title: A survey of North American shelter practices relating to feline upper respiratory management.
abstract: An internet-based survey was conducted to determine common strategies for control of feline upper respiratory infections (URI) in animal shelters. Two hundred and fifty-eight North American shelters responded, representing a spectrum of 57% private non-profit, 27% municipal and 16% combined private non-profit-municipal shelters. All but nine shelters reported having a regular relationship with a veterinarian, 53% had full-time veterinarians and 62% indicated full-time (non-veterinarian) medical staff. However, in 35% of facilities, non-medical shelter management staff determined what medication an individual cat could receive, with 5% of facilities making that decision without indicating the involvement of a veterinarian or technician. Ninety-one percent of shelters had an isolation area for clinically ill cats. The most commonly used antimicrobial was doxycycline (52%), followed by amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (33%). Shelters are using a wide range of prevention measures and therapeutics, leaving room for studying URI in different settings to improve understanding of optimal protocols.
authors: American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Fort Collins, CO, USA. miranda.spindel@aspca.org
authors: Miranda E
authors: ME
authors: Spindel
authors: Margaret R
authors: MR
authors: Slater
authors: Dawn
authors: D
authors: Boothe
mesh_terms: D019980:Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000827:Animal Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002415:Cats; D004318:Doxycycline / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006799:Housing, Animal; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D019980:Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination; D004318:Doxycycline
references: J Feline Med Surg. 2004 Apr;6(2):83-8
references: 15123152
references: J Feline Med Surg. 2005 Apr;7(2):109-19
references: 15771947
references: J Feline Med Surg. 2008 Dec;10(6):551-7
references: 18539065
references: J Feline Med Surg. 2009 Oct;11(10):816-25
references: 19782625
references: J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2005 Aug 15;227(4):579-85
references: 16117066