few studies on their effect on canine vaginal flora. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of orally administrated multi-strain lactic-acid probiotic bacteria on the vaginal flora of healthy bitches.
Material and Methods
A total of 38 Labrador retriever bitches were given one sachet of multi-strain probiotic with food once a day for nine weeks. Samples for microbiological examination were taken twice (on day 0 and day 63) from the cranial vagina and cultured for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.
Results
Bacterial growth was found in 84.2% of the samples on day 0 and in 94.7% of the samples on day 63. Mixed cultures were found in 63.1% of bitches with positive bacterial tests on day 0 and in 73.6% on day 63, and contained a mean 1.8 bacterial strains. An increase in the prevalence of
Conclusion
The results indicate a beneficial effect of oral lactic-acid probiotic bacteria on the composition of vaginal flora in bitches; however, further research is needed.