Cephalosporins - pharmacological basis of clinical use in veterinary dermatology.

Cephalosporins form a large group of β-lactam antibiotics which are used extensively in human medicine and to a lesser extent in domestic animals. In veterinary dermatology, the principle use for the cephalosporins is the clinical management of canine pyoderma associated with Staphylococcus intermedius. In practice, the use of orally administered first generation cephalosporin drugs to affected dogs is well tolerated and highly efficacious. Bacterial drug resistance appears to occur rarely.