Interesting thread.
If I had a dog with LS, I wouldn't feed K/D because I think there are better foods for this issue, but I can't say not to either. I would let an IMS or veterinary nutritionist decide on that. About the pred, I have no answer. The problem saying that it shouldn't be used is we have no idea what is going on here, and even if we did, maybe we're missing something. I mean, it's realllllly easy to miss something that a vet said, and then trying to recap and tell a forum full of people what they said can be difficult. There is always a chance that something got mixed up in the interpretation. So what if there is more than one issue here or? So OP, if a general DVM told you to give pred and you don't want to, then ask an IMS that is experienced with LS.
Vaccines will always be a source of debate. I have something but respect for Dr. Schultz - and Dr. Schultz does not tell owners to follow what he is seeing in the lab.
He is researching and isn't going to tell people to stop vaccinating. That's what he does with his own dogs. While I can understand why people would want to follow or do follow his protocol right now, I don't really recommend it. His findings this far are probably exactly right, but we don't really know that. I wouldn't want to tell an owner that stopping vaccines after a one year booster is okay only for their dog to get a serious vaccine-preventable disease because of my advice. When asked, I do explain this is one way to do it, but I try to add that it is still being researched. AAHA is more middle of the road and it's what I say to do for a healthy dog because a lot of vets agree on this method. I am somewhere between the minimalist and AAHA approach personally. BTW, some of the vets who recommend very minimal vaccines (again, don't disagree - just wouldn't say that one should do this unless their dog can't handle vaccines) also do nosodes for heartworms. It's very easy to go too far with the no-drug thing.
Lepto is a serious problem in Michigan. If my dog could handle the vaccine and went outside to play, she would get it. She is small and I would not consider that a reason not to get it. I would, however, consider her to be at higher risk from getting it and would give benadryl first. I'm not concerned about the zoonotic potential as much as I am for her health. Her liver or kidneys would likely crap out if she were to get the disease and I'm not interested in it. This is from somebody whose dog had a very serious reaction to this vaccine. I'd do it again with precautions taken (for a dog with no previous lepto reaction). My view has definitely changed because right after it happened, I didn't think I'd ever allow a small dog to get it again. Hey, a couple weeks ago a dog came back after vomiting several times from a bordatella vaccine which isn't common at all. So - they can react from any of them and I do think now the lepto is safer.