Isolation of Clostridium difficile from dogs with digestive disorders, including stable metronidazole-resistant strains

•Clostridium difficile was isolated from dogs with digestive disorders.•Isolates belonged to PCR ribotypes 078, 106, 110, 154 and 430.•Some isolates displayed resistance to multiple antibiotics including metronidazole.

The prevalence of Clostridium difficile in 107 dogs with diverse digestive disorders attended in a Spanish veterinary teaching hospital was assessed. The microorganism was isolated from 13 dogs (12.1%) of different disease groups. Isolates belonged to PCR ribotypes 078, 106, 154 and 430 (all of them toxigenic) and 110 (non-toxigenic), and were resistant to several antimicrobial drugs. Notably, seven isolates obtained from different dogs displayed stable resistance to metronidazole. The results of this study provide further evidence that dogs can act as a reservoir of C. difficile strains of epidemic ribotypes with resistance to multiple antibiotics.