Antibiotic resistance: What does it mean for our pets?

The alarming increase in antibiotic resistance threatens our ability to treat infection, and now the battle against disease is becoming more of a challenge.

A visit to the vet doesn’t always have to be a serious matter. However, even routine treatments like deworming or vaccinations contain antimicrobial chemicals. The improper use of these chemicals poses a real problem to the future of your pet’s (and ultimately your) health. As a vet nurse, I have seen the dangers of antibiotic resistance firsthand. What can pet owners do to tackle this threat?

What does increasing antibiotic resistance mean for our pets?

The Discovery of Antibiotics

In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish bacteriologist, discovered penicillin by chance. On his return from a holiday, he found that a bacterial culture in a Petri dish had been infected and killed by a mould (penicillin). By the 1940s, derivatives of these fungi were used to treat wounded soldiers. But by the end of that decade, resistance to penicillin had already been reported. The next 20 years saw an explosion in antimicrobial discoveries—more than half of the antibiotic drugs we use today.

Antimicrobial and antibiotic resistance

Pathogenic (harmful) microbes include bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites. They have been around for millennia and, like all other living organisms, continually adapt to their environment. Antimicrobials, therefore, are chemicals used to treat and prevent infection in humans, animals and plants. Microbes develop resistance by evolving to adapt more efficiently in the presence of the compounds intended to kill them. However, the term microbe describes many different types of organisms which are not all susceptible to the same methods of destruction.

Some anti-microbial medicines are no longer effective against pathogenic microbes. The World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top 10 global health threats facing humanity. And if it’s a threat to humans, it's also a threat to our animals. The term ‘antimicrobial stewardship’ or AMS was first coined in 1996 by two internal medicine doctors. Their paper suggested that to curb resistance, much greater attention and care would be required by vets and doctors when making antimicrobial treatment decisions.

AMR in the vet industry

Prudent Prescriptions

Worldwide, the veterinary industry recognises the increase in prescriptions of systemic antimicrobials. Initiatives like the ‘Stewardship’ concept are gaining popularity and slowly changing the habits that have led to the current crisis. In many cases of antimicrobial infection (but not all), a combination of alternative treatments can bring about the same result as a course of antimicrobial tablets. This would only be in cases where harmful microbes were not threatening the life of a pet (sepsis). Infections of the skin, for example, are not generally considered life-threatening and can be treated without systemic drugs. In some cases, an antiseptic (a topical preparation of chemicals that prevents microbial growth but does not always kill them) combined with nutritional supplements like Omega oils, probiotics and strict hygiene control may often result in the same outcome as a course of antibiotics. Also, new medical techniques are emerging (like antimicrobial peptides, bacteriophages and LED-illuminated gel (LIG)) that provide alternatives to systemic drugs.

The meat industry is also a major contributor to AMR. Unfortunately, food production animals have been dosed with antibiotics since the 1940s and resistance is rapidly accelerating in this sector. Appropriate and prudent prescribing of antimicrobials is one of the ways to curb AMR.

Inaccurate dosing

If you’ve been given antibiotics for your pet, the vet or nurse would have instructed you to complete the course. It should be noted that a bacterium (harmful or not) can replicate itself in minutes, growing exponentially if conditions are favourable.If your pet is underdosed with antibiotics, bacteria are exposed to incorrect levels of active ingredients which may not be enough to kill them. They become stronger and potentially more resistant. Therefore, even if your pet looks healthy after a few doses of antibiotics, completing the prescribed medications is vital to eradicate harmful pathogens.

Have you ever held on to some leftover antibiotics, just in case? It’s understandable; they were probably expensive. However, as antibiotics age, they become less effective. Also, your ‘leftovers’ are insufficient to make up a full course of treatment. Using the last few old tablets to treat your pet instead of going to the vet again may seem tempting, but now you know why it’s a dangerous decision.

Perhaps you have a “demon pet”—one that will not tolerate tablets? Not surprisingly, under-dosing pets that are aggressive or fearful is a common practice by pet owners. As hard as you might try, there is always wastage when battling to dose fractious animals and that too can lead to antimicrobial resistance.

Environmental poisoning

Rex was involved in a tussle with another dog. Thousands of rands and hours later, it looks as though he will live to fight another day. Half-used sprays and ointments, packets of tablets and other medication litter your cupboard—messy! You tip the pills into the toilet and you bin the rest because they can’t be recycled. Research indicates that apart from the drugs excreted through our urine and faeces, the disposal of pharmaceutical waste down the toilet is another huge source of environmental pollution and AMR. Unfortunately, pet owners are just as guilty of flushingveterinary drugs this way.

The veterinary health sector is also guilty of poisoning the environment with substances that cause AMR. Consider the hundreds of liters of antibacterial hand wash, surface cleaners, shampoos and detergents with powerful antimicrobial properties that are being washed down the drain—every second of every day—by veterinary clinics, laboratories, rescue organisations, zoos and animal sanctuaries (to name only a few). These diluted liquids are drained into our public waterways and oceans resulting in pathogens that are steadily becoming resistant.

Topical treatments for pets are also polluting our waters and causing AMR. Antimicrobial medication that targets skin parasites like ticks, fleas and mites is available topically (spot-on, powder, shampoo and spray).When these chemicals wash off, they enter our environment in a weaker state. Not only are harmful pathogens exposed to these weaker compounds but non-target aquatic species are suffering from the cocktail of chemicals incessantly flowing into the ecosystem.

What can pet owners do to reduce AMR?

If you think that this crisis is big, you are right. However, if you believe that there’s nothing you can do about it, you’re wrong. Generally speaking, problems start small, but the same can be said of solutions. If individuals act responsibly, their collective behaviour can bring about change. Here are some simple ways we can solve AMR.

- Complete antimicrobial courses prescribed by your vet.

- Don’t use expired medication.

- Don’t self-prescribe medication for new infections because they worked before.

- Maintain practical hygiene habits for you and your pets.

- Speak to your vet and enquire about alternative treatments where possible.

- Return unused medication to your vet to be disposed of properly.

- Use antimicrobial cleaners sparingly or opt for environmentally friendly products.

- Prevent topical medication from being washed off your pet into the environment.

- Choose to eat animal protein that is organic and free from antibiotics.

- Feed your pets a balanced diet that will boost immunity.

Think of superbugs, zombies, the apocalypse and flesh-eating bacteria that wipe out entire populations—it sounds like a horror movie but the message may not be far-fetched. Statistics published by WHO, The Lancet and other medical journals increasingly describe an alarming elevation in the numbers of resistant bacterial and viral types.

The South African government released an Antimicrobial Resistance National Framework Strategy as far back as 2014 (that is currently available publicly on the internet). It states that, internationally, more than half the antibiotics prescribed for humans were unnecessary. Also 80% of antibiotics used globally were for animal health, agriculture and aquaculture. This year, another paper was published called

—a lengthy and disturbing read that indicates a worsening situation.

However, we don’t need a government to tell us that AMR exists and we certainly don’t need a rule in place before we decide to act for the better. Vets and vet nurses are aware of the AMR crisis and it is our responsibility to educate pet owners about the dangers of resistance. If we can act responsibly for our pets’ health, there may be a chance that we can do the same for ourselves. As much as our actions have become a threat to our survival, so too can they become the solution to our redemption.

© Liz Roodt 2022