Bacterial Culture Results From Liver, Gallbladder, or Bile in 248 Dogs and Cats Evaluated for Hepatobiliary Disease: 1998–2003

Abstract

Biliary cultures yielded a significantly higher percentage of positive results overall (30% [18 of 60]) than did hepatic cultures (7% [15 of 215]). In patients with cholecystitis, 62% (8 of 13) had positive biliary cultures. In patients with hepatic inflammation, 23% (7 of 30) had positive bile cultures, whereas only 6% (6 of 103) had positive hepatic cultures. Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp., Bacteroides spp., Streptococcus spp., and Clostridium spp. were the most common true-positive isolates. More than 80% of Enterobacteriaceae were susceptible to ciprofloxacin or aminoglycosides, with only 30-67% susceptible to first-generation aminopenicillins and cephalosporins. Liver samples obtained by surgery or laparoscopy were more likely to yield positive cultures than those obtained by percutaneous needle biopsy.