PSVIII-17 - In-home validation of a canine supplement containing a saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product

Abstract: Controlled, evidence-based research studies are essential to ensure functional pet food, treat and supplement ingredients are efficacious. However, understanding how nutritional technologies influence pet health and well-being in the pet's home environment is an additional way to derive further insight on performance and effectiveness. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of supplemental Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product (SCFP) using subjective pet owner insights coupled with an analysis of fecal metagenomic characteristics in dogs using an in-home testing approach. Healthy adult dogs (n=348; 170M, 178F; mean age = 6.0 y; mean BW = 18.2 kg) were recruited from across the USA and randomly allotted to one of two treatment groups blocked by breed, gender, age and BW. Owners were asked to feed their dogs their usual food, treats and supplements throughout the 60-d study. The SCFP was delivered in a daily chew. The control was a placebo chew void of SCFP (CON) and the treatment chew (EPI) was formulated to deliver 7 mg/kg BW/d SCFP (EpiCor postbiotic, Ankeny, IA). Surveys were fielded on d0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 to obtain pet owner subjective ratings of supplement performance across a number of key health attributes. Fecal sample collection kits were provided to respondents on d0, 30 and 60 for shotgun metagenomic analysis. All statistical analyses were conducted in R v.4.1.2. Ordinal logistic regression using the package ordinal in R was conducted on the survey data to understand relationships between the predictor variables and the ranked outcomes. Metagenomic data were analyzed using phyloseq, vegan, lme4, LinDA and emmeans packages in R. Differences P < 0.05 were considered significant and P≤ 0.10 as trends after FDR correction. Dogs receiving the EPI chew received numerically higher immunity ratings throughout the study and overall tended to be 95% more likely (P=0.10) to receive a higher immune health rating versus CON. By d60, EPI dogs were more likely (211% higher odds; P=0.007) to exhibit less breath odor and 165% more likely to be less anxious (P=0.02) than CON dogs. An increased relative abundance in butyrate producing taxa Anaerostipes hadrus (P=0.002) and Megamonas (P=0.001) and Fusobacteria (P=0.004) were observed in EPI dogs emerging at d30. Under the conditions of this study, daily supplementation of a SCFP supplement provided a spectrum of positive health outcomes in healthy adult dogs. Moreover, there was consistency in physiological benefits noted in previous controlled studies in healthy dogs fed SCFP to the owner-perceived changes in several health attributes in this study. Our data also suggests that SCFP may beneficially affect key indicators of breath odor and anxiety in dogs.