Comparative evaluation of four drugs on hematology and recovery time of canine monocytic Ehrlichiosis

Canine monocytic ehrlichiosis causes acute, sub-clinical, and chronic clinical complications with changes in hematological parameters: hemoglobin, hematocrit, and white blood cell count; doxycycline is suitable for treatment. The objective was to evaluate the effect of four drugs (doxycycline, minocycline, rifampicin, and imidocarb) on hematological parameters and the recovery of dogs with canine monocytic ehrlichiosis. Twenty-nine dogs were randomly distributed into 4 groups: minocycline at 10 mg/kg PO every 12 hours (G1), rifampicin at 10 mg/kg PO every 24 hours (G2), doxycycline at 10 mg/kg PO every 24 hours (G3), and imidocarb dipropionate at 6.6 mg/kg IM with 2-week intervals (G4). The effect of the drugs on hematological parameters and recovery on days 7, 14, 21, and 28 were tested by analysis of variance; means ± SD were compared with the Tukey test (α = 0.05). The treatment of canine monocytic ehrlichiosis with three antibiotics (doxycycline, minocycline, and rifampicin) was more effective compared to imidocarb due to the rapid increase in platelets, leukocytes, and lymphocytes between 14 and 28 days. Based on hematological results, this study concludes that doxycycline, minocycline (semi-synthetic tetracyclines), and rifampicin were more suitable than imidocarb dipropionate for the treatment of canine monocytic ehrlichiosis. Therefore, in clinical practice, the administration of doxycycline and minocycline is recommended first, although rifampicin can be used in canine monocytic ehrlichiosis therapy as an optional alternative.