2017 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

Positive pathogenic cultures were present in a similar majority of dogs with tracheal collapse prior to, and following, tracheal stent placement. Malformation-type TC dogs had a higher incidence of pathogenic post-stent cultures compared to traditionaltype TC dogs. The risk of a positive post-stent culture increased in malformation-type TC but decreased in traditional-type TC patients. Tracheal stents may not increase the risk of airway infections in all tracheal collapse patients. Bacterial cultures in TC dogs may reflect poor clearance of pharyngeal and enteric organisms. While probiotics may beneficially alter the gastrointestinal microbiota, no studies in cats have determined if oral probiotics affect the composition of the airway microbiota. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of bacterial DNA extracted from oropharyngeal (OP) swabs, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), feces, and blood, our objective was to characterize how oral probiotics changed the composition of the upper and lower airway, fecal, and blood microbiota. We hypothesized that probiotics would modulate the respiratory microbiota in healthy cats, demonstrated by the detection of the probiotic bacterial species present in fecal samples and altered "core" airway microbiome communities in the respiratory tract.