Canine protothecosis

Abstract

Canine protothecosis remains a difficult condition to manage. The paucity of clinical cases hinders the development of successful treatment strategies. The clinical signs associated with the disease are nonspecific, and the course is so insidious that, by the time a definitive diagnosis is reached, the organism has often disseminated throughout the body. At this point, the condition is beyond treatment, and death occurs owing to failure of any number of organ systems, including the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, renal, and central nervous systems. It is of some encouragement that the few patients that have undergone aggressive early treatment have survived longer than patients presenting late in the disease course. Nevertheless, the outlook for any dog with protothecosis is grave, and it remains to be determined whether early diagnosis can truly provide a better long-term prognosis. By including protothecosis as a consideration for dogs initially brought in with a history of chronic diarrhea or acute blindness and with a subsequent finding of exudative retinal separation, early diagnosis is possible. This recognition potentially affords the opportunity for an immune status work-up and intervention with increasingly better treatment options.