Survey on the use of antibiotics in exotic pets among Swiss veterinarians

Hösli, M.; Overesch, G.; Willi, B.; Heim, D.; Hatt, J.-M. (2021). Survey on the use of antibiotics in exotic pets among Swiss veterinarians. Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde, 163(3), pp. 227-237. Gesellschaft Schweizer Tierärztinnen und Tierärzte 10.17236/sat00295

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Monitoring programs and guidelines on the use of an-tibiotics and antibiotic resistance in human and veteri-nary medicine have been developed worldwide to pro-mote the prudent use of antibiotics in recent years. However, such information on the use of antibiotics in exotic pets is absent. This fact must be taken into ac-count, since the number of exotic pet patients is con-stantly increasing and the administration of antibiotics is particular challenging due to the diversity of species and the differences in physiology.
The present study reports the results of a survey of fre-quently used antibiotics and the criteria of antibiotic usage in exotic pets (rabbits, rodents, birds and reptiles) among Swiss veterinarians. These data should form the basis for the development of antibiotic usage guidelines in exotic pets. A total of 61 veterinarians returned the questionnaire. The most important decision-making criteria for antibiotic treatment and antibiotic selection were clinical symptoms (55/59, 93% for antibiotic treat-ment and 40/59, 68% for antibiotic selection), experi-ence (41/59, 69% and 36/59, 61%, respectively) and textbooks (39/59, 66% and 40/59, 68%). The most im-portant decision-making criteria for dosage and duration of therapy were textbooks (59/59, 100%) and experience (31/59, 53%). The use of a microbial culture was used as a decision criterion for both antibiotic treatment and antibiotic selection by 39% of the participants, sensitiv-ity testing was chosen as a decision criterion by 37% for antibiotic treatment and by 46% for antibiotic selection. Fluoroquinolones were used most frequently, 46/56 (82% of the participants) for rabbits, 49/57 (86%) for rodents, 36/37 (97%) for reptiles and 38/46 (83%) for birds. The vast majority of veterinarians (57/58, 98%) would consult a guide for the use of antibiotics.
The frequent use of critical antibiotics in exotic pets underscores the need for a guide to the prudent use of antibiotics. The positive influence of such guidelines has already been proven in dogs and cats.

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