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Evidence collection29 April 2021

Responsible use of antibiotics in veterinary practice

Evidence-based veterinary medicineSmall animalsEquineFarm animalsExoticsAntimicrobial stewardship

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Published 29 April 2021 | Updated 31 October 2025

This collection provides access to evidence and appropriate resources to support responsible antibiotic use. It is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the literature, but rather a selection of recent references to inform your decision making and discussions with clients.

Introduction

Antibiotics are important medicines in veterinary practice that enable the treatment of bacterial disease and can contribute to improving animal health and welfare. However, antimicrobial resistance is recognised as a significant One Health issue and veterinary surgeons have a professional responsibility to use antibiotics responsibly, not only to ensure that they continue to provide effective treatment for animal disease but also to minimise the development of antibiotic resistance which can have wider consequences for human health and the wider environment.

This collection has been developed to support the RCVS Knowledge Project Farm Vet Champions which aims to support antibiotic stewardship in farm animals but will also provide resources to support those working with companion animals and horses.

The purpose of this collection is to provide you with easy access to some of the evidence and appropriate resources to support responsible antibiotic use. This is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the literature, but rather a selection of recent references to inform your decision making and discussions with clients.

There is an extensive published literature on antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance, so this collection is by its nature selective. Although antimicrobial resistance is a worldwide problem this collection has concentrated on research carried out in the UK or, where that is not available, evidence that is likely to be relevant to vets practicing in the UK. The papers included have been selected as being open access, available through RCVS Knowledge Library or in journals which many readers are likely to have access to.

Many of the references relate to human attitudes and behaviour and therefore rely on qualitative methodologies. As with any research it is important to understand the methodology and analysis that has been carried out to critically appraise the evidence and work out how it applies to your practice and clients. For those who are not familiar with qualitative methodology the following links may be useful:

New evidence is being published all the time, so if you wish to search for and critically appraise papers to answer a specific question the EBVM Toolkit, developed by RCVS Knowledge may help you.

A note on terminology

This document uses antibiotic to describe medicines that treat bacterial infections but recognises that other resources or references may also use the term antibacterial and that, when talking about resistance, the term antimicrobial is often used. Those who are interested in definitions may find the following useful, although it should be noted that they are often used interchangeably.

Antimicrobials – Inhibit or kill micro-organisms (may be antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral & antiprotozoal)

For those who would like an overview of the subject you may like to look at the Special issue: Veterinary Antimicrobial Therapy: Basic Principles and Future Directions published in Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics in March 2021.

References

Antimicrobial resistance – a One Health problem

Antimicrobial resistance is recognised as a One Health problem and antibiotic use in veterinary medicine can have implications not only for antimicrobial resistance affecting our patients but also for human health and the wider environment.

Human health

Environmental health

Antibiotic usage in veterinary practice

Data on antibiotic usage in animals in the UK has primarily been sourced from the Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance (VARSS) reports published by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate. However, as many antibiotics are authorised for use in multiple animal species, it is not possible to determine from sales data how much is used per species. More recently ‘big data’ projects such as SAVSNET and VetCompass have been able to provide additional data on antibiotic usage in companion animals.

Antibiotic prescription – description and drivers

Reducing antibiotic use requires not only that we consider the disease to be treated but also the human factors that influence veterinary surgeons’ decisions to prescribe antibiotics. This is an area that is now receiving increasing attention in the published literature.

Farm animal

Companion animal

Exotics

Equine

Owner attitudes to antimicrobial resistance, usage and stewardship

When looking at the decision making regarding the use of antibiotics in the treatment of animals, it is important to acknowledge the involvement and effect of the animal owner on the decision-making process.

Farmers

Pet owners

Responsible use of antibiotics

Responsible use of antibiotics, or antibiotic stewardship, involves making evidence-based decisions about the need for treatment of the individual, or group of animals, with a bacterial infection while also being mindful of the broader implications of antibiotic use.

Reducing antibiotic usage

Reducing antibiotic usage involves not only making decisions about the need for antibiotic use but also reducing the need for antibiotics through measures to keep animals healthy. This is an area where we may be able to learn from experiences in other countries.

Antibiotic use guidelines

This section provides references on the development and use of guidelines in veterinary practice. For references to guidelines relating to treatment of specific species or conditions please see Chapter 7.

Guidelines and recommendations

This section provides links to responsible use recommendations and guidelines by species, as well as any evidence relating the effectiveness of their implementation.

Farm animal

Cattle

Sheep

Pigs

Poultry

Fish

Horses

Companion animals

About evidence collections

Evidence collections bring together collections of published papers on topics of interest and importance to the veterinary professions. Papers are chosen for relevance and accessibility, with the full text of articles either being available through the RCVS Knowledge library, on open access or from other publications to which a significant number of veterinary professionals are likely to have access. This means that there may be relevant evidence that is not included.

If you would like assistance in searching for further evidence on this topic you may find the following helpful EBVM Toolkit 2: Finding the best available evidence.

If you would like to suggest a paper for inclusion in one of our published evidence collections, or a topic for a future collection, please email library@rcvsknowledge.org

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