Sulfadimethoxine is a sulfonamide antibiotic. Sulfadimethoxine is used to treat many infections, including treatment of respiratory, urinary tract, enteric, and soft tissue infections. It is most frequently used in veterinary medicine, although it is approved in some countries for use in humans. Sulfadimethoxine inhibits bacterial synthesis of folic acid (pteroylglutamic acid) from para-aminobenzoic acid. Sulfadimethoxine is approved in Russia for use in humans, including children, and has been successfully used there for more than 35 years. It is widely available in Russia as an over-the-counter drug manufactured by a number of Russian pharmaceutical companies.
Sulfadimethoxine is the only FDA-approved drug for treating intestinal coccidioisis in cats and dogs. It is also used for:
(1) Treating skin and soft-tissue infections in dogs caused by Staphylococcus aureus or E. coli.
(2) Treating cattle for bovine respiratory disease complex ("shipping fever complex"), necrotic pododermatitis (foot rot), pneumonia when caused by Pasteurella, and calf diphtheria caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum.
(3) When combined with ormetoprim:
a. Treating soft tissue infections, skin infections, urinary tract infections, and intestinal coccidia infections in dogs.
b. Prevention of fowl cholera and coccidioisis by Eimeria in poultry.
c. Treating salmon and trout for furunculosis.
d. It is also one of the only sulfonamides allowed for treating lactating dairy cattle (the others being sulfabromethazine and sulfathoxypyridazine).
