An emerging topic both in veterinary and human medicine is the recent concern of overuse of antibiotics. With the emergence of resistant bacteria known as MSRA (methicillin resistant staph bacteria) and other resistant bacteria, many medical experts are cautioning health care practitioners to use antibiotics wisely, and only when there is clear evidence of bacterial infection.
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When antibiotics are indiscriminately used in medicine, especially for nonbacterial conditions, that is what leads to this unfortunate set of circumstances. While antibiotics can certainly be life saving drugs, there are certain principles and ideas to keep in mind when and if these drugs are used. The first and most important is to use the most appropriate and least number of antibiotics for a particular body infection. |
For example, in urinary tract infections of dogs and cats there are certain bacteria that are more likely to be seen, which will influence which drugs veterinarians should choose. Many times staph infections and/or E coli bacteria are involved with these urinary tract issues, which are usually easily resolved with prescription antibiotics such as drugs of the penicillin class like Amoxicillin or Clavamox, as well as cephalosporins like cephalexin. It is not necessary to use the “big gun” antibiotics on simple urinary tract infections such as Baytril, as this practice can lead to bacterial resistance. If a pet has recurrent urinary infections, then sterile urine collected by the veterinarian and submitted to a laboratory for a urine culture will generate a list of which, if any antibiotics should be prescribed. This is especially important in cats with urinary tract inflammation, known as feline urologic syndrome (FUS), where greater than 90 percent of the time, even cats with active straining and blood in the urine do NOT have any bacteria involved in their condition.
If an infection is localized to the airways, then antibiotics such as Doxycycline and Baytril are often preferred due to their coverage against bacteria commonly involved with infections of the airways. And while many veterinarians will prescribe multiple antibiotics for pets with any infection, I highly discourage this practice due to the risk of bacterial resistance, and patient side effects most commonly involving the digestive tract. Even in pets with nonspecific fevers, this indicates that a pet has inflammation, and not necessarily an infection. For example, many cats with sneezing and nasal discharge most commonly have viruses such as calici virus and/or feline herpes virus involved with their symptoms and would benefit from immune boosters like Vetri-DMG liquid from and/or echinacea and goldenseal rather than the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. Over the counter products like L-lysine can also be of help in these cats. One of the more disturbing trends I have seen in recent veterinary graduates is the overuse of multiple antibiotics for any illness in a pet.
I hope that with increasing articles about the risks of antibiotic resistance in medical journals, and the increasing public awareness about this concern, that antibiotic use of the future will be wisely and not overused.
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