Table 1 Comparison between the number of anoestrous and sterilized bitches in which each selected genus was identified (metataxonomic analysis). The percentages are reported in parenthesis. In the third column, the P-values obtained from chi-square tests are reported

Bacillus

1 (9%)

2 (20%)

0.4755

Corynebacterium

5 (45%)

5 (50%)

0.835

Enterococcus

3 (27%)

3 (30%)

0.8901

Escherichia^a

–

–

–

Haemophilus

0

2 (20%)

0.1189

Klebsiella

0

1 (10%)

0.2825

Lactobacillus

6 (55%)

4 (40%)

0.5051

Micrococcus

1 (9%)

2 (20%)

0.4755

Pasteurella

0

3 (30%)

0,0497

Pediococcus

1 (9%)

0

0.3286

Proteus

1 (9%)

5 (50%)

0.0382

Pseudomonas

5 (45%)

5 (50%)

0.835

Staphylococcus

9 (82%)

10 (100%)

0.1563

Streptococcus

9 (82%)

8 (73%)

0.9156

Trueperella

1 (9%)

1 (10%)

0.9435