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VWD, Need your help!!!

767 views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  prophecy 
#1 ·
I know a lot of you are experienced in this area or know a lot about vwd.

I was just contacted today by my friend who has two yorkies she was taking in to get spayed/neuter. I told her always to have the presurgical blood work done before the surgery. The girl did fine, blood work was normal, she came out of the surgery nicely.
The male however didn't make it to surgery. The vet was taking the bloodwork and the male died just from that. Just from taking blood and it wasn't a lot of blood he took either. They were able to revive him but they have no clue what happened. He is a perfectly normal healthy yorkie even at a great weight. He does have a hernia that they were going to remove but I don't think that is relevant.

The first thing that popped into my head was vwd. I remember reading some where something similar happened and it was Vwd.

Am I completely off base or should I send her some information on vwd so her vet can look into it?

I know vwd is common in several breeds of dogs but I have just never heard of it being in a yorkie.

So please if anyone has any suggestions as to what it could be, I would appreciate it very much!!
:help_up_2
 
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#2 ·
Wow, that sounds insane
I don't think VetGen has a vWD test for Yorkies, so don't think that's an issue for them. He was probably too stressed just being at the vet.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Too scary! Even if vwd is in that breed, and even if that particular dog was affected, just taking a small amount of blood wouldn't have done anything vwd related unless the dog had a major bleed-out from it which is very improbable. The thing you have to be aware of with vwd affecteds is the potential to possibly not clot and suffer from blood loss. Doesn't sound like this little dog lost any blood other than the small amount the vet meant to take.
 
#4 ·
I would be worried about some sort of underlying heart condition/arrhythmia.
The other thing I would worry about is a low blood sugar. Toy breed dogs (esp. puppies) can be very prone to hypoglycemia. Liver shunts (PSS) are common in yorkies as well.
The amount of blood collected for ANY laboratory test is quite small compared to what can safely be taken (think of blood donors).

So the dog is okay now?
Sometimes w/ sudden death in dogs/cats, even w/ a necropsy, you may not find an answer - fatal arrhythmias often have no outward abnormal signs on necropsy.
 
#5 ·
Thanks everyone for the advice.

He is at the vets now being monitored.

He will be taken to a cardiac specialist.

I have looked up the common health disorders in small breeds and with most of them the dog has prior symptoms such as pale gums for instance and he had none of that.

So I am thinking it is heart related or as mentioned a hypoglycemic attack that went wrong.

It just happened so fast.

I am so thankful that she did the bloodwork and it happened then rather than during the surgery.
I will pray that the vet can find what is wrong with him and that he will be alright. I know she is just worried sick about him, I feel so bad for her.
 
#6 ·
odd? not really.....

i have a strange question. did they,by chance,take blood from the neck veins,at the vets that day?
if so, it may have been a neurologic response. there is a nerve laying next to the major vessels in the neck, called the vagal nerve. the vagal nerve is a cranial nerve,the 8th cranial nerve to be exact,and it ennervates the regulatory systems to vital organs, in example the heart,endocrine and digestive systems.if you bump,touch or cut this nerve the heart messes up,amung other things. so if he drew blood from the neck, its possible he truely ''hit a nerve'' and caused disruption in the impulses,causing disruptions involving the heart of an already stressed yorkie. the result means the dog could have arrested during the procedure.he could hae also had veinospasm too,wich is a shock response,resulting in reflexive spasmodic clamping of vascular structures.he would have either passed out or went shocky,or could have an arrest in severe hyper-reactions. hard to tell.even if it was in the leg,sort of puncture. as stressing would have elicited a ''trauma response'' by the body.
just a thought.
however yorkies,being small animals, i have heard of this syndrome in other speicies,in birds,ferrets and raccoons,that stress alone can end in a heart attack,like that. they get so worked up, the litterally scare themselves to death.its not as it sounds, but the adrenaline caused by fear and anxeity,can stop the heart by overtaxing it. so the ''fear'' doesnt kill.the response to stress does.
hope this helps ya hun.
 
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