Vets needed for survey into antimicrobial use in dogs

Vets are being encouraged to take part in a survey designed to provide a clearer picture of perioperative and postoperative antimicrobial use in dogs.

The survey has been created by the International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases (ISCAID) and is being distributed across the US, UK and Europe with researchers hoping to collect data that will allow them to compare typical protocols in different countries.

Lack of studies

Research by the European Network for Optimization of Veterinary Antimicrobial Treatment highlighted a lack of studies evaluating perioperative antibiotic use in companion animals.

In a bid to provide a clearer picture, the ISCAID survey will look at a range of procedures in soft tissue surgery, neurology and orthopaedics ranging from neutering and foreign body removal to implant surgeries or laminectomies.

The survey is being run in conjunction with the North Carolina State University and takes approximately ten minutes to complete.

‘Better understanding’

Internal medicine consultant and ISCAID member Ian Battersby said: “We are looking for veterinarians working at all types of practice to participate to get a better understanding of current standard use in surgeries across a wider range of procedures.

“In the human sector comparison with peers has been proven to be a powerful driver for changing prescribing in antibiotics, so we hope there will be areas that are identified that can be explored and can be used to reduce overall use.”

To save time for those undertaking the survey, participants can select from a list of which surgeries they undertake and only answer questions relating to those procedures.