Dog on Doxy for Lepto, platelets low. Is the medicine working?

The treatment with Doxycicline is in the second stage of the disease, so i assume he has been on amoxycilline for about 2 weeks before the Doxycicline was started. if this is the case he should be fine being around other dogs and people at the moment.

Doxycycline is not a drug of choice used during pregnancy, especially the second and third trimester with the main risks related to abnormal tooth and bone development, with permanent staining of the baby teeth, but if the health of the mother is at risk then the benefits may outweigh the risks. If she is now heavily pregnant I would continue to use as stopping now will not affect outcome, if however you think she is less than 3-4weeks pregnant and she had not been critically ill then it may be worth considering stopping treatment whilst aware that the initial disease symptoms may return or worsen if not fully cured. Blood tests to identify current infection may be helpful in deciding

As the doxycycline keeps killing more and more of the blood parasites the body will be able to make and retain more healthy platelets. This may take a while. Feed your dog good quality food and he will have the strength to make enough platelets. It will take time.

Hello, I am sorry to hear about Daisy. Based on the blood work abnormalities it is possible that Daisy has an infection secondary to tick borne disease or another organism. Many of these diseases cause destruction of the platelets. The white blood cells are part of the immune system and fight infection. It is possible that this value went up despite being on treatment secondary to fighting a severe infection. However, if Daisy is still not feeling well or these counts don’t improve it may be possible that Daisy’s platelets are low due to a different cause such as immune mediated disease. Your veterinarian can help assess for this kind of disease and determine if treatment is needed if Daisy’s blood counts do not improve or she is clinically ill. Hope this helps, good luck!

I wish there were a set number of days to expect this to happen, but there just isn't. The body can respond very quickly and normalize platelets or increase platelets just about at any time. THe key is to recheck platelet levels every 2-4 weeks as well as monitoring him for any signs of toxicity (i.e. Lethargy, lack of appetite, spontaneous bleeding, respiratory distress, etc). I hope this helps and best wishes with your pet Bruno and his recnet exposure to Anaplasma.

If Rufus is still testing positive for Lyme disease, then yes he should continue to take the doxycycline. If you stop it and he's still positive for it, then the symptoms of it will come back. He needs to be treated until he is cleared of the disease. Studies have shown that some animals do not clear the organism after 30 days, and will relapse once the antibiotic is discontinued. While there can be side effects of antibiotics, the symptoms of Lyme disease can be quite severe and lead to fatal kidney failure. Not treating him will lead to much worse symptoms that the side effects of long term antibiotic use.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your questions. After the treatment of 4 weeks with Doxycycline, you can test Dash for Lymes by sending out a test called a PCR. This particular test is usually expensive but will tell you if Dash has a current active infection of Lymes. Unfortunately, with Lymes disease, it is never eradicated from the body, treatment gets it down to a very low bacterial burden to the point where no symptoms are evident. The snap ELISA test that is done in the veterinary hospital, will likely always show positive, but this is because it tests for antibodies to Lymes, which Dash will likely have for years (if not forever). His creatinine being elevated could indicate early kidney disease. I would recommend having the veterinarian assess his urine to see if it is adequately concentrating and also check an SDMA test to help establish whether or not he has early renal disease and what stage it is. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.