Occurrence and antimicrobial resistance profile of bacterial isolates from urine cultures of dogs treated at a university veterinary hospital

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31533/pubvet.v20n6e1961

Keywords:

dogs, multidrug resistance, urine culture

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance represents a major challenge in veterinary medicine, particularly in the management of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in dogs, which are among the leading causes of antimicrobial prescriptions in small animal practice. This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence and antimicrobial resistance profile of bacterial isolates recovered from urine samples of dogs treated at the Veterinary Hospital of Unesp – Jaboticabal. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using convenience samples, based on the analysis of microbiological culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results from samples collected between January 6 and November 30, 2025. Thirty-one positive urine samples were analyzed, yielding a total of 35 bacterial isolates. Gram-negative bacteria predominated among the isolates, with Escherichia coli being the most frequently identified species. Overall, 42.9% of the isolates exhibited resistance to at least one antimicrobial agent, whereas 15.8% were classified as multidrug-resistant. In conclusion, although most isolates showed a favorable susceptibility profile, the detection of resistant microorganisms highlights the need for prudent antimicrobial use and routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing to support the appropriate management of canine urinary tract infections.

References

Allison, S. D., & Martiny, J. B. H. (2008). Resistance, resilience, and redundancy in microbial communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(Supp1), 11512–11519. https://doi.org/10.17226/12501.

Bartges, J. W. (2004). Diagnosis of urinary tract infections. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 34, 923-933. Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2004.03.001.

Bermudez, T., Schmitz, J. E., Boswell, M., & Humphries, R. (2025). Novel technologies for the diagnosis of urinary tract infections. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 63(2). https://doi.org/10.1128/jcm.00306-24.

Blair, J. M. A., Webber, M. A., Baylay, A. J., Ogbolu, D. O., & Piddock, L. J. V. (2015). Molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 13(1), 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3380.

BRASIL. Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária – Anvisa. (2020). Módulo 4 – Procedimentos laboratoriais: da requisição do exame à análise microbiológica e laudo final. Anvisa, Brasília, DF, Brasil.

Byron, J. K. (2017). Drugs used to manage urinary incontinence in dogs and cats. In Plumb’s Therapeutics Brief (pp. 53–58).

Byron, J. K. (2019). Urinary tract infection. Veterinary Clinics: Small Animal Practice, 49(2), 211–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2018.11.005.

CLSI. (2016). Clinical and laboratory standards institute. In C. and L. S. Institute (Ed.), Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing; twenty-four informational supplements.

Collignon, P. J., & McEwen, S. A. (2019). One health—its importance in helping to better control antimicrobial resistance. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 4(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed4010022.

Damborg, P., Pirolo, M., Schøn Poulsen, L., Frimodt-Møller, N., & Guardabassi, L. (2023). Dogs Can Be Reservoirs of Escherichia coli Strains Causing Urinary Tract Infection in Human Household Contacts. Antibiotics, 12(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics12081269

Economou, V., & Gousia, P. (2015). Agriculture and food animals as a source of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. Infection and Drug Resistance, 8, 49. https://doi.org/10.2147/IDR.S55778.

EUCAST. (2025). Breakpoint tables for interpretation of MICs and zone diameters (Vol. 1, Number 1). Växjo.

Guardabassi, L., Schwarz, S., & Lloyd, D. H. (2004). Pet animals as reservoirs of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. In Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (Vol. 54, Number 2, pp. 321–332). https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkh332.

Hecht, S. (2015). Diagnostic imaging of lower urinary tract disease. In Veterinary Clinics of North America - Small Animal Practice (Vol. 45, Number 4, pp. 639–663). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2015.02.002.

Ishikura, J. I., Cordeiro, C. T., Silva, E. C., Bueno, G. P., Santos, L. G., & Oliveira, S. T. (2017). Mini-hospital veterinário: guarda responsável, bem estar animal, zoonoses e proteção à fauna exótica. Revista Brasileira de Extensão Universitária, 8(1), 23–30. https://doi.org/10.24317/2358-0399.2017v8i1.3123

Kahn, L. H. (2017). Perspective: The one-health way. Nature, 543(7647), S47–S47.

Kim, D.-W., & Cha, C.-J. (2021). Antibiotic resistome from the One-Health perspective: understanding and controlling antimicrobial resistance transmission. Experimental & Molecular Medicine, 53(3), 301–309. https://doi.org/10.1038/s12276-021-00569-z.

Kogika, M. M., & Waki, M. F. (2015). Infecção do trato urinário de cães. In M. M. Jericó, J. P. Andrade Neto, & M. M. Kogika (Eds.), Tratado de Medicina Interna de Cães e Gatos (Vol. 1, pp. 443–446). Guanabara, Koogan.

Lang, J. (2006). Urinary tract. In P. Mannion (Ed.), Diagnostic ultrasound in small animal practice. Blackwell Publishing.

