Characterisation of antimicrobial usage in cats and dogs attending UK primary care companion animal veterinary practices

Abstract

(200 words)There is scant evidence describing antimicrobial usage in companion animal primary-care veterinary practices in the UK. The use of antimicrobials in dogs and cats was quantified using data extracted from 374 veterinary practices participating in VetCompass. The frequency and quantity of systemic antimicrobial usage was described.Overall, 25% of 963,463 dogs and 21% of 594,812 cats seen at veterinary practices received at least one antimicrobial over the two-year period , and 42% of these animals were given repeated antimicrobials. The main agents used were amino-penicillin-types and cephalosporins. Of the AM events, 60% in dogs and 81% in cats were antimicrobials classified as critically important (CIAs) to human health by the World Health Organisation. CIAs of highest importance (fluoroquinolones, macrolides, third-generation cephalosporins) accounted for just over 6% and 34% of antimicrobials in dogs and cats, respectively. The total quantity of antimicrobials used within the study population was estimated to be 1473Kg for dogs and 58Kg for cats.This study has identified a high frequency of usage of antimicrobials in companion animal practice and for certain agents classified as of critical importance in human medicine. The study highlights the usefulness of veterinary practice electronic health records for studying AM usage.2

Exploring the behavioural drivers of veterinary surgeon antibiotic prescribing: a qualitative study of companion animal veterinary surgeons in the UK

“…The identification of these facilitators suggests that the focus for behavioural change cannot be at the level of individual veterinary surgeons alone. Studies describing prescribing patterns of antimicrobial prescribing in small animal veterinary surgeon practice in the UK [1, 15, 18] and internationally [19] highlight that more antimicrobial prescribing guidelines, which encourage appropriate and more limited use, could be helpful and could act as a more tacit form of regulation.…”

Patterns of antimicrobial agent prescription in a sentinel population of canine and feline veterinary practices in the United Kingdom

“…Antimicrobial agents are frequently prescribed in dogs and cats (Mateus et al, 2011, Radford et al, 2011, Buckland et al, 2016), and there is evidence of development of resistance in response to treatment1 (Trott et al, 2004), and transmission of antimicrobial resistant isolates between human beings and pets (Johnson et al, 2008a, Johnson et al, 2008b, Zhang et al, 2016). Specific guidance for practice level prescription policies have been published5 , 6 (Beco et al, 2013a, Beco et al, 2013b); however, there is a need to understand how these are being applied in practice.…”

Antimicrobial use in companion animals and Good Stewardship Practice

“…The study by Buckland and others (2016) summarised on p 489 in this issue of Veterinary Record , is a remarkable tour de force that quantifies AMU over a two-year period across 374 veterinary practices in the United Kingdom. It involved nearly 1,000,000 dogs and 600,000 cats.…”

“…Using data, such as those reported by Buckland and others (2016), has particular value for benchmarking purposes, as noted earlier. As for AMU, further continuous monitoring of AMR, as well as the distribution of standardised data in a timely fashion and in an interactive user-friendly format, are needed for benchmarking to become truly effective.…”