Proccanius - Proccanius

The first canine product with three important live Lactobacillus strains isolated from healthy dogs.

Evolution-built microbiome

During animal evolution, vital host-specific intestinal microbiota evolved based on the environmental habitat and nutritional resources of the animal species. This evolution-built microbiome is essential for gut homeostasis. However, various lactic acid bacteria strains of human or other animal origin have been used to help resolve intestinal problems of dogs and to balance intestinal activity with different results. Probiotic bacteria should originate from the same host species as adhesion of probiotic bacteria to epithelial cells is host specific. Therefore, a canine probiotic would ideally be derived from bacteria from the healthy canine gastrointestinal tract.

Canius® Plus contains three important live Lactobacillus strains isolated from healthy dog faeces.

Product

COMPLEMENTARY FEED FOR DOGS

A fermented milk product with dog derived lactic acid bacteria.

SUGGESTED USE

Sprinkle Proccanius^® powder onto your dog’s food or drink. Close jar immediately after each use.

ADMINISTRATION

Dosage per day.

Dog’s weight	1-3 kg (2.2-6.6 lbs)	>3 kg (6 lbs)
Amount of dosingspoon	½	1

STORAGE

Unopened package can be stored at room temperature below 25 ⁰C for up to 6 months; opened package up to 3 months. Unopened package holds up for 2 years when stored in refrigerator 2-8 ⁰C. Unopened package can be transported between 2-25 ⁰C when transportation time is below 14 days. Do not freeze.

Composition

Maltodextrin, calcium carbonate and fermented milk.

Feed Additives

1a001
Lactobacillus fermentum NCIMB 41636
Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB 41638
Lactobacillus rhamnosus NCIMB 41640
fermented in milk with a total of minimum 3×10¹¹ cfu/kg.
E 551b Colloidal silica.

ANALYTICAL CONSTITUENTS

Ash 40 %, crude protein 0,7 %, crude fibre 1,1 %, crude fat <0,2 %, calcium 154 mg/g, phosphorus 0,2 mg/g, natrium 0,9 mg/g, moisture <2,5 %.

Articles

Beasley SS et al: Lactic acid bacteria isolated from canine faeces. J Appl Microbiol 2006, 101(1); 131-138.

Lactic acid bacteria were isolated from 21 healthy household dogs. Household dogs with no reported GIT problems were detected with a dominant Lactobacillus strain. Dogs with occasional diarrhea carried several lactic acid bacteria in low amounts. No lactic acid bacteria were detected in dogs suffering from frequent GIT probelms.

Out of gathered 153 identified strains, Lactobacillus fermentum LAB8, Lactobacillus salivarius LAB9, Weissella confusa LAB10, Lactobacillus rhamnosus LAB11 and Lactobacillus mucosae LAB12 were chosen for by their probiotic capacity. Tested strains show tolerance against acidity (pH 2), sensitivity to antibiotics, and some antimicrobial activity against Micrococcus luteus.

Manninen T et al: Alteration of the canine small-intestinal lactic acid bacterium microbiota by feeding of potential probiotics. Appl Envir Microbiol 2006, 72; 6539-6543.

Five canine-derivated lactic acid bacteria were administrated to healthy non-medicated adult beagles with a small intestinal fistula as following: L. fermentum LAB8 / NCIMB 41636 (5.8 x 107 pmycfu/ml), L. salivarius LAB9 (reindentified as L. plantarum) NCIMB 41638 (3.6 x 107 cfu/ml), Weissella confusa LAB10 (7.0 x 106 cfu/ml), L. rhamnosus LAB11 / NCIMB 41640 (8.0 x 106 cfu/ml), and L. mucosae LAB12 (3.9 x107 cfu/ml).

The survival of the strains and their potential effects on the indigenous intestinal LAB microbiota were monitored for 17 days. All strains were detable during administration. However, in all but one dog, an indigenous Lactobacillus acidophilus strain emerged as the dominant LAB strain. In conclusion, strains LAB8 to LAB12 have potential as probiotic strains for dogs as they survive in and dominate the jejunal LAB microbiota during feeding and have the ability to modify the intestinal microbiota.

