Sucralfate and minocycline may be administered concurrently to dogs. The relative bioavailability of tetracyclines may be reduced if administered with sucralfate, but studies confirming these interactions in dogs are not available. This study evaluated the pharmacokinetics of oral minocycline in dogs (M), determined the effects of concurrent administration of sucralfate and minocycline (MS) on minocycline pharmacokinetics, determined the effects of delaying sucralfate administration by 2 h (MS+2) on minocycline pharmacokinetics, and established dosing recommendations based on pharmacodynamic indices. Oral minocycline (300 mg) and sucralfate suspension (1 g) were administered to five greyhounds in a randomized crossover design. Minocycline plasma concentrations were evaluated using liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. The maximum plasma concentration (CMAX ) and area under the curve (AUC) of minocycline were 1.15 μg/mL and 8.0 h* μg/mL, respectively. The CMAX and AUC were significantly lower (P< 0.05) in the MS group (CMAX  = 0.33 μg/mL, AUC 3.0 h*μg/mL) compared with M or MS+2 (CMAX = 0.97 μg/mL, AUC 10.3 h*μg/mL). Delaying sucralfate by 2 h did not decrease oral minocycline absorption, but concurrent administration significantly decreased minocycline absorption. A dose of 7.5 mg/kg p.o. q12 h achieves the pharmacodynamic index for a bacterial minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.25 μg/mL (AUC:MIC≥33.9).

Cefovecin is an extended-spectrum long-acting third generation cephalosporin used to treat canine infections. The study objective was to determine the effect of cefovecin on the absolute number and antimicrobial susceptibility of fecal enteric bacteria in healthy dogs.Fourteen Beagles were randomly assigned to a treated (n = 7, 8 mg/kg cefovecin subcutaneously on day 1) or untreated (n = 7) group. LC/MS was used to determine plasma cefovecin concentration on day 14. E. coli, enterococci, and Salmonella were isolated and enumerated from fecal samples collected on days 0, 3, 7, 14, and 28. Antimicrobial resistance was determined using disc diffusion, MIC, and detected using PCR for the bla CMY-2 gene on select isolates.Mean plasma concentration of cefovecin on day 14 was 9.59 µg/mL in treated dogs; untreated dogs had no measurable plasma cefovecin. The absolute number of E. coli was lower in treated dogs on day 3 (P ≤ 0.0001), and the absolute number of cefovecin-resistant E. coli was higher in treated dogs on days 7 (P = 0.002), 14 (P = 0.004) and 28 (P ≤ 0.0001), compared to untreated dogs. Enterococci increased and were higher in the treatment group on day 7 (P = 0.0226). Isolation of Salmonella was rare. After cefovecin treatment, beta-lactam resistance was more common in fecal E. coli from treated dogs than untreated dogs, while resistance of enterococci was not altered. On day 28, treated dogs were 3.25 times more likely to carry the bla CMY-2 gene than untreated dogs (95% CI 1.27 -8.35). The implications of these findings in clinically ill patients require further research.iii

BackgroundSucralfate impairs absorption of ciprofloxacin and other fluoroquinolones in humans, but no sucralfate–fluoroquinolone interaction has been reported in dogs. Veterinary formularies recommend avoiding concurrent administration of these medications, which might impact compliance, therapeutic success, and resistance selection from fluoroquinolones.ObjectivesTo determine whether a drug interaction exists when sucralfate is administered to fed dogs concurrently with ciprofloxacin or enrofloxacin, and whether a 2 hour delay between fluoroquinolone and sucralfate affects fluoroquinolone absorption.AnimalsFive healthy Greyhounds housed in a research colony.MethodsThis was a randomized crossover study. Treatments included oral ciprofloxacin (C) or oral enrofloxacin (E) alone, each fluoroquinolone concurrently with an oral suspension of sucralfate (CS, ES), and sucralfate suspension 2 hours after each fluoroquinolone (C2S, E2S). Fluoroquinolone concentrations were evaluated using liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry.ResultsDrug exposure of ciprofloxacin was highly variable (AUC 5.52–22.47 h μg/mL) compared to enrofloxacin (AUC 3.86–7.50 h μg/mL). The mean relative bioavailability for ciprofloxacin and concurrent sucralfate was 48% (range 8–143%) compared to ciprofloxacin alone. Relative bioavailability of ciprofloxacin improved to 87% (range 37–333%) when sucralfate was delayed by 2 hours. By contrast, relative bioavailability for enrofloxacin and concurrent sucralfate was 104% (94–115%).Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceA possible clinically relevant drug interaction for the relative bioavailability of ciprofloxacin with sucralfate was found. No significant difference in bioavailability was documented for enrofloxacin with sucralfate. Further research is warranted in fasted dogs and clinical cases requiring enrofloxacin or other approved fluoroquinolones in combination with sucralfate.

Veterinary students can be exposed to environmental infectious agents in school that may include zoonotic pathogens. Encouraging effective hand hygiene can minimize the spread of zoonoses and promote public health and the One Health concept among veterinary students. The purpose of this study was to determine if a campaign could improve hand hygiene among veterinary students at extracurricular meetings serving meals. Nine Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine (KSU-CVM) extracurricular organizations participated in the study, sanitizer was provided at each meeting, and baseline hand-hygiene data were observed. A hand-hygiene opportunity was defined as any student observed to approach the buffet food line. Sanitizer use (yes/no) and gender (male/female) were recorded. Campaign interventions included a 3.5-minute educational video and a novel motivational poster. The video was presented to all first-year, second-year, and third-year veterinary students. Posters encouraging hand sanitization were displayed on doors and tables alongside sanitizers at each meeting. Observational hand-hygiene data were collected immediately after introduction of interventions and again 3 months later. Environmental sampling for presence of bacteria in and around meeting locations was also performed. Observed hand hygiene was lowest during baseline (11.0% ± 1.7), improved significantly post-intervention (48.8% ± 3.2), and remained improved at 3-month follow-up (33.5% ± 4.0). Females had higher probability of hand sanitizing (35.9% ± 2.2) than males (21.4% ± 2.4) (p<.01). Clostridium perfringens was isolated from 2/42 samples, and Salmonella spp. were isolated from 4/42 samples. A short-term public health campaign targeting veterinary students successfully improved hand hygiene before meals.