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Abstract

The number of pets has increased substantially in modern society and attention is increasingly devoted to pet welfare. The aim of the present study is to investigate the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli isolates present in cat intestinal micro biota. A hundred-ninety E. coli isolates from diarrheic (n=19) and healthy (n=21) cats from northwest of São Paulo State, Brazil were examined for resistance to 16 antimicrobial drugs. The predominantly observed resistance was to tetracycline (30.5%), ampicillin (20.0%) and cotrimoxazole (17.9%) among the isolates from healthy cats and to cephalothin (42.1%), tetracycline (20.0%) and ampicillin (15.8%) among the isolates from diarrheic cats. A moderate multidrug-resistance was found among 17.8% and 8.4% of the isolates from healthy and diarrheic cats, respectively. The E. coli isolates from healthy cats may act as a reservoir of resistance genes. To support the development of antimicrobial usage policies, regular updates on the status of resistance to antimicrobial agents used in veterinary medicine are needed.