Ehrlichiosis is a tick-transmitted bacterial disease causing a range of severity from mild acute illness to severe chronic disease with bone marrow suppression.
Dogs with chronic severe ehrlichiosis experience profound weakness from low red blood cell and platelet counts - exhaustion, spontaneous bleeding, and susceptibility to infections. The subclinical phase is insidious - dogs may appear mildly unwell for months while bone marrow damage accumulates. By the time severe pancytopenia develops, treatment response is less reliable. The long, potentially comfortable subclinical period followed by severe deterioration means early diagnosis during the acute phase, when treatment is most effective, dramatically changes welfare outcomes.