OBJECTIVES

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the efficacy, the ideal dosage of terbinafine in the therapy of dermatophytosis in dogs and cats, the possible side effects of this new drug and to compare these characteristics with griseofulvin, which is the drug of choice for the dermatophytosis´ treatment.

MATERIALS

Thirty-five animals were included in three protocols of treatment. Twelve animals (9 dogs and 3 cats) were treated orally with griseofulvin at 50 mg/kg once daily. Eleven (8 dogs and 3 cats) were treated orally with terbinafine at 5 mg/kg once daily and other 12 (6 dogs and 6 cats) were treated at 20 mg/kg once daily. All the owners were asked to give the medications with food and to use only a neutral soup without antifungal action. The response to therapy was monitored by fungal culturing, wood lamp and clinical improvement. The animals were reevaluated every 15 days, until two negative cultures were obtained.

RESULTS

Griseofulvin was effective in 100% of the cases, with no side effects, the average time for cure was 41 days. The terbinafine used at the dose of 5 mg/kg/day showed an efficacy of 81,3%, no side effects were observed as well and average time for cure was 21 days. The same efficacy was observed using the dosage of 20 mg/kg/day of terbinafine, although side effects were seen in 16,6% of the animals treated with an average time for cure of 33 days.

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrated that terbinafine is a good therapeutic alternative, mainly in the dosage of 5 mg/kg/day, because no side effects were observed and the treatment becomes cheaper for the owners, although griseofulvin is still the first choice drug for the treatment of dermatophytosis in dogs and cats.