Antimicrobial Resistance In Dogs And Cats

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to dogs and cats. Understand the risks, how it develops, and practical steps to protect your animal’s health 

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in dogs and cats is an urgent and growing concern. It threatens the effectiveness of treatments for common infections. AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites resist drugs designed to kill them, making illnesses harder to treat and increasing the risk of complications.

Our dogs and cats can be affected just as humans are, especially if they have weakened immune systems or chronic conditions. Understanding how antimicrobial resistance develops — and how to help prevent it — is essential to protecting your dog or cat’s long-term health.

AMR over the past decade: where we stand today  

Over ten years ago, I wrote an article in Animal Wellness about antimicrobial resistance as an emerging global concern and healthcare challenge for all living beings (Apr-May 2014). Today, this problem has become a tragic reality. The World Health Organization lists AMR among the top ten global public health threats facing humanity – and by extension, our companion animals. 

Widespread, prolonged use of antimicrobial agents (antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals, pesticides, and parasiticides in humans, animals, and the environment) contributes to resistance. This overuse makes these drugs and chemicals less effective. Antibiotic use alone has increased by 65% globally between 2000 and 2015.

Why is antimicrobial resistance such a threat?

Resistant strains occur in many infectious organisms. Examples include MRSA in people, MRSP in animals, human and canine influenza viruses, pathogenic fungi, and parasites. 

These AMR infections most often affect animals and people with weakened immune systems, and those with chronic debilitating diseases, cancer, or malnutrition. Chronic antibiotic use and inappropriate dosing or drug selection can cause resistant infections. 

Pathogens resistant to multiple antimicrobials are termed multi-drug resistant (MDR) or “superbugs”. Biofilms facilitate MDR, making infection control more complex. 

Biofilms are communities of microorganisms that stick together and/or to the surface they’re on. They are embedded in an extracellular matrix of polymeric substances such as polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and DNA. A common example is the biofilm on teeth and gums associated with dental tartar and plaque. 

When exposed to antimicrobials, microbes naturally select for the survival of those that have developed genes for resistance. They arise through induced genetic mutation, or horizontal gene transfer from other bacterial species. Therefore, resistant genes can quickly spread through an ecosystem of infectious. 

Treating antimicrobial-resistant organisms often requires longer and more costly therapy, which can cause patients to suffer more and even die. 

The evolution of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens 

Background: setting the stage 

Antibiotics have been used to treat and cure bacterial infections, and for other medicinal purposes, for over 70 years. However, unavoidable evolutionary infections from MDR bacteria are increasing around the world. 

Researchers have rapidly developed new methods of fighting infections using synthetic biology and genomic studies of bacteria, plants, and marine invertebrates. These innovative and preventive approaches include bacteriophages, monoclonal antibodies, and vaccines. However, new regulations and controls may slow their implementation.

Contributing factors include the high expense of antibiotic research and growth. The accelerated evolution of AMR has resulted in lower investment returns for the pharmaceutical R & D industry. In fact, several pharmaceutical companies have already stopped researching and developing new antibiotics.

Current status: drug-resistant infections still rising 

Despite these ongoing efforts, drug-resistant infections contributed to an estimated 4.95 million human deaths worldwide in 2019, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. Without global action, experts predict AMR could cause 10 million deaths annually by 2050, with rising losses among dogs and cats as well. 

The intestine is the largest peripheral lymphoid organ in all species and contains a vast number of gut microbiota. How it relates to our immune system development and function is critical for understanding health and disease. 

Immune cell differentiation determines their role in basic immunology and in systemic diseases such as cancer, cardiometabolic disorders, and autoimmune conditions. The gut microbiota thus become responsible for releasing microbial metabolites as their messengers. 

Growing and colonizing microbes also hamper surgical procedures, especially of the bones and joints. Osteosynthesis implants are common in human and veterinary medicine, but post-operative infections remain frequent. These infections can delay healing, cause osteomyelitis, loosen implants, and lead to loss of function.

Future directions: where do we go from here?

Clinical trials aim to bring new medicines to patients, but they are costly and slow. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) over the last two decades is helping speed and improve the process. The methodology used in these trials has improved both the economics and diversity of the trial cohort populations studied.  

Most experts agree the first randomized controlled clinical trial to test the effects of the antibiotic streptomycin for treating pulmonary tuberculosis in people took place in 1946 in the U.K. But, despite changes and improvements to the trial processes since then, including more appropriate informed consent procedures, they did not change significantly until the late 1990s.

In addition, several things still need to happen before the use of AI in clinical trials becomes more widespread, accessible, and accepted. Regulators such as the US FDA and those of other countries also need to keep abreast of and adapt to the rapid changes in this technology.

Similarly, drug development has become more efficient and productive. Advances in genetics and genomics now allow doctors to individualize medicine, predict illness, and prevent disease, improving patient outcomes and quality of life. 

However, even 30 years after the Haemophilus influenzae bacterium was sequenced, and 25 years after the fruit fly, human, and rodent genomes were unraveled, scientists still don’t fully understand how our genetic code has produced over nine billion unique human individuals.

According to Dr. J. Craig Venter, who with colleagues sequenced the human genome, began the Human Genome Project, and founded Celera Genomics, the slow progress at combatting AMR can be attributed to three factors: 

1. Short read sequencing technology. Results generate a genetic sequence that doesn’t exist in nature, which obscures and complicates interpretation of any variants that evolve. 
2. Missing heritability. Common genome-wide association studies identify and explain only about 10% to 50% of the total heritability involved, depending upon the trait. 
3. Lack of phenotype data. Much genetic data is misleading or incorrect because it lacks matching detailed phenotype (observable characteristics) information. 

 While overcoming antimicrobial resistance still seems a long way off, there are things you can do to help protect your dog or cat (and yourself). An alternative approach to health and well-being that supports and boosts his immune system will help him avoid illness and infection — and provide natural treatment options if he does get sick. 

How to protect your dog or cat from AMR

While the increase of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens is alarming, there are steps you can take to help protect your dog or cat and keep him as healthy as possible:

1. A nutritious species-appropriate, high-quality diet made with whole food ingredients is the first and most important step. Feed your dog or cat the healthiest diet you can afford and look for products that are cleanly raised and free of antibiotics. 
2. A variety of supplements and alternative therapies can support and boost your dog or cat’s immune system:
   • Manuka honey can help treat antibiotic-resistant skin infections, including MRSA and MRSP. 
   • Polyunsaturated fatty acids (e.g. ALA, EPA, DHA) from fatty fish, flaxseed, hemp, etc. have anti-inflammatory, immune-boosting and anti-cancer properties. 
   • Probiotics such as Enterococcus, Bacillus, Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus support natural gut flora, leading to a healthy GI tract and enhancing nutrient absorption.
   • Oil of oregano boosts the immune system and treats infection. It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help both prevent and treat bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections. 
   • Green or black tea made into a poultice is excellent for small, localized skin irritations or infections. Tea’s tannins and polyphenols are antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. Make the tea, then let the bag cool and use as a poultice, leaving it on for five to seven minutes. 

Consult with a holistic or integrative veterinarian for guidance before giving new supplements to your animal.

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