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We had our doberman tested for Von Willebrand disease, and unfortunately, the vet tech called back last week to tell us that our doberman, Maya, has slight Von Willebrand's disease. The vet was not able to talk that day and the vet tech did not know what this meant. Does any know any thing about Von Willebrand or know of any websites that might be helpful? Also, our puppy has elevated liver enzymes and after 2 weeks of medication, they are down, but still not where they should be. Again, the vet has not been able to talk to. She is trying to figure out what do next. Any ideas that could cause increased liver enzymes? I know she was fed Diamond dog food as a puppy by the breeder, but that was in Minnesota and not in an area where the contaminated food was sent. More than a little worried about our puppy. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know a lot about von Willebrand's disease; but, I have included one link that will explain it to you. If you go to GOOGLE and type in... Canine von Willebrand's disease .... you should find several links that will help you.

However, I do know a little about liver enzymes as my one dog has liver disease. I would need to know more details by specific enzymes and their numbers to TRY and help you. It is unfortunate that your vet was unavailable for you. Unless you are really attached to your vet, I would find a new one. Normally, test results are given out ONLY by the Vet so that he or she can explain them to you. This is to avoid exactly what happened to you!!

There are so many particulars that go into reading a blood panel, as the various chemicals alone or combined, gives a lot of information. You really have to read these by the whole picture as only a vet can do.

e.g. AlkP is an enzyme present in liver, bone, intestine and kidney. Increases related to the liver may result from a blockage of bile flow. It is the reason why you must look at the WHOLE panel as raised ALK P alone means one thing and ALK P raised with other chemicals mean another.

The four most common causes of increases in Alkaline Phosphatase ALONE are 1) young dogs (growing dogs) have higher alkaline phosphatase levels 2) hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing's disease) 3) hepatic nodular hyperplasia ( a benign condition) and 4) drug interactions. The drugs that are most commonly associated with rises in alkaline phosphatase levels are corticosteroids, phenobarbital and primodone, but other medications can have this effect.

As noted in No. 1 - Young, growing dogs... due to bone growth, will have high ALK P. This can be normal. I am mentioning this, as you said this appeared in your puppies blood work.

Raised levels of both ALK P and ALT will indicate towards the liver. This is why a vet must diagnose the test results. It was very unprofessional and inexcusable that an UNKNOWLEDGEABLE vet tech would call you with test results telling you that your dog has a disease but, doesn't know what it means?????? Your vet should not allow this to happen!!!! He or she should makes themselves personally available by phone to you AND personally explain everything to you.

I don't mean to sound harsh; but, the unknown is always more scarier than the known. Besides being unprofessional it was insensitive to do this to you. I am sorry that you have been placed in this position.

>>We had our doberman tested for Von Willebrand disease, and unfortunately, the vet tech called back last week to tell us that our doberman, Maya, has slight Von Willebrand's disease. The vet was not able to talk that day and the vet tech did not know what this meant. Does any know any thing about Von Willebrand or know of any websites that might be helpful? Also, our puppy has elevated liver enzymes and after 2 weeks of medication, they are down, but still not where they should be. Again, the vet has not been able to talk to. She is trying to figure out what do next. Any ideas that could cause increased liver enzymes? I know she was fed Diamond dog food as a puppy by the breeder, but that was in Minnesota and not in an area where the contaminated food was sent. More than a little worried about our puppy. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

von Willebrand's disease

>>We had our doberman tested for Von Willebrand disease, and unfortunately, the vet tech called back last week to tell us that our doberman, Maya, has slight Von Willebrand's disease. The vet was not able to talk that day and the vet tech did not know what this meant. Does any know any thing about Von Willebrand or know of any websites that might be helpful? Also, our puppy has elevated liver enzymes and after 2 weeks of medication, they are down, but still not where they should be. Again, the vet has not been able to talk to. She is trying to figure out what do next. Any ideas that could cause increased liver enzymes? I know she was fed Diamond dog food as a puppy by the breeder, but that was in Minnesota and not in an area where the contaminated food was sent. More than a little worried about our puppy. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

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Write out your questions--Your email has them!--call your vet's office and ask that she call you when she has time to talk about the dog's case. Let them know when and where you can be reached. This is the best way to communicate by phone with a vet. Take notes on her answers to your questions so you will remember what she said.
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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

All right, first of all, most vets test for von Willebrand's disease (vWD) with the Elisa blood assay which, unfortunately, is unreliable. That particular test measures the amount of von Willebrand factor (vWf) and Factor VIII coagulant activity in the blood. The problem is that those factors are influenced daily by hormones, illness, disease, stress, etc.

Your dog's liver is apparently compromised in some way at this time. The liver is a key component to proper blood clotting. Therefore, your dog's vWD results via Elisa should not be expected to be the best while your dog's liver is compromised.

The Elisa test may be useful in certain situations. Like for instance, if you are contemplating surgery on the dog in the very near future, and by that, I mean within the next couple of days. It is a picture of what is going on with the blood at this moment in time, not necessarily indicative of what is normal for your dog.

We do have a DNA test for vWD through a company called VetGen http://www.vetgen.com
There are reference articles there. The DNA test tells you whether your dog is clear, carrier or affected. However, affected means that the dog has 2 copies of the vWD gene, not necessarily that it will have a bleeding problem. It means that the dog could have a vWD bleeding problem, not that it will have. Most affected Dobermans live perfectly normal lives. It does make sense, however, to take some extra precautions with them when heading into surgical situations.

Back to the liver ... Dobermans are prone to a problem called chronic active hepatitis (CAH). CAH can only be definitively diagnosed with a liver biopsy. A liver biopsy may be contraindicated, however, if your dog's blood is not clotting normally while the liver values are raised.

Personally, I have a dog who is prone to bacterial liver infections. She responds to clavamox in a combination with flagyll along with reglan for the nausea that liver problems often bring about. She also takes a hepatic support vitamin (main ingredient is milk thistle) and she's currently on Denosyl (SamE).

The vet finally called me back and she said she was not worried about her liver enyzmes. She feels they are elevated due to the fact that she is a growing puppy. We'll have them tested again later on. As for the Von Willebrand's disease, she explained that to me and said it was not something that was going to affect her very much unless she has surgery or trauma. We are now looking into finding a vet with blood products on hand to spay Maya, but haven't decided yet if it is worth spaying her or not. Thanks to everyone who responded. Maya and I appreciate it!

Every time Maya goes through a heat cycle, it will increase the risk of certain cancers *and* every time they go through a heat cycle, she runs the risk of pyometra, a potentially deadly uterine infection. Often, pyometra is not noticed until it is too late or nearly too late, making surgery very risky.

Our vet got back to us with another vet's name who would have blood products on hand so they could spay Maya. It is going to cost somewhere between $800-$1000. Is this normal for spaying using blood products? This came as a little bit of shock to us since to get her spayed originally was only $150.00. I'm not sure I can afford $1,000 to get her spayed.