Acquisition and persistence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria isolated from dogs and cats admitted to a veterinary teaching hospital

Objective—To assess antimicrobial resistance among bacteria isolated from dogs and cats admitted to a veterinary teaching hospital (VTH), determine the incidence of acquisition of and frequency of persistent colonization by antimicrobial-resistant organisms among these animals, and identify risk factors associated with these variables. Design—Prospective longitudinal study. Animals—622 dogs and 92 cats admitted to a VTH and expected to stay ≥ 48 hours. Procedures—Samples were collected with rectal and nasal or oropharyngeal swabs at admission and discharge. Isolates of enterococci, staphylococci, and Escherichia coli were tested for antimicrobial resistance via microbroth dilution methods. A subset of isolates was analyzed with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing. Significant trends in proportions of organisms with antimicrobial resistance over the 3-year study period were assessed. Results—The proportion of staphylococci with antimicrobial resistance increased, whereas the pro...