Magiorakos, A. P., Srinivasan, A., Carey, R. B., Carmeli, Y., Falagas, M. E., Giske, C. G., Harbarth, S., Hindler, J. F., Kahlmeter, G., Olsson-Liljequist, B., Paterson, D. L., Rice, L. B., Stelling, J., Struelens, M. J., Vatopoulos, A., Weber, J. T., & Monnet, D. L. (2012). Multidrug-resistant, extensively drug-resistant and pandrug-resistant bacteria: An international expert proposal for interim standard definitions for acquired resistance. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 18(3), 268–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-0691.2011.03570.x.

McEwen, S. A., & Collignon, P. J. (2018). Antimicrobial resistance: a one health perspective. Microbiology Spectrum, 6(2), 2–6. https://doi.org/10.1093/trstmh/trx050.

Menezes, M. P., Borzi, M. M., Ruaro, M. A., Cardozo, M. V., Rabelo, R. C., Verbisck, N. V., & Moraes, P. C. (2022). Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Isolated from Surgical Site of Dogs, Surgeon’s Hands and Operating Room in a Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Brazil. Topics in Companion Animal Medicine, 49, 100638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcam.2022.100638.

Menezes, M. P., Facin, A. C., Cardozo, M. V., Costa, M. T., & Moraes, P. C. (2021). Evaluation of the Resistance Profile of Bacteria Obtained from Infected Sites of Dogs in a Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Brazil: A Retrospective Study. Topics in Companion Animal Medicine, 42, 100489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcam.2020.100489.

Morley, P. S., Apley, M. D., Besser, T. E., Burney, D. P., Fedorka-Cray, P. J., Papich, M. G., Traub-Dargatz, J. L., & Weese, J. S. (2005). ACVIM Consensus Statement - Antimicrobial Drug Use in Veterinary Medicine. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, (19).

Munita, J. M., & Arias, C. A. (2016). Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. Frontiers in Microbiology, 4(2), 481–511. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00034.

Nelson, R., & Couto, C. G. (2015). Medicina interna de pequenos animais (3.ed.). Elsevier Brasil.

Olin, S. J., & Bartges, J. W. (2015). Urinary tract infections: treatment/comparative therapeutics. Veterinary Clinics: Small Animal Practice, 45(4), 721–746. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2015.02.005.

O’Neill, J. (2016). Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. Tackling Drug-Resistant Infections Globally. Revue de Laryngologie - Otologie - Rhinologie.

Raji, M. I. O., & Bello, S. A. (2024). Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria: A Review. African Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 4(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.51483/afjps.4.1.2024.1-12.

Santos, L. R., Scalco Neto, J. F., Rizzo, N. N., Bastiani, P. V., Rodrigues, L. B., Barcellos, H. H. A., & Brun, M. V. (2010). Contaminação ambiental em um hospital veterinário e perfil de susceptibilidade a antimicrobianas das bactérias isoladas. Ciência Animal Brasileira, 11(2), 384–389. https://doi.org/10.5216/cab.v11i2.2988.

Scherk, M. (2008). Urinary tract disorders: The upper urinary tract. In S. E. Little (Ed.), The cat: clinical medicine and management (pp. 935–980). Elsevier Saunders.

Thompson, M. F., Litster, A. L., Platell, J. L., & Trott, D. J. (2011). Canine bacterial urinary tract infections: new developments in old pathogens. The Veterinary Journal, 190(1), 22–27.

Von Wintersdorff, C. J. H., Penders, J., Van Niekerk, J. M., Mills, N. D., Majumder, S., Van Alphen, L. B., Savelkoul, P. H. M., & Wolffs, P. F. G. (2016). Dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in microbial ecosystems through horizontal gene transfer. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7, 173. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00173.

Weese, J. S., Blondeau, J., Boothe, D., Guardabassi, L. G., Gumley, N., Papich, M., Jessen, L. R., Lappin, M., Rankin, S., & Westropp, J. L. (2019). International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases (ISCAID) guidelines for the diagnosis and management of bacterial urinary tract infections in dogs and cats. The Veterinary Journal, 247, 8–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2019.02.008.

Weese, J. S., Giguère, S., Guardabassi, L., Morley, P. S., Papich, M., Ricciuto, D. R., & Sykes, J. E. (2015). ACVIM Consensus Statement on Therapeutic Antimicrobial Use in Animals and Antimicrobial Resistance. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 29(2), 487–498. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.12562.

WHO. (2022). Global antimicrobial resistance and use surveillance system (GLASS) report 2022. World Health Organization, 1(1).

Wright, G. D. (2011). Molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. Chemical Communications, 47(14). https://doi.org/10.1039/c0cc05111j.

Published

2026-06-30

Issue

Section

Medicina veterinária

How to Cite

1.
Silva MHD da, Santos GVC dos, Oliveira ME de S, Santos TI dos, Moraes PC, Menezes MP de. Occurrence and antimicrobial resistance profile of bacterial isolates from urine cultures of dogs treated at a university veterinary hospital. Pubvet [Internet]. 2026 Jun. 30 [cited 2026 Oct. 20];20(06):e1961. Available from: https://ojs.pubvet.com.br/index.php/revista/article/view/4675