Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When I showed up at the vet today to get my dobie spayed, they told me they couldn't do the spay until they ran a test for some genetic disease dobies are prone to - i forget the name of it, but basically, they said they need to find out if she has it so they can give her platelets during the surgery if she does so she doesn't hemorage. Anybody else experience this?

Ok, just looked it up, its called von Willebrand's Disease. How common is it?

I don't really know a lot abuot it but I think if you went to a good breeder your pretty safe. I know i hav eheard of it not showing up untill the dog is older. I don't htink my vet checked for it. They did the pre blood work but it was the same they have done with the others as far as I know. Hope everything is ok with your girl
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VWD is very commen in Dobermans, but rarely causes problems. It is a recessive gene and in order to truly know your Dobermans status you need to do a dna test offered by Vet Gen for $150. Your vet can do an Elisa test which tests for clotting ability, but it won't tell you whether your Dobe is clear, carrier, or affected. VWD is not the only factor that affects bleeding. It is estimated that as high as 25% of Dobermans may be affected, but again I stress that even most affected Dobermans NEVER have a problem with bleeding - most are not "Clincally Affected". Because we can now have the dna test for VWD, most breeders are trying to breed away from affected. However, there are other much more devistating Doberman diseases that are more important to the breed and VWD status is just one of the things that good breeders have to think about when planning a litter.

That said, some vets that are not very experienced with Dobermans really get caught up in the VWD issue - don't let them rip you off. If the Elisa values are decent then I would not worry about bleeding out during a spay. We see Dobermans with Elisa values as low as 4% go through a spay successfully - with truly low values, I would have plasma on hand. I fostered a clinically affected puppy for Doberman rescue 3 years ago (who did almost bleed out in a different operation) - she was spayed successfully but they did have plasma on hand - I don't think it was needed. She bled like a stuck pig everytime she lost a puppy tooth - if your puppy went through teething without bleeding then I would guess that she is not clincally affected - I am not an expert by any stretch so this is just my experience and humble opinion.

>>Ok, just looked it up, its called von Willebrand's Disease. How common is it?

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It's common enough that a basic test is indicated before a surgery. For that matter, we should do a general blood screening for the basics (liver values, kidney values, white counts, red blood cell count, etc.) on dogs before they go under general anesthesia, unless one has been done recently. It gives baseline values to compare to later in life for healthy dogs, and it saves the lives of dogs who have medical problems that did not otherwise show up.

I have a relative with a 12-year-old dog who would not have seen his first birthday except for a pre-operative blood check prior to scheduled neutering surgery. He has a severe kidney defect that has turned out to be controllable with diet. At the time of the blood test, his values were so bad, they were surprised he wasn't in a coma. The surgery was cancelled, and he's still intact. That blood test definitely saved his life.

Blood testing for our dogs is a bargain.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Vonwillebrand is a lot more common that most people think. There are 3 types Clear, carrier and affected. I have a female who is a 4% clotting factor. Her tail is cropped and dewclaws done, No problem, Ears cropped still not problem, Spay and no problem, as a matter of fact she was clotting as the doctor was doing the operation. Now she broke a toe nail and it bleed for 2 months. Testing is so important! I had the Dna test done but also the blood test done!

I had my dobie fixed when he was under for his ears they never brought up questions about any tests.