Prospective comparative study of 3 treatment protocols using doxycycline or imidocarb dipropionate in dogs with naturally occurring ehrlichiosis

This paper reports the clinicopathologic responses of 93 dogs with spontaneously occurring ehrlichiosis to 3 different treatment protocols. Thirty-two dogs were treated with doxycycline (10 mg/kg/day for 28 days), 31 were treated with imidocarb dipropionate (5 mg/kg given 15 days apart in 2 separate injections), and 30 were treated with both drugs simultaneously, at the doses as specified. The dogs underwent clinicopathologic evaluation before and after treatment, and were examined periodically during the 24-month period after the treatment. No differences were found in the clinical responses among the dogs in the 3 treatment groups. As for the clinicopathologic response, in spite of the fact that at the end of the study the results obtained with the 3 protocols were similar, the platelet count and serum protein electrophoresis results returned to normal more slowly in dogs that received imidocarb dipropionate as compared to those given the other 2 treatments.