L. Grzeskowiak et al: The effect of growth media and physical treatments on the adhesion properties of canine probiotics. J. Appl Microbiol 2013, 115(2):539-545

Pathogen exclusion properties of canine probiotics are influenced by the growth media and physical treatments simulating industrial processes

Manufacturing processes have an influence the properties of health properties of probiotics. The effect of different growth media and inactivation methods on the adhesion properties of canine-originated probiotic bacteria (L.fermentum VET9A / NCIMB 41636, L.plantarum VET14A / NCIMB 41638 and L. rhamnosus VET16A / NCIMB 41640) were evaluated alone and in combination mixture with growth density of 2.88% (SD 0-34) – 10.11% (SD 1-78). Also evaluation of dog probiotics was supported by cell visualization using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM observations uncovered differences in cell-surface components in nonviable forms of probiotic strains as compared with their viable forms.

L. Grzeskowiak et al: Pathogen exclusion properties of canine probiotics are influenced by the growth media and physical treatments simulating industrial processes. J Appl Microbiol 2014, 116(5); 1308-1314.

Manufacturing process used in preparation of probiotic products alter beneficial properties of probiotics. The effect of altering growth media on the protective properties of canine-originated probiotic bacteria against adhesion of canine enteropathogens was investigated. Three established dog probiotics, (L. fermentum VET9A / NCIMB 41636, L. plantarum VET14A / NCIMB 41638 and L.rhamnosus VET16A / NCIMB 41640), and their mixture were assessed using the dog mucus pathogen exclusion model with growth density of 2.88% (SD 0-34) – 10.11% (SD 1-78). The pathogens tested againts were canine-derived Enterococcus canis CCUG 46666T, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ATCC 14028 and Clostridium perfringens DSM 756. Manufacturing process conditions proved to significantly affect the protective properties of the tested strains. Each of the three canine-originaned lactobacilli had a unique exclusion mechanisms. The mix showed most beneficial exclusion of canine-derived pathogens to dog mucus.

C. Callego et al: Double Blinded Efficacy Study on a Canine Specific Probiotic Product in Treating Acute or Intermittent Diarrhea in Dogs. Vet Microbiol 2016, 197; 122-128

A double-blind placebo-controlled intervention study on 60 dogs recruited from a pool of canine patients visiting a veterinary practice and diagnosed with acute diarrhea was conducted. The dogs received in randomized manner either a sour-milk product containing three canine-derived probiotics in combination of L. fermentum VET9A / NCIMB 41636, L. plantarum VET14A / NCIMB 41638 and L.rhamnosus VET16A / NCIMB 41640 (2×10⁹cfu/ml), or placebo. Stool consistency, general well-being, and the numbers of specific pathogens in stool samples were analyzed. Results demonstrated that the treatment with the study sour-milk product had a normalizing effect on canine stool consistency within three days compared to the 7 day recovery with placebo. The treatment also enhanced the well-being of the pet by maintaining appetite and may reduce vomiting. In addition, the concentrations of Clostridium perfringens and Enterococcus faecium, which typically increase during diarrhea episodes in dogs, were decreased in probiotic group feces when compared with the placebo group.

L. Grzeskowiak et al: Microbiota and probiotics in canine and feline welfare. Anaerobe 2015.

A review article

As dogs and cats have been cohabiting with us for thousands of years, today, they live in urban areas among people.

The health and well-being of companion animals, just as their owners, depends on the gut microbes. However, as microbiota differences may facilitate exposure to pathogens and harmful environmental influences, it is prudent to search for novel tools to protect dogs and cats and at the same time the human owners from pathogens. Specific probiotic strains and/or their defined combinations may be useful in the canine and feline nutrition, therapy, and care. Probiotic supplementations have been

successful in the prevention and treatment of acute gastroenteritis, treatment of IBD, and prevention of allergy in companion animals. New challenges for probiotic applications include maintenance of obesity and overweight, urogenital tract infections, Helicobacter gastritis and parasitic infections. The probiotics of human origin appear to be among the new promising tools for the maintenance of pets’ health. However, the host-derived microorganisms might be the most appropriate probiotic source. Therefore, more controlled trials are needed to characterise new and safe probiotic preparations with an impact on general health and well being as well as health maintenance in dogs and cats.

