Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In july we got Izzy, a 5 month old dobie from the local humane society. A couple days later, she started getting sick, and ended up with Parvo. A couple trips to the emergency vet, and $500 dollars later, she was ok. After she'd been home from the vet a few days, she came down with kennel cough, and we went home with another set of vet bills. A month or so later, we scheduled her to get spayed, and our vet informed us that they wouldn't do the spay without a von willebrand's blood test. So we waited a few months, paid down the debt from her first vet bills, and got her tested last week.

The vet called yesterday, and told us that it was ok to get her spayed as her tests came back negative. They then called me back today to tell me that the first vet that had called me had read the test results wrong, and that there was a strong positive for vWD. Its going to cost $300-$400 now to have her spayed, and its going to be a risky operation.

I am so stressed out right now. I love Izzy to death, and I'll go ahead and get her spayed, but its so stressful having her already try to die on us twice in the past six months, and now I have to worry about her bleeding out from surgery. My vet told me that while there is hormonal birth control available for dogs, its not very safe, and that she will risk hemoraging if she ever got pregnant, or possibly even from going into heat. I'll have to deal with this for her whole life - any accidental injuries she could sustain that might be no big deal in other dogs could be serious or fatal for her.

I just wish she could be healthy. I wish I wasn't always giving all my extra money to the vet. I just want my dog to be ok.

Linnea..it sure sounds like you have run the gamet of emotions with Izzy. It also sounds like she has been put the wringer herself. Let's hope and pray for a succesful spay. If nothing else you now know she has a potential lifelong condition and you can seek help immediately if need be. Hopefully the spay will be the last of the big expenses and you and Izzy can spend some happy and healty time together.
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Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
PHMax
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I think I've heard those tests are often wrong.

Do you have other dogs? Its not a necessity to spay your dog. If you can keep her away form male dogs there is no problem. Ther are dogs that for whatever reason(usually anesthesia) can't be put under. You may also want to look inotdiffrent spaying methods nad see if they have anyhting for dogs that are bleeders. Maybe try calling vet schools in your area and seeing if they can help.There has to be something,I'd think anyway.

But if its that big of a risk and you are a responcible owner I am sure you cna keep her form getting pregnent. My dobe has neutered,he reacted bad to anesthesia getting a lump removed and i'm not going to risk putting him under again. My corgi has also never bene fixed for pretty much the same reason(she just breathes so fast and hard I am scared to death to let her go under,keep saying I am going to though). Its a pain in the butt to ahve to keep them apart but it works,it has for six years. Never had any type of accident or even close call with eitheir of them.

Whatever you decide to do I hope it turns out well
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It sounds like your vet is using the Elisa test which is very unreliable. The only way to know for sure if your Dobe is an affected vwd is to do a genitic test through Vetgen. The test costs about $150 and your vet can order or you can. They have a website and I think you can order off it. It is a simple swab of the inside of their cheek, and then you just send it in. FYI, affected vwd in Dobermans is not usually a problem as it is in some other breeds. Very few vwd affected Dobermans ever have bleeding issues. Your vet may not know much about Dobermans and is looking to be ultra cautious. Ask him/her if for that price they are planning on having plasma on hand.

Mary Jo is right about a number of things..the ONLY reliable test for doberman vWD is the dna test marketed by Vetgen. The ELISA blood test has a high error rate, and there's an overlap between categories as well.

Very, very few dobermans who are genetically affected with vWD ever have any kind of clotting difficulty due to vWD. They lead perfectly normal lives, undergo surgery, etc.

I'd be looking for a vet who's more familiar with this disease and dobermans. I'd also recommend getting a clotting time test done before doing any kind of surgery on any doberman..that gives you the most accurate picture of how the dog is clotting on that particular day..and vWD isn't the only disorder that can cause clotting difficulties.

Oh I'm so incredibly sorry you are having all of this trouble. It's never good when our pets are sick.

I do not even know what to say other than I'm so sorry you are going through this.
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PHReign
Email me: HReign@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">PHReign@pethobbyist.com
Dear dog,
I can not buy anything larger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think that I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to your fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straigt out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing more than doggy sarcasm.

sounds like you are a good mommy! you are doing all you can for her!

1-it IS important to spay, esp. before the first heat, it will greatly reduce the risk of mammory cancer, it will also eliminate the risk of her getting a pyometra.
2-get a coagulation test, the results of this will be more directly related to her bleeding then a vWD test
3-look for a vet with lazer, this reduces bleeding and improves healing time

im not a vet but i am a regestered vet tech, and if i was in your sitiation this is what i would do.

good luck!!!

Last friday we got Izzy spayed. She received a bag of plasma before and after the surgery, and is back to her ornery self. I seriously hope this is the last of her issues, but she's doing well now.

Yeah!!! I do hope this is the worst you have to deal with. I'm glad she did well and has recovered completely.
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PHReign
Email me: HReign@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">PHReign@pethobbyist.com
Dear dog,
I can not buy anything larger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think that I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to your fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straigt out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing more than doggy sarcasm.