Abstract
The increase in methicillin and multidrug resistance (MDR) of Staphylococcus species, which are frequently isolated from cats and dogs, formed the basis of our study. For this purpose, a total of 142 clinical samples (wound, ear, eye, nasal, skin swabs, etc.) belonging to 100 dogs and 42 cats brought to the Near East University Animal Hospital were studied in our investigation. Species-level identification of Staphylococcus spp. isolated from the samples examined was performed with the VITEK-2 microbial ID/AST test system and API Staph identification system. Antimicrobial susceptibility analyzes of Staphylococcus isolates were carried out through the VITEK-2 automated system. From the samples, 78 (54.92%) Staphylococcus spp. were isolated. 52 (66.67%) of the isolates were identified as Coagulase positive Staphylococcus (CoPS) and 16 (20.51%) as Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CoNS). Among CoPS, the most frequently identified species were S. pseudintermedius (38.46%) and S. aureus (25.64%); whereas among CoNS, S. chromogenes (10.26%) was determined as the most predominant. According to the results of antimicrobial susceptibility analyzes, 11 (28.2%) isolates were determined as methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), 10 (25.64%) as methicillin resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) and 10 (25.64%) isolate methicillin resistant Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (MRCoNS). Besides, 6 (40.00%) MDR-MRSP and 4 (26.66%) MDRMRSA positivity were determined among the species with multiple drug resistance. Of the 23 MDR Staphylococcus spp. isolates in total, 21 were isolated from dogs and 2 from cats. By analyzing the current approaches of the increased drug resistance with the data obtained in this study in Staphylococcus species isolated from animals, necessary contributions have been implemented to the treatment protocols within this framework.