OBJECTIVES

Norfloxacin is a synthetic antibacterial belonging to the family of the fluoroquinolones already widely used for several years in human and veterinary medicine on animals from livestock breeding in non-European countries. The present study aimed at a clinical investigation of a new liquid formulation of norfloxacin for oral use, consisting in a salt soluble in water, particularly suitable for administration to dogs and cats suffering from bacterial infections.

MATERIALS

This open study was carried out according to the rules of VGCP on 42 adult dogs of both sexes, of different breeds and cross-breeds, and on 63 cats of both sexes, of different breeds, suffering from bacterial diseases of respiratory, gastro-intestinal, genito-urinary and cutaneous type. Norfloxacin in a 5% solution was given orally at the dosage of 20 mg/kg every 12 hours for 5 days. At the beginning, at the end of treatment and at the follow-up (after 10 days) a clinical assessment was carried out considering for the dogs: itching, seborrhea, dyspnoea, coughing, diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, polyuria and hyperthermia and for the cats itching, seborrhea, dyspnoea, runny nose, coughing, diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, polyuria, anuria, polydipsia and hyperthermia. A bacteriological investigation on a sample of dogs and cats was also carried out in order to assess the sensitivity to norfloxacin of the microorganisms responsible for the pathology. During the treatment and the follow-up any adverse reactions were recorded. The statistical analysis of the results was carried out by means of the computerized system BMDP (Bio-Medical Data Processing; Statistical Software Inc, 1996). For the assessment of the temporal modifications of the symptoms Friedman's test for non-parametric data was used.

RESULTS

The statistical analysis showed that the clinical symptoms of bacterial origin progressively and statistically regressed after treatment with norfloxacin. The results showed that treatment with norfloxacin in a 5% solution was able to resolve bacterial pathologies achieving recovery in 81% of dogs and in 86% of cats. The safety profile was good. There were no severe adverse reactions and the mild reactions consisted in one case of vomiting and one case of sialorrhea in the dogs and three cases of vomiting and eight cases of sialorrhea in the cats. The pathogenic microorganisms isolated were found to be sensitive to norfloxacin.

CONCLUSION

The results achieved show that the preparation based on norfloxacin in solution at 5% for oral use may be considered an effective veterinary therapeutic tool for bacterial pathologies in the dog and cat, with a good safety profile.