5^th Animal Health and Veterinary Medicine Congress

Biography

Biography: Céline Nicolas

Abstract

Cephalexin is a first-line antibiotic with a large spectrum widely used in veterinary medicine. Acceptability of this product by catis of great importance to allow management of infections. The aim of this study was to compare the acceptability of 3 different cephalexin-containing antibiotics: Rilexine®75 mg (Virbac, France), Therios®75 mg (Ceva, France) and Cefaclear® 75 mg (Kyoritsu, Japan). 30 cats (domestic shorthairs, ≥9 months of age and average body weight: 3.6 kg) were divided into 3 groups and received a single administration of each product, in a different, randomized order per group (random cross-over) for 3 days: on days 1, 2 and 3, Group 1 received Rilexine®, Therios® and Cefaclear® respectively, Group 2 received Therios®, Cefaclear® and Rilexine®, respectively and Group 3 received Cefaclear®, Rilexine® and Therios®, respectively. The person giving the tablet was blinded concerning the products, which were named with letters A, B or C. The tablet was put in a bowl for 2 minutes and then presented in the hand of the experimenter (with glove) for 30 seconds if the cat did not take it in the bowl. A monitoring sheet with informations concerning intake (bowl, hand or no intake) and consumption (total, partial or none) for every cat was filled each day. A general mixed model for correlated data assuming a binomial distribution and a logit link was used to compare the 3 groups. Pair wise comparisons were performed at the 5% significant threshold. The number of cats (%) taking the product (in bowl or hand) were: 26/30 (86.7%), 20/30 (66.7%) and 23/30 (76.7%) for Rilexine®, Therios® and Cefaclear®, respectively. The number of cats (%) consuming the whole product were: 23/30 (76.7%), 20/30 (66.7%) and 20/30 (66.7%), respectively. Although not significantly different, more cats took and consumed Rilexine than the 2 other products, suggesting a better acceptability of Rilexine. In conclusion, Rilexine® is taken and consumed spontaneously by most cats. This good acceptability should allow good treatment compliance, which is of interest for long-term management of skin infections, for example.