W. Jean Dodds, D.V.M.
HEMOPET, 938 Stanford Street,
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Von Willebrand's Disease (VWD)
For short-term control of bleeding or prophylaxis for dogs at risk to bleed from
VWD:
1. For elective procedures, assess bleeding potential first with a toenail or mucosal bleeding time. Normal values for dogs are 2-5 minutes.
2. Use L-thyroxine therapy at 0.1 mg per 10 pounds body weight twice daily for 7-10 days. Start 48 hours prior to elective surgery where applicable. Continue thyroid replacement if patient is still bleeding or has thyroid disease. Thyroid supplementation promotes hemostasis by improving plate function, stimulating thrombopoiesis in bone marrow and other sites, and enhancing protein synthesis of von Willebrand factor (VWF) and other coagulation factor
3. Transfuse Fresh-Frozen Plasma* at 3-5 ml per pound of body weight once or twice daily. For elective procedures [ surgery on Doberman pinschers with VWDI, transfuse first and then perform surgery within 4 hours to maximize the bleeding time correcting effect of transfused VWF.
