Speaking during a series of sessions on the state of the companion animal microbiome during the recent Probiota Americas conference in Vancouver, Ronaldo Avella Lavado, business development, operations and regulatory affairs manager at consulting firm Paul Dick and Associates, noted that owners are increasingly looking for products for their animals that mirror those they use for their own health.
“At the end of the day, dogs and cats are perceived as part of the family of these households,” he said. “So why not give them supplements that address the same challenges that they also do?”
These products, fueled by a growing number of health conditions, launch into a global pet supplement market expected to grow from $2.76 billion in 2025 to $4.65 billion in 2033, with continued growth likely dependent on whether pet health products are supported by sound efficacy and safety data.
Research to back the strain
Pet food and treat giant Nestlé Purina has been steadily researching Enterococcus lactis SF68, a probiotic strain that was initially isolated in 1968 from the gastrointestinal tract of a human infant and has been shown to be a reliable symptomatic GI stabilizer.
“It has a low pathogenic potential, which probably explains why this has been such a successful probiotic in veterinary medicine,” Dr. Martha Cline, senior manager veterinary technical communications at Purina, noted during her presentation. “This strain has also been pretty extensively studied in the human world…presently we have over 25 clinical studies in either dogs or cats.”
Purina published its first research on this the strain in 2003, with the body of research now spanning everything from a strong immune system to digestive health.
In one study, cats carrying the feline herpes virus, which tends to manifest as upper respiratory issues and conjunctivitis, who supplemented with SF68 had a decreased incidence of the herpes episodes.
In another, seven days of probiotic treatment in Alaskan sled dogs reduced the number of days the dogs experienced diarrhea, a common problem during periods of intense training or racing.
“In the probiotic group, about two thirds of those dogs had normal stools compared to about 40% of the dogs in the placebo group,” Cline said.
She also noted the opportunity for biotics given the “huge dogma shift” away from using antibiotics like metronidazole to treat bacterial and parasitic infections in dogs, as it can cause diarrhea and disrupt the gut microbiome—leading to noncompliance, discontinuation and resistance.
“Now, with the ways that we’re able to analyze the microbiome, we see that these medications are actually causes of intestinal dysbiosis,” Cline said. “Even after discontinuing this medication, we see dogs that can have intestinal dysbiosis for even more than a month after that medication has been stopped.
“Then you’re really just not treating the reason why the veterinarian prescribed these in the first place,” she added.
‘Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good’
During a subsequent companion animal panel, participants discussed the evolution towards species- and condition-specific microbiome research in the context of a growing market.
While the science is still emerging, Dr. Jake Burlet, veterinarian and CEO of CanBiocin, a company that creates species-specific biotics, noted that industry should be thinking about the daily ways it can avoid causing harm but also not being so paralyzed in the innovation process that it cannot move forward.
“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good,” he said.
Dr. Lindsay Sumners, director of creation, design & development for pet and animal well-being at ADM, spoke to the ingredient supplier’s targeted strain discovery pipeline developed based on intended health outcome such as metabolic health.
“We have the opportunity to look at species-specific strains,” she said. “We have clinical testing, and that’s a really important part of the process, something that we’re dedicated to performing at ADM.”
Beyond tailoring strains, Dr. Jordon Gruber, director of pet health and nutrition at IFF, noted that companion animal research needs to advance to a point where scientists can use technology to make more reliable predictions.
“When we look at pet research, we want to make sure that we’re dealing with a population and a system that can lead us to interpretable results, and that’s one of the challenges as we approach clinical trials,” he said.
As researchers advance microbiome companion animal studies, other scientists are monitoring the safety of products that emerge from this research.
Data scientists at Minnesota-based SafetyCall track adverse events such as real-world pet poisoning cases. Though microbiome-based products are not typically a safety issue, Dr. Anha Brutlag, SafetyCall’s vice president of veterinary service and senior veterinary toxicologist, said “the businesses that we work with look at adverse events, look at that safety data and figure out if there actual [systemic] issues here.”
Safety data monitored by SafetyCall gives scientists a macro view about what ingredients or packaging could fuel adverse events, helping to inform future research.
The discussion surrounding supplement safety, including biotics, is also advancing at the legislative level. The National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) is advocating for the Animal Health Supplement Act in the U.S. Congress.
“[It aims to] ensure the consumer and veterinarian that these products are intended to support the health of the animals and are safe and efficacious,” Lavado said.
He further noted that the organization’s goal is to fully register and regularize products and to seek pre-market authorization.
When creating new products or advancing strains, Burlet also stressed the broader importance of aligning with the United Nations One Health framework, which recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health.
“We can’t look at them in isolation,” he said. “What can we learn from each other? What can we leverage from each other.”
