Fecal transplants work in puppies too

Fecal transplants cured 93% of diarrhea cases in a pioneering study, reports Ars Technica's Beth Mole.

By digging into the data on fecal transplantswhich are highly effective at treating dogged gut infections, such as Clostridium difficile, in humansConrad realized that treatment didnt have to be that rough. Such transplants generally work by using poop, laden with a helpful community of microbes, to restore disorderly microbial communities in the gut and elbow out harmful germs.

In Conrads procedure, veterinarians simply take stool from healthy dogs, screen it, liquefy it, and then inject it into a sick dogs intestines with a feeding tube inserted in their rear. The screening process Conrad uses is simple, mostly culturing some of the microbes in lab to check for certain types of bacteria.

Within 12 to 24 hours, the puppies symptoms start clearing up, Conrad said. Hes now using the method to treat adults and pregnant dogs