Pet animal numbers have substantially increased in modern society and attention is increasingly devoted to pet welfare. Because of these changes, antimicrobial agents are frequently used in small animal veterinary practice, often including antimicrobial preparations used in human medicine, with heavy use of broad-spectrum agents such as aminopenicillins plus clavulanic acid, cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones. Several longitudinal studies conducted at veterinary hospitals have indicated that resistance to various antimicrobial agents has emerged amongst pet animal isolates of Staphylococcus intermedius, Escherichia coli and other bacteria, including species with a potential for zoonotic transmission and resistance phenotypes of clinical interest, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci and multidrug-resistant Salmonella Typhimurium DT104. Based on a review of the current literature, the role of pets in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance has been given little attention when compared with that of food animals. A marked contrast is evident between the current policies on antimicrobial usage in food and companion animals. Apart from a few countries where limited data on antimicrobial usage and occurrence of resistance in bacteria from pet animals are provided, national surveillance programmes only focus on food animals. However, data on pet animals are clearly needed for guiding antimicrobial use policy in small animal veterinary practice as well as for assessing the risk of transmission of antimicrobial resistance to humans.

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Pet animals as reservoirs of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria

https://dspace.library.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/1874/315400/Weese%20et%20al%202009.pdf?sequence=1

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus pseudintermedius in veterinary medicine.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are substances other than steroids that inhibit a component of the inflammatory cascade. This article is dedicated to those substances which specifically inhibit cyclooxygenase. NSAIDs are used extensively in the veterinary field. This article discusses their pharmacologic mechanism of action, indications, and toxicity. The two isoforms of cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and COX-2) are reviewed along with the newer NSAID which are more effective and less toxic due to more specific COX-2 inhibition. Specific effects on soft tissue, bone, cartilage, and synovium are summarized. Pain modulation is extensively reviewed as well as the antiendotoxic and antithrombotic uses.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Objectives The occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the possible relatedness between human and animal isolates were investigated among veterinary staff and hospitalized animals in a referral small animal hospital in the UK. Methods A total of 300 swab samples were taken from nasal and oral mucosae of 78 veterinary staff, 45 dogs, 12 cats and from 30 environmental surfaces. Staphylococci were isolated by selective enrichment and characterized by biochemical tests and antimicrobial disc susceptibility testing. MRSA isolates were genotypically confirmed by PCR and typed by PFGE. Results MRSA was isolated from 14 staff (17.9%), four dogs (9%), and three environmental sites (10%) yielding a total of 28 MRSA isolates. PFGE analysis revealed that most MRSA isolates were indistinguishable (56%) or closely related (26%) to EMRSA-15, one of the two epidemic MRSA strains dominant in UK hospitals. Like EMRSA-15, the predominant strain isolated from staff, dogs and environmental sites was resistant to fluoroquinolones in addition to all beta-lactams. Conclusions The study provides evidence of EMRSA-15 mucosal carriage in veterinary staff and hospitalized dogs, with the risk of MRSA carriage in veterinary staff being significantly higher than reported for the UK healthy community. EMRSA-15 was predominant in the hospital environment, including humans, dogs, and inanimate objects, but the mode by which the strain was introduced and spread remains uncertain.

Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among staff and pets in a small animal referral hospital in the UK

Revisiting the roles of progesterone and allopregnanolone in the nervous system: Resurgence of the progesterone receptors

http://www.uco.es/organiza/departamentos/anatomia-y-anat-patologica/peques/master/juanmorgaz/Muir.pdf

The cardiorespiratory and anesthetic effects of clinical and supraclinical doses of alfaxalone in cats.

Plasma pharmacokinetics of alfaxalone in dogs after an intravenous bolus of Alfaxan-CD RTU

Objective To determine whether methicillin-resistant staphylococci from dogs expressed the mecA gene and to determine what proportion of canine staphylococcal isolates positive for the mecA gene were resistant to oxacillin and other antibiotics. Sample population 25 methicillin-resistant (10 coagulase-positive and 15 coagulase-negative) and 15 methicillin-susceptible (8 coagulase-positive and 7 coagulase-negative) staphylococci isolated from dogs. Procedure All strains were tested for methicillin resistance by use of oxacillin agar screening and identified by use of standard techniques. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of 16 antibiotics were determined for all 40 isolates. A polymerase chain reaction method targeting a 533-basepair fragment of the mecA gene was used to detect mecA gene expression. Results 23 of the 25 methicillin-resistant isolates and none of the methicillin-susceptible isolates possessed the mecA gene. For 10 of 16 antibiotics, the proportion of mecA-positive isolates that were resistant or of intermediate susceptibility was significantly higher than the proportion of mecA-negative isolates that were resistant or of intermediate susceptibility. Only 1 methicillin-resistant coagulase-positive isolate was identified as Staphylococcus intermedius; the other 9 were identified as S. aureus. Conclusions and clinical relevance Results confirm that staphylococci isolated from dogs may have methicillin resistance mediated by the mecA gene. Isolates positive for the mecA gene were more likely to be resistant to various antibiotics than were isolates negative for the mecA gene. Results suggest that in dogs, infections caused by staphylococci that have the mecA gene may be difficult to treat because of resistance to antibiotics.

