Farmers may have noticed some changes in the antibiotics that your vet has been prescribing in the past 12 months.

Farmers may also have noticed that your vet will be encouraging you to vaccinate more, to try to improve hygiene levels and to provide enhanced husbandry conditions for your stock. There has been a move away from treatment towards prevention.

So, it was welcome that The Code of Good Practice Regarding the Responsible Prescribing and Use of Antibiotics in Farm Animals was published on the Department of Agriculture’s website recently. You may be familiar with this story, but as we move into 2020, it is no harm to recap on the main points.

Right diagnosis

Your vet is there to examine your stock, take samples where necessary and definitively diagnose what issue you have. This may take some time, but knowing your enemy is half the battle.

Right animal

This is relevant when it comes to blanket feeding of antibiotics as a medication in feed. The problem is the healthier animal eats the most, while sicker animals don’t get the medication they need or worse only a fraction of it.

Right antibiotics

Certain antibiotics are for specific conditions, so don’t just pick an antibiotic that is being used for another animal and assume that it will work for a different condition in a different animal. In an ideal world, we would carry out culture and sensitivity on bacteria in order to select the correct antibiotic.

Right dose

Know the weight of the animal you are treating. Do not underdose, give the antibiotic in the correct manner, at the correct site and in a sterile fashion.

Right duration

If your vet says to give the antibiotic for five days, it is important that you complete the course. This is even if your animal appears to have recovered. This is important, as otherwise we select for resistance.

Right storage & disposal

Antibiotics will not work if they are not stored correctly. Most often, they need to be out of direct light and at room temperature. There are some exceptions. When finished the course of antibiotics, it must be disposed of. Vets will provide an incineration service through a third party.

Certain antibiotics have been designated critically important antibiotics. Therefore, certain antibiotics which may have been familiar to you are now only to be used under certain circumstances that your vet will have to deem appropriate.

Sean Coffey works at Mulcair Vet Clinic, Newport, Co Tipperary, part of XLVets, a group of practices working to achieve a better future for agriculture and veterinary in Ireland. Visit www.xlvets.ie.

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