This week is World Antibiotic Awareness Week.
Antibiotics are essential to veterinary and human medicine to treat infectious diseases, but inappropriate use could render them ineffective.
Any use of an antibiotic can contribute towards antibiotic resistance. To keep antibiotics working for animals and people they should only be used when absolutely necessary.
The British Veterinary Association asks that owners follow our advice on treatment and trust the vet’s clinical judgment when it comes to the use of antibiotics to treat their pet:
- Trust your vet if further tests are needed: different antibiotics work against different bacteria, so it’s important your pet gets the right medicine. We may need to send a sample to the lab to determine if an infection is present, and if so which antibiotic will be effective.
- Trust your vet if they say antibiotics are not required: antibiotics only treat infections caused by bacteria, not viruses.
- Trust your vet’s instructions when giving your pet antibiotics: the correct dose, at the right time, for the full duration prescribed.
- Trust your vet’s advice on keeping your pet healthy: a balanced diet, enough exercise, up-to-date vaccinations and regular check-ups.
At Greenbay Vets we are proud that our antibiotic sales have more than halved since 2014. Unlike some vets, we do not prescribe antibiotics for routine, uncomplicated surgical procedures as we are confident in our surgical sterility practices. We also have a practice antibiotic policy to help our vets to only prescribe antibiotics when necessary and to choose the most appropriate drugs for the condition encountered.