Is anaplasma in dogs curable? How do vets treat this disease?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Even if Chloe is non-symptomatic, I would recommend following through with the treatment, as Minocycline is not harmful and it is best to treat and assume the infection has been treated. This is regular practice and is done quite often. There is a confirmatory test for Anaplasmosis called a PCR. I would discuss this with your vet if you would like to help confirm an active infection. The test used in clinics typically detects antibodies, so if Chloe was exposed to Anaplasma previously and the infection resolved on its own, her body likely developed antibodies against Anaplasma and will be detected on the antibody test for years to come. So the snap test used in clinics does not confirm an active infection, just that the animal has circulating antibodies to Anaplasma, which could indicate an active infection or a previous infection. The PCR is generally an expensive test to confirm ($200-300) versus putting the animal on an antibiotic and treat for several weeks. I would discuss this further with your veterinarian if you would like to investigate further but if it was my dog, I would do the course of Minocycline and consider it treated after the course is finished. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Generally I will treat for 4-6 weeks with Doxycycline and then send out an anaplasmosis PCR to see if the patient is still positive. The test used in most vet clinics is a simple snap test that detects circulating antibodies to the anaplasma. It is likely that Molly will be positive on this snap test for years to come. This does not mean she is actively infected, just that she has had previous exposure to the infection. If you want to confirm she is negative after treatment, then a PCR test would be the test to run. Generally after successful treatment, I do not see any health complications. No annual testing is needed but a PCR might be something to consider running for the first 12 months every 6 months after treatment. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available via consultation if needed.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! As long as your dog has been treated and is now healthy, there should not be any long term effects of the infection. However, in the future, testing for these infections may be difficult, as false positive results are possible. Your dog may be a carrier of Anaplasmosis and Ehrlichia life long, but this disease is not transmitted to humans. You should be careful if you are planning to, or have, another dog. I hope this helps and that all is well!

This is a tricky situation because there isn't a definitive answer with these circumstances. If a dog is positive for either (or both) Anaplasma and Erhlichia, then at a minimum, a CBC (complete blood count) should be run to check on the red & white blood cells, and platelets. Both of these diseases can affect blood cells, which can lead to bleeding issues. If any blood cell lines are affected, then yes, the dog should be treated. If all blood cell counts are normal and the dog is asymptomatic, then there's a bit more of a gray area. As in human medicine, veterinary medicine tries to be cautious in our use of antibiotics, which are the drugs used to treat these infections. Obviously, it's important to use antibiotics when they're needed. If they aren't absolutely necessary, then we should avoid overuse because this leads to bacterial resistance, meaning that the antibiotics may not work when we really need them. Personally, I tend to not treat positive dogs that are asymptomatic with normal CBCs, but other vets may have different preferences. https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/anaplasmosis/ https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/ehrlichia/

Poor girl. Yes this tick infection can definitely cause anorexia (decreased appetite) amongst other problems such as fever, lameness, vomiting, etc. Terramycin IV is not commonly used in veterinary medicine and so I cannot say that I would use this as my first line of treatment.I would simply put Ghontu on Doxycycline oral for this type of infection, steroids and perhaps a recovery food such as Hill's Recovery, Hill's A/D, or liquid Rebound. The Rantac can also help with nausea so that is fine to continue. Please forgive me but you will have to describe what DNS stands for, since this is not a common abbreviation or known drug that we use here in the U.S. Feel free to repost with the definition of medicine spelled out. Also the Conciplex is Vit B which should be continued as long as she is not eating well. I do hope that your fur baby feels better soon! I would possibly consider having her hospitalized in the next day or two if she does not improve with at home care. I wish you all the best moving forward! Take care.

Hello and thank you for your post! I am sorry to hear that Spock has ehrlichia. This disease is treatable and can be cured. However, you should know that the test most veterinary clinics use is a snap test to detect antibodies against ehrlichia. If you are going back in 3 weeks to have this same test performed, Spock will likely continue to show a positive result. This is because his body has made antibodies against ehrlichia. If he had a previous infection and ehrlichia is not causing any of these symptoms, he will still show positive on this SNAP test so if you are going in to have the same SNAP test performed I would have your veterinarian send out a tick fever PCR test to the laboratory. This will detect DNA to ehrlichia and not antibodies. If Spock is positive on the PCR, it means that he has a current active infection. If you do not know if Spock has ever had your licio previously, I would still treat this with Doxycycline for 4 to 6 weeks total treatment time. I hope this helps, please feel free to contact me with any further questions or concerns you may have. I am also available via consultation

I am not sure what you mean by Blue Pearl. Tick borne disease is a general term for diseases transmitted by ticks, of which there are many. Certain diseases are more common in certain parts of the country based on which ticks are present there. Many of these diseases are treatable but some are not necessarily curable. Symptoms can vary in what is seen in the pet and how severe the symptoms are. Did your vet give you a diagnosis as to which organism your pet has? This can typically be determined with blood testing in most instances. Some tick borne diseases are also found in humans, like Lyme disease. But these diseases are not passed between dogs and people, transmission requires being bitten by an infected tick. I would recommend getting a little more information from your vet as to your pets diagnosis. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!