The Responsible use of Medicines Alliance – Companion Animal and Equine (RUMA CA&E), announced the first ever national AMU reduction targets for companion animals in November 2025; targets which have been carefully defined following feedback and input from a wide range of sector stakeholders and which have secured support from representatives of the profession and AMR experts.

The targets were developed by the RUMA CA&E Targets and Measures Working Group (T&MWG). This sub-group comprises companion animal experts representing all parts of the companion animal sector, who have come together to formulate a set of realistic and achievable AMU reduction targets. The group has looked at AMS strategies, trends, usage breakdown, and guidelines currently in use at a national, group, and practice level, plus individual and disease-based considerations for the measurement of antimicrobial use.

National picture targets

Ambition:

• Overall reduction in AMU by 30% (DDDVet dog/cat antimicrobial use)
• Reduce the use of HP-CIAs in cats by 50%

These reductions will apply to the 2024 AMU results and specific measures will be communicated after each VARSS report publication.

To help achieve these national targets there are two condition specific ‘In Practice Focus Areas’ have been defined and in time, other conditions will also be focused on.

To support the delivery of the national reduction targets there is a focus on reducing the use of antibiotics (antimicrobials) in frequently encountered conditions where the prevailing evidence does not support antibiotic use in the majority of cases. Practice toolkits have been developed to help support vet practice teams to focus on each condition and use antibiotics only where they are indicated. Click on each condition below to access the resources: