what is the diagnostic workup and treatment protocol for leptospirosis in dogs?

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The diagnostic workup for canine leptospirosis combines acute-phase point-of-care (POC) screening with confirmatory microscopic agglutination test (MAT) paired titers and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and definitive treatment is doxycycline 5 mg/kg PO q12h 10 mg/kg/day total for 14 days. --- Diagnostic Workup Begin with rapid POC antibody testing (IgM and IgG) at initial presentation. Positive POC results in dogs with compatible clinical signs strongly indicate acute leptospirosis, while negative results require additional testing to exclude infection.8 POC tests have the greatest value early in the course of illness, before MAT and PCR results are available.3 Submit paired MAT titers as the reference serologic test. Acute and convalescent samples collected 10–14 days apart are required; a fourfold rise in titer confirms recent infection.15 In the presence of clinical signs, a single titer ≥800 can suggest infection but cannot confirm a diagnosis.9 The MAT does not reliably predict the infecting serogroup, and there is considerable interlaboratory variation in results.19 Submit PCR on both blood and urine concurrently with the acute MAT. PCR on blood and/or urine is a valuable early diagnostic tool and can detect infection before antibody titers rise.35 Culture of blood or urine is possible but takes 8–12 weeks and is infrequently used in clinical practice.5 Common clinicopathological findings at presentation include azotemia (68%), elevated alanine transaminase activity (66%), hyperbilirubinemia (55%), hypoalbuminemia (49%), thrombocytopenia (43%), anemia (42%), and glucosuria (32%).11 Acute kidney injury is the most common presentation in recent years.13 Disease manifestations include renal involvement alone (16%), hepatic involvement alone (37%), and combined hepatic and renal involvement (47%).11 --- Treatment Protocol Doxycycline at 5 mg/kg PO q12h for 14 days is the recommended treatment for optimal clearance of organisms from the renal tubules and eliminat