The objective of this study is to survey general prescribing behaviour by Belgian companion animal veterinarians and to assess agreement of these practices with current treatment guidelines. Therefore an online survey was administered with five realistic and frequently occurring first-line cases to primary-care veterinary practitioners. For each case a predefined pattern of questions were asked about whether or not they would prescribe antimicrobials, if they would prescribe a non-antimicrobial treatment and if they would perform additional diagnostic steps. The responses were compared with recommendations in national guidelines and recent literature. The overall most prescribed antimicrobials were potentiated amoxicillin (43.0 per cent), fluoroquinolones (14.7 per cent), third-generation and fourth-generation cephalosporins (10.9 per cent) and tetracyclines (10.9 per cent). Only 48.3 per cent of the veterinarians complied with the guidelines in nearly all of the clinical scenarios (ie, prescribing antimicrobials when indicated, not prescribing antimicrobials when it is not indicated). Moreover, when prescribing highest priority critically important antimicrobials, susceptibility testing on bacterial cultures was performed in only 12.4 per cent of the prescriptions. The results showed that the prescribing behaviour of antimicrobial compounds by primary-care veterinary practitioners in dogs and cats is often not in agreement with national guidelines. Focus in improvement of this prescribing behaviour should be on performing the appropriate diagnostic steps and decreasing the use of highest priority critically important antimicrobials.

A prospective study was performed to explore the prescription habits in fourteen first-line, small animal practices during first consultations of cats and dogs. Consultations one month prior to the implementation of antimicrobial use guidelines and at least 20 days thereafter were examined. Differences in the proportion of consultations during which antimicrobials were prescribed, were assessed. Additionally, changes in the choice of active substance were critically evaluated against the introduced antimicrobial use guidelines. The proportion of consultations where antimicrobials were prescribed decreased in cats and dogs (both –12%) after the introduction of the antimicrobial use guidelines. There was an increase of consultations of cats (+13%) and dogs (+10%) where veterinarians handled according to those guidelines. However, an increase in the prescription of third-choice antimicrobials and highest priority critically important antimicrobials was noticed both in cats (+8% and +12%, respectively) and dogs (both +5%). This unexpected increase invites to create extra awareness amongst prescribers.

Contact and interactions between owners and their pets may have beneficial physical and social effects on people, but may also facilitate the transmission of zoonotic agents and resistant bacteria. To estimate the risk of these contacts, more information regarding the frequency and intensity of this physical contact is required. Therefore, an online survey was conducted among pet owners resulting in 701 completed questionnaires. Questions regarding the interactions between dogs and owners were linked with a score from 1 (limited interactions) to 3 (highly intense interactions). After scoring these self-reported interactions, a contact intensity score was calculated for each respondent by summing up the different allocated scores from all questions. This contact intensity score was used to identify predictors of more intense contact based on a multivariable linear regression model. Interactions between dogs and their owners were widespread (e.g., 85.3% of the dogs licked their owner’s hand) and intense (e.g., 49.3% of owners reported being licked in the face). The gender, age, and place of residence (city, village, or countryside) of the respondent, together with the size and age of the dog, were significantly associated with the contact intensity score in the multivariable model. On average, female respondents younger than 65 years who lived in the city and had a small young dog had the most intense contact with it. Further research is necessary to evaluate the risk of these interactions in light of zoonotic and antimicrobial resistance transfer.

In een enquête werd gepeild naar de arbeidssituatie van dierenartsen afgestudeerd aan de Universiteit Gent en de perceptie van de kwaliteit van de opleiding. Hiervoor werden drie cohorten dierenartsen gecontacteerd die afgestudeerd zijn gedurende drie tijdsintervallen, met name tussen 2002 en 2004, 2009 en 2011 en tussen 2014 en 2016. Uit 488 ingevulde vragenlijsten (47% van de gecontacteerde respondenten) werd onder andere duidelijk dat dierenartsen in Vlaanderen gemiddeld 47 uur per week werken en relatief tevreden zijn over de invulling van hun job. Tachtig procent (meest recent afgestudeerde cohorte) en 68% (langst afgestudeerde cohorte) van de respondenten werkt als practicus en 81% van deze practici werkt in een groepspraktijk. Dierenartsen met de Belgische nationaliteit hebben voornamelijk het statuut van zelfstandige, terwijl dierenartsen met de Nederlandse nationaliteit voornamelijk in loondienst werken. De respondenten geven aan tevreden te zijn over het theoretische aandeel binnen de opleiding diergeneeskunde maar ervaren het praktisch onderricht als te beperkt. Tijdens de opleiding zou er volgens de respondenten meer nadruk gelegd moeten worden op eerstelijnsdiergeneeskunde, op het verwerven van communicatievaardigheden met klanten en collega’s en op praktijkmanagement.

Een tien maanden oude, vermeend vrouwelijke, intacte Franse buldog werd op de Faculteit Diergeneeskunde te Merelbeke (UGent) aangeboden met een vergrote clitoris en purulente vaginale uitvloei. Als therapie werd voorgesteld om de vergrote clitoris te verwijderen om verdere irritatie te vermijden en tegelijkertijd een gonadectomie uit te voeren aangezien de eigenaars geen fokplannen hadden. Intraoperatief werd een afwijkende genitaaltractus vastgesteld, waarbij macroscopisch een normaal uitziende baarmoeder aanwezig was maar waarbij de gonaden testes leken in plaats van ovaria. Histologisch onderzoek van het verwijderde weefsel toonde aan dat het inderdaad over bilaterale testes aansluitend op een normale baarmoeder ging. Karyotypering en de moleculaire analyse van het SRY-gen resulteerden in een 78,XX SRY-negatief karyotype. Bij de Franse buldog werd bijgevolg finaal een 78,XX SRY-negatief testiculaire aandoening van seksuele differentiatie, i.e. “disorder of sex development” (DSD) gediagnosticeerd.