Companion Animal Owners’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions Regarding Antibiotic Use in Portugal

Abstract

While multiple studies have focused on the motivations surrounding antibiotic prescription among veterinarians, little is known about companion animal owners’ knowledge, attitude and perception (KAP) regarding the topic. A nationwide survey directed toward Portuguese dog and cat owners was conducted online and at veterinary practices to characterize their KAP regarding antibiotics. After database curation, a total of 423 valid submissions were considered. Although 97.9% of respondents stated that they knew what an antibiotic was, 23.5% and 19.2% answered that they were used to treat viral and fungal infections, respectively. Antimicrobial effectiveness was favored over cost when 87.7% of owners agreed they would prefer to spend more money to identify the appropriate antibiotic. Around 87% of respondents recognized antibiotic resistance as a significant health problem and 74.6% strongly agreed/somewhat agreed that antibiotic use in pets may contribute to resistance development. However, only 25.3% recognized that this could promote resistance dissemination, showing little awareness of the interconnection between human and animal health. Moreover, 55.6% of respondents were neutral when asked whether antibiotics used in veterinary medicine were also important for humans. These findings suggest that communication between veterinarians and pet owners can still be improved to further clarify the impact that antibiotic use has in pets from a One-Health perspective, also enabling antimicrobial stewardship interventions.