Methicillin resistance among staphylococci isolated from dogs.

This study aimed to determine the pharmacokinetic parameters and pharmacodynamics of alfaxalone in a 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin alfaxalone formulation (Alfaxan), Jurox Pty Ltd, Rutherford, NSW, Australia) in cats after single administration at clinical and supraclinical dose rates and as multiple maintenance doses First, a prospective two-period cross-over study was conducted at single clinical and supraclinical doses Second, a single group multiple dose study evaluated the effect of maintenance doses Eight (five female and three male) domestic cats completed the cross-over experiment and six female cats completed the multiple dose study In the first experiment, alfaxalone was administered intravenously (IV) at 5 or 25 mg/kg with a washout period of 14 days In the second experiment, alfaxalone was administered IV at 5 mg/kg followed by four doses each of 2 mg/kg, administered at onset of responsiveness to a noxious stimulus Blood was collected at prescribed intervals and analysed by LCMS for plasma alfaxalone concentration Noncompartmental pharmacokinetics were used to analyse the plasma alfaxalone data The plasma clearance of alfaxalone at 5 and 25 mg/kg differed statistically at 251 and 148 mL/kg/min respectively The elimination half lives were 452 and 766 min respectively Alfaxalone has nonlinear pharmacokinetics in the cat Nevertheless, for cats dosed with sequential maintenance doses, a regression line through their peak plasma concentrations indicated that there was no clinically relevant pharmacokinetic accumulation The duration of nonresponsiveness after each maintenance dose was similar at approximately 6 min, indicating a lack of accumulation of pharmacodynamic effect The cardiovascular and respiratory parameters measured in cats after administration of the labelled doses of Alfaxan were stable In conclusion, the pharmacokinetics of alfaxalone in cats are nonlinear At clinical dose rates, however, neither alfaxalone nor its effects accumulated to a clinically relevant extent Further, in the un-premedicated cat the induction and maintenance of surgical anaesthesia was free of untoward events after a dose of 5 mg alfaxalone/kg body weight followed by four sequential doses of 2 mg/kg as needed (ie, approximately 7 to 8 mg/kg/h)

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of alfaxalone in cats after single and multiple intravenous administration of Alfaxan® at clinical and supraclinical doses

Objective To determine whether perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis would reduce incidence of postoperative infection among dogs undergoing elective orthopedic procedures. Design Randomized, controlled, blinded, intention clinical trial. Animals Dogs of any breed, sex, or age undergoing elective orthopedic surgery at a veterinary teaching hospital. Procedures Dogs were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: treatment with saline solution, treatment with potassium penicillin G, and treatment with cefazolin. Treatments were intended to be administered within 30 minutes prior to surgery; a second dose was administered if surgery lasted > 90 minutes. Dogs were monitored for 10 to 14 days after surgery for evidence of infection. Results After the first 112 dogs were enrolled in the study, it was found that infection rate for control dogs (5/32 dogs) was significantly higher than the rate for dogs treated with antimicrobials (3/80 dogs). Therefore, no more dogs were enrolled in the study. A total of 126 dogs completed the study. Monte Carlo simulations indicated that compared with dogs that received antimicrobials prophylactically, dogs that received saline solution developed infections significantly more frequently. Difference in efficacy, however, was not observed between the 2 antimicrobial drugs used. Conclusions and clinical relevance Results indicated that perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis decreased postoperative infection rate in dogs undergoing elective orthopedic surgery, compared with infection rate in control dogs. Cefazolin was not more efficacious than potassium penicillin G in these dogs.

Ted Whittem

Papers

The cardiorespiratory and anesthetic effects of clinical and supraclinical doses of alfaxalone in cats.

Plasma pharmacokinetics of alfaxalone in dogs after an intravenous bolus of Alfaxan-CD RTU

Methicillin resistance among staphylococci isolated from dogs.

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of alfaxalone in cats after single and multiple intravenous administration of Alfaxan® at clinical and supraclinical doses

Effect of perioperative prophylactic antimicrobial treatment in dogs undergoing elective orthopedic surgery.