Sensitivity to antibiotics amongst cutaneous and mucosal isolates of canine pathogenic Staphylococci in the UK, 1980-96

Disc sensitivity tests were carried out on 2296 isolates of non-pigmented, coagulase-positive staphylococcal isolates from dogs in referral practice over the period 1980-96. Ninety-eight isolates were from the ears, 1089 from other skin regions and 37 from mucosae. Resistance to penicillin increased from 69.0 to 89.3%. Oxytetracycline resistance remained at about 40%; resistance to erythromycin and lincomycin, and to co-trimoxazole peaked at about 20 and 15%, respectively, in 1987-19 but has since fallen. Only a single isolate resistant to cephalexin was found between 1986 and 1996. No resistance to co-amoxyclav, oxacillin, methicillin and enrofloxacin was demonstrated. Resistance of mucosal isolates was higher than those from skin. Multiple isolates from 90 dogs showed different resistance spectra in 56% of cases indicating that single swab samples are of limited value in determining optimal therapeutic antibiotics.