Effects of cricket consumption on the gut microbiome of dogs

The gut microbiome plays an important role in the health of dogs, and both beneficial microbes and overall diversity can be modulated by diet, particularly fermentable sources of fiber. House crickets (Acheta domesticus) could be a source of both novel protein and novel fiber for dogs, but the effect of this ingredient on the microbiome has not been tested previously. Crickets are of interest because they are an environmentally sustainable protein and because they contain the fermentable polysaccharides chitin and chitosan. This study compared the effect of 4 diets ranging from 0% to 24% cricket content on the gut microbiome of healthy dogs. Fecal samples were collected from the same animals (n = 32) at 0, 14, and 29 days, and assessed with high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene PCR amplicons. Overall, we found that diets containing cricket support the same level of microbiome diversity as a healthy balanced diet without cricket, with only a few specific taxa significantly changing in abundance. These results support the healthfulness of crickets as a food item, and future work in dogs could assess the usefulness of these diets in managing conditions such as diarrhea and obesity.