In vitro activity of cefovecin, extended-spectrum cephalosporin, against 284 clinical isolates collected from cats and dogs in Croatia

During the six-month collection period, 284 bacterial strains were recovered from different clinical samples from cats and dogs. Susceptibility to cefovecin was determined by disk-diffusion method. Out of 284 bacterial isolates, 202 were gram-positive bacteria and 82 were gram-negative. The most frequently isolated bacterial species was gram-positive Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (152), followed by streptococci (50). The most common gram-negative bacteria were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (26), Proteus spp. (25) and E. coli (22). The highest resistance among gram-positive bacteria was observed in non-hemolytic streptococci (50%) and Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (7.2%). Beta-hemolytic streptococci were 100% sensitive to cefovecin. As expected, cefovecin did not show any activity against P aeruginosa. Besides that, the highest resistance was shown by E. coli (40.9%) and Proteus spp. (8%). All P multocida isolates were sensitive to cefovecin. The results of the conducted survey show no significant differences of cefovecin activity against beta-hemolytic streptococci and P multocida isolates from EU and USA compared to Croatian strains, when tested by the broth microdilution and disk-diffusion method. However, resistance rates in S. pseudintermedius, E. coli and Panel's spp. are much higher among the Croatian strains.