Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Antibiotic resistance in dog and cat skin and ear infections
By de Jong, Anno et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2020·CEESA ComPath Study Group·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Antimicrobial susceptibility monitoring of canine and feline skin and ear pathogens isolated from European veterinary clinics: results of the ComPath Surveillance programme.
Plain-English summary
A study found that common skin and ear infections in dogs and cats are often caused by bacteria like Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus aureus. The researchers looked at samples from pets with infections and found that most of these bacteria showed low to moderate resistance to common antibiotics. For example, Staphylococcus pseudintermedius had resistance rates below 27% for several antibiotics, while Staphylococcus aureus had higher resistance rates up to 90% for some drugs. This means that while many infections can still be treated effectively, some bacteria are becoming harder to treat, so it's important to work closely with your vet to choose the right medication.
People also search for: dog skin infection antibiotics · cat ear infection treatment · antibiotic resistance in pets
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The ComPath project is a pan-European programme dedicated to the monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility of canine and feline pathogens using standardized methods and centralized minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination. OBJECTIVES: To report antimicrobial susceptibilities of major pathogens isolated from nontreated animals with acute clinical signs of skin, wound or ear infections in 2013-2014. METHODS AND MATERIALS: MICs were determined by agar dilution for commonly used drugs and interpreted using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoints, if available. RESULTS: Of 1,676 isolates recovered, the main species isolated from dogs were Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, followed by Streptococcus spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. In cats, Pasteurella multocida, coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) and Staphylococcus aureus were isolated most frequently. Resistance rates observed for S. pseudintermedius were <26.7% for penicillin, clindamycin and chloramphenicol, and ≤11.5% for ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, cefalexin, cefovecin, gentamicin and fluoroquinolones. For S. aureus, resistance rates ranged up to 90.9% for β-lactams, and were 19.7% for clindamycin, 27% for fluoroquinolones and 0.0-6.1% for other drugs. The mecA gene was confirmed by PCR in 10.6% of S. pseudintermedius, 11.6% of CoNS and 31.4% of S. aureus isolates. In streptococci/enterococci, resistance to penicillin, ampicillin and chloramphenicol ranged from 0.0% to 11.3%, whereas fluoroquinolone resistance ranged from 0.0% to 8.5%. For E. coli, resistance ranged from 13.8 to 15.9% for fluoroquinolones and from 86.2% to 100.0% for β-lactams. Low rates of resistance (0.0-6.3%) were observed in P. multocida, and for P. aeruginosa resistance to gentamicin was 10.3%. CONCLUSION: Overall, antimicrobial resistance of cutaneous/otic pathogens isolated from dogs and cats was low (1-10%) to moderate (10-20%). For several pathogens, the paucity of CLSI recommended breakpoints for veterinary use is a bottleneck.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32924232/