Von Willebrand Disease is a hereditary dog disease that will affect certain breeds more than others. This means that your dog could be susceptible to the disease. It is something you really need to know about to make sure you provide the proper care. First of all Von Willebrand Disease is a bleeding disorder. This means that the dog's blood may not be able to clot. If your dog is injured you may find that they will bleed to death if you don't get them immediately to a surgeon that can replace their blood and close of the bleeding issue. This can even happen for minor wounds. It can also affect the organs because they will lose the blood they need to function. There are three types of von Willebrand Disease.
The first type is a low level condition that usually will not be life threatening. Type two is caused by a gene mutation and is treated differently than the other types. For type three your dog has the rarest type, in that it is the most serious and often very deadly. As we mentioned not all dog breeds are going to be susceptible to the disease. This means that there are certain dog breeds that can develop the genetic mutation to cause the issue. For type 1 the most commonly affected dog breeds are going to be the Doberman, Airedale, and shelties. For type two you usually see the German shorthaired pointers. Type three affects the Scotties, Chesapeake Bay retrievers, and some shelties.
Most often a person finds out if their dog has the disease when their dog has been injured. This means that they commonly see the lack of blood clotting and realize there is more wrong than just the small injury. When you have a dog that is affected by this disease you have to offer treatment as soon as possible. You also, depending on the type of the disease, have to offer medications throughout their life just in case of an injury. You will find that if a dog contracts another type of illness such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever or something similar where the blood tends to flow through lesions or the gums you will have to be very careful of the von Willebrand disorder.
There is no prevention for the problem unless you don't breed a dog known to have the disease. You are also unable to determine who has the disease by simple tests, so you may have to shell out a bit of money to make sure your dog is not affected or wait and see. There is also no cure for the disease. This means that you can only treat it, but it will never go away.
Treatment is usually a drug such as DDAVP. This drug offers a protein concentration that will help the blood clot. It is the best medication on the market at the moment because it has the vWF protein that is needed to clot the blood that the dog is not making on its own. You will find that such things like aspirin, antihitamines, penicillin, antibiotics, ibuprofen, and phenothiazine should be avoided because these are all blood thinners. Since the blood is already thin you can't give the dog something that could cause a bleed out. You have to be very careful that your dog is not near a potential accident and that any cut is definitely closed immediately to avoid death. Remember that there are also three types of severity so you may find that while your dog has a minor case you don't have to worry as much as the type three.