Rinkinen M and Beasley S. Health beneficial microbes for companion animals. In Lactic acid bacteria, 5th ed, Taylor&Francis, 2019.

A chapter in a lactic acid bacteria book for university studies.

To be able to exert their beneficial effects, such as immunostimulation, it is believed that health promoting microbes and probiotics should be species specific, that is, originate from the same animal species that they are fed to, as bacterial adherence to the gut wall is assumed to be unique to each animal species. Ability to adhere to and at least temporarily colonize the host intestinal mucosa is a prerequisite for probiotics to exert their beneficial actions. This concept has been challenged later, as health beneficial lactic acid bacteria have been shown to be able to adhere to the intestinal mucosa of animals of other species than the host it was isolated from. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, a widely studied probiotic isolated from a human, has been shown to survive also in the canine gastrointestinal tract. Also, canine-specific LAB are available for dogs.

Contacts

Purchase inqueries for distributors

Please call +358 2 014 43360
or mail export@vetcare.fi

Vetcare Ltd

P.O. BOX 26
04601 Mäntsälä
Finland

Story of Denny

It all began with Denny.

“Denny, a Border Collie born in 1997, was my first dog,” recalls Shea Beasley, an animal health researcher who is the leader of a lactic acid research project by Vetcare Oy.

One should like to pay tribute to Denny not only for having a great soul and showing unconditional love, but also for inspiring Shea’s doctoral thesis on human and animal probiotics. According to Shea, Denny had had a sensitive tummy ever since it had been a puppy. It could get an upset stomach for up to a couple of weeks if it ate anything other than its dry dog food.

“I just got fed up with constantly having to wash the rugs, the walls and curtains,” Shea sighs.

AND DENNY ATE EVERYTHING FROM RUGS TO FUDGE CAKE.

What exactly does a glutton of a dog do when left in the kitchen, where the morning rush left a bit of egg stain on the rug? Well, the dog eats a big piece of the rug and then proceeds to print out warp and weft thread for the next week. And what is this dog to do about the layer cake on the far side of the desktop? With such a tremendous invitation wafting into its muzzle, it is simply compelled to ease the cake platter onto the floor without breaking it, and to lick up the lovely treat down to the last morsel – with predictable results.

DOGS THAT HAVE STRONG TUMMIES HAVE A SPECIFIC LACTIC ACID BACTERIUM.

“A researcher friend of mine and I used to joke about probiotics being the reason why our dogs, which were of the same breed, differed in terms of intestinal health,” recalls Shea. “You see, we did know, for example, that the best-known lactic acid bacterium enjoyed by humans had been isolated from an American soldier with a remarkably strong stomach. So, just for fun, we grew some dishes of bacteria culture out of feces collected from our own dogs and sure enough: there was a difference! The dog with the healthy tummy carried lactic acid bacteria.”
Excited over this discovery, Shea began collecting samples from dogs with sensitive, normal and strong stomachs and cultivating them on a lactic acid selective agar base. It turned out that the dogs with sensitive tummies did not have any lactic acid bacteria, those with normal tummies carried small quantities of several bacteria species, but the dogs with strong tummies had only one particular species as the prevalent strain.

DENNY FELT MUCH BETTER AFTER GETTING PROBIOTICS.

Once the probiotic properties of the lactic acid bacterium being studied were analyzed and the bacterium was declared safe in the mid-2000s, Shea began to administer it to Denny. Gradually, the probiotics began to take effect.
“After ingesting them for a few years, the dog decided one day to provide a windscreen for a tray of dark chocolate muffins, wolfing them down (silicone tray and all)—and finishing without any tummy troubles or symptoms of poisoning. And then my other dog, a puppy, began getting probiotics while adjusting to solid food. It has never suffered from an upset tummy.”

RESEARCH IS EXPANDING.

“We observed that feeding probiotics regularly to dogs with sensitive tummies gradually led to fewer intestinal problems,” explains Shea, recalling the pioneering stages of the research. “Once enough research results were accumulated, we began searching for dogs all across Finland to participate in a study, which involved each dog getting either the probiotics being tested or a placebo. The results showed the difference and we got a great response especially from the dog owners, whose pets first got the placebo and then, as a tribute after the study was finished, the real probiotics. The condition of these dogs improved and the intervals between recurrences grew longer.”