INTRODUCTION, OBJECTIVE & DESIGN
Bacterial infections of the canine urinary tract are commonly encountered in clinical practice. In the present study, the efficacy of a new fluoroquinolone, ibafloxacin (Ibaflin®, Intervet International bv), was compared with an existing product, enrofloxacin (Baytril®, Bayer), in a multicentre, randomised, non-blinded, controlled clinical study in dogs with urinary tract infections in The Netherlands, Germany, France and Slovakia.

MATERIALS & METHODS
Dogs with clinical signs of urinary tract infection and positive urine bacterial culture were treated with either ibafloxacin (Group 1, n=107) or enrofloxacin (Group 2, n=97) orally once daily for 10 days. Clinical examinations were carried out on Days 0, 5, 10 and 15. Bacterial culture was performed on Days 0 and 15. The response to treatment was evaluated using the number of treatment failures (lack of improvement by Day 5), the improvement in general condition and specific disease (e.g. frequency and volume of urination) scores, the overall response to treatment and bacteriological cure.

RESULTS
The number of treatment failures, the improvement in general condition and the bacteriological cure did not differ significantly between the two groups. On Day 5, the scores for frequency of urination were significantly lower in the dogs in Group 1 (P<0.05), there were no significant differences between the two groups in specific disease scores at other times. Coliforms were isolated in pure or mixed culture from 79% of Group 1 and 65% of Group 2. Other bacterial isolates included staphylococci, streptococci, Proteus spp. and Bacillus spp. Five days after the last treatment (Day 15), 93% of Groups 1 and 2 were classed as having responded to treatment (P>0.05). Three dogs in each group developed mild suspected adverse reactions to treatment (e.g. dullness, mild gastrointestinal signs) that did not require specific treatment or withdrawal from the study.

CONCLUSION
Ibafloxacin is as effective and safe as enrofloxacin in the treatment of bacterial infections of the canine urinary tract.