Successful treatment of Pseudoescherichia vulneris associated acute haemorrhagic diarrhoea with a single faecal microbiota transplantation in a dog

An 8-year-4-month-old, female, neutered labrador retriever with acute haemorrhagic diarrhoea was unresponsive to symptomatic and antibiotic treatment, and developed gastrointestinal protein loss leading to significant hypoalbuminaemia. A single faecal microbiota transplantation from a healthy donor was given by rectal retention enema. Microbiome 16S rRNA sequencing of the recipient's faecal sample before the faecal microbiota transplantation revealed dysbiosis characterised by high abundance of Pseudescherichia vulneris, and significantly reduced microbial diversity and richness. This normalised 1 day after faecal microbiota transplantation, with dramatic reduction of P. vulneris and a significant increase in health-associated bacteria like Peptacetobacter hiranonis, Fusobacterium mortiferum and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. Microbiota diversity and richness also significantly improved after faecal microbiota transplantation. The dog improved clinically with no further treatment and had no relapse of clinical signs by 1-year follow-up. Faecal microbiota transplantation should be considered a valid adjunctive treatment for canine cases with protracted acute haemorrhagic diarrhoea, even in the presence of gastrointestinal protein loss.