Dear Weak: Ehrlichia Canis, as it is officially called, is a tick-borne illness. Unlike Lyme disease – a more common tick-borne illness affecting dogs and humans caused by bacteria – Ehrlichia is caused by a “rickettsia” or microorganism living in the blood, which is transferred to the dog from the bite of a brown dog tick. Lyme disease is transferred through the smaller deer tick. Ehrlichia has been reported in 34 states and is spreading. Very little is known about it and much of the information regarding symptoms, treatment and recovery can be conflicting.

There are several phases of Ehrlichiosis. The early stage or acute onset can be seem almost immediately after a dog is bitten. It sounds as though your dog may have been infected and shown immediate symptoms. Symptoms might include lethargy, weight loss, not eating, muscle and joint soreness, inability to get up, swollen lymph nodes, bleeding tendencies and back pain among others. However, these same symptoms may appear gradually with a chronic infection in which the dog has the disease for a long time before any symptoms appear. Where it gets confusing is when your dog has a chronic infection and then suddenly gets symptoms. It is impossible to tell how long your dog has suffered and whether their infection is acute or chronic.

Diagnosis

It is important to confirm that your dog has Ehrlichia in order to get proper treatment. But, again, positive diagnosis is sometimes elusive. A simple “snap” test or blood test to confirm Ehrlichia and Lyme may come back a false negative. If you do not catch an acute onset it may lead to a chronic infection, which can be fatal. Survival is good if the disease is caught early and treated aggressively.

To get a better diagnosis a titer blood test is conducted. If the titer is elevated above normal levels, it will usually confirm the disease, especially if symptoms are present in the dog. However, some titers are high in dogs that have been exposed but do not have the disease, again more confusion.

Usually, a full blood profile is done on the dog, which will show lowered red blood cell counts, perhaps elevated white blood cells, but most importantly a low platelet count. Platelets are the blood cells produced in the bone marrow that help in clotting.

Treatment

The best treatment is antibiotics from the tetracycline family for at least two weeks for an acute onset and for up to two months or more for a chronic infection. One of the best drugs vets have been using is Doxycycline. This drug works better in some cases because it penetrates the cells better than tetracycline. However, studies suggest that it doesn’t work in up to 40 percent of cases and other drugs must be tried.

Nothing about this disease is simple. In addition, with lower platelets, there can be bleeding disorders associated with Ehrlichia and sometimes dogs need to be put on a corticosteroid such as Prednisone for treatment. It is important to try and get the dog over this phase of treatment as soon as possible because the Prednisone also weakens the immune system and its ability to fight the primary infection. Sometimes intravenous fluids and a hospital stay are necessary to get this disease under control. Within a few weeks of antibiotics, blood and platelet levels should show improvements.

However, titers must be done again for confirmation. No titer should be done before at least six to eight months of the initial one as it takes that long to see any change. Sometimes titers may take up to a year or more to decrease, especially if the disease affected the bone marrow, which can also take up to a year to recover.

While full recovery depends on when the disease is caught, the best thing you can do is check for ticks on a daily basis and use a tick preventive like Frontline®. It’s time to declare war on ticks!

              

Lisa Peterson, a breeder and exhibitor of Norwegian Elkhounds, is a Delegate to the American Kennel Club. Send questions to elvemel@aol.com or P.O. Box 197, Newtown, CT 06470.