[Resistance situation of selected small animal pathogenic bacteria and prudent use of antibiotics - how do I integrate this?].

As part of a collaborative project funded by the BMEL ("HKP-Mon"), we had the opportunity to access a large data set of antimicrobial resistance tests from Laboklin. A total of 175,171 results from the years 2019 to 2021 were available to us for evaluation. These data sets were used to evaluate relevant bacterial pathogens in dogs and cats and their resistance situation. Results on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus (S.) aureus (MRSA), S. pseudintermedius (MRSP), third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GCR) Escherichia (E.) coli, 3GCR Klebsiella (K.) pneumoniae and Pseudomonas (P.) aeruginosa are presented here. About 15% (cats) to 20% (dogs) of S. aureus isolates were characterized as MRSA. For S. pseudintermedius, the MRSP prevalence was on average around 7% for dogs and with 16% higher in cats. Resistance to a third-generation cephalosporin was found in about 12% (both cats and dogs) of E. coli samples and 3GCR K. pneumoniae prevalence was 15% in dogs and 26% in cats. Due to the natural (intrinsic) resistances of P. aeruginosa to a large number of antibiotic classes, the only active substances available in veterinary medicine apart from colistin/polymyxin B are aminoglycosides and fluoroquinolones.The multidrug-resistant bacteria described here therefore pose a considerable challenge in therapeutic terms. Depending on the site of infection, there are often only a few treatment options left. Careful diagnostics and correct interpretation of the microbiological results are therefore essential to maintain the effectiveness of antibiotics and minimize the development of further antibiotic resistance.