We soft launched this a few weeks ago and I haven’t gotten around to publicizing it too broadly yet, so here goes…

We’ve launched app-based antibiotic prescribing support for small animal veterinarians, which uses the Firstline platform (an app originally designed to help provide similar guidance for human healthcare providers).  Our content provides clinical guidance for treatment of a wide range of diseases in dogs and cats, as well as information on related topics such as multidrug resistant bacteria, treatment of neonates, surgical prophylaxis and sample collection techniques. There are also sections on specific pathogens (still pretty preliminary) and specific antimicrobials.

To access it, “Firstline – Clinical Decisions” (formerly Spectrum) can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. After launching the app, scroll down and select “OVC-CPHAZ” (Ontario Veterinary College – Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses) as your “location.”

The guidelines are open access, free and non-commercial (the cost is being split between the OVC Dean’s Office and CPHAZ ).

Feedback is always appreciated:

  • What’s missing?
  • What do you not understand or are there things with which you don’t agree?
  • What did I misspell? (I’m sure I haven’t found all the typos).
  • How can we make it better?

The goal is to make the guidelines and the interface as useful and user friendly as possible, and for it to be a practical tool for as many veterinarians as possible. Some treatment recommendations and drug availabilities differ by country, but the vast majority of the content is probably applicable pretty much anywhere.

If you’re looking for large animal information, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association also has their antimicrobial use guidelines on Firstline (just search and select “CVMA” as your location instead). It’s restricted to veterinary personnel in Canada but if you’re in that group, it’s another resource. We’re harmonizing the small animal guidelines so you should get the same dog and cat info from both versions, but the CVMA provides guidance for a larger range of species, including equine, bovine, small ruminant and poultry, with more to come.