Therapeutic compliance

In veterinary medicine, therapeutic compliance is the respect for the instructions and recommendations given by a veterinarian to the pet owner, concerning the treatment of a condition that the pet is affected by.

It applies as much to medication (doses, means and frequency of administration, length of treatment) as it does to the care administered (rest, wound care, Elizabethan collar, nutrition, etc).

All prescription medications are concerned by the importance of compliance. All medication has potential side effects, possibly harmful interactions with other medication and contra-indications related to the age, species and state of health of the patient. Veterinarians possess the knowledge necessary in order to determine which treatment(s) are indicated for each case, at what dose(s) and for what duration of treatment.

The medications most frequently used in an inappropriate manner by pet owners, pet shops and shelters are antibiotics, dewormers, non-steroid anti-inflammatories (metacam®, deramax®, rimadyl®) as well as steroid anti-inflammatories (cortisone: prednisone®, prednisolone®, vanectyl-P®).

With antibiotics for example, a bad compliance may promote the emergence of antibiotic resistance (refer to the text on this subject), causing recurring or persistent infections as well as the potential transmission to humans.

In the case of dewormers, a bad compliance may stimulate the development of parasites resistant to certain types of dewormer, rendering the anti-parasitic treatments les effective and more difficult thereafter.

Furthermore, in the case of anti-inflammatories, a bad compliance may have severe consequences on the health of the animal being treated (vomiting, diarrhea, digestive ulcers possibly perforating, acute renal insufficiency, etc).

The list of medication possibly leading to more or less serious health problems if their posology is not followed to the letter is long. The golden rule is simple, before changing anything in the treatment of an animal, it is always preferable to consult a veterinarian.

For a medication to be effective, it must attain its targeted concentration in the blood and this for the appropriate duration (not too long, not too short). All anomalies (noncompliance) in the posology (dose,

frequency of administration and length of treatment) may lead to the ineffectiveness of the treatment, as well as potentially causing health problems to the animal being treated