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vWD and Cryptorchidism

2K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  brw1982 
#1 ·
Alright, here's the deal. Java became our dog when he was ten weeks old, and my fiance's cousin had purchased him from an insanely bad breeder and realized inside of a week that he couldn't handle the responsibility - even calling them a breeder seems kind of too nice. Mom is albino, dog was being advertised as a "Warlock," seriously crappy people, but Java himself was apparently in great health and a stable, normal, happy dog overall. We had his ears cropped at 10 weeks. Looking back, I'm kicking myself for not considering vWD testing before the crop, knowing where he came from, but live and learn, I guess. When we picked him up, our veterinarian said that he was concerned about vWD because his ears bled excessively during the crop, and that we should consider testing at some point. I figured that when he has his annual workup when he turns 1 (he's 5.5 months, now) we would do a baseline CBC, Vetgen vWD test, vaccines, and baseline thyroid, and at 2 begin free T4, CBC, echo and holter, and vaccine titer. Presently, that's still the plan.

A couple days post-crop, he shook his head and started bleeding like a maniac. Some bleeding when a scab gets shaken loose wouldn't worry me too seriously, and I know that blood can look like a lot more than it is, but after several years in veterinary medicine, it seemed like too much to me, bleeding too fast, too easily, just off. We kept pressure on where it was bleeding and floored it to the veterinarian, luckily only about 6-8 minutes away, and the bleeding stopped on its own a few minutes after we got there. When he was teething, my collie came into the room with her white chest fluff covered in blood. I thought she was seriously hurt and frantically searched her for an injury, only to realize that Java had just lost a tooth and had been gnawing all over her hair like he usually does. And so on. Little incidents that make me think that vWD is very likely for him.

Now, I think I know enough about how to test for/handle/etc. vWD if he is indeed affected, but here's the catch. He's also a double cryptorchid, and I know that there is a huge possibility of one or both testicles ultimately turning cancerous if he's left intact. Ordinarily, I would neuter at 18-24 months as we were considering a future in agility and either way I want to allow his growth plates time to close, though vWD may nix agility either way and we may just stick to rally/obedience/therapy work.

So here is what I'm wondering.

  1. What I understand is that vW factor decreases with age. Does it decrease significantly enough that I should be considering neutering sooner rather than later?
  2. Should I be considering not neutering at all? I'd be seriously considering this if it weren't for the cryptorchidism and cancer risk. On one hand, the surgery for a double crypt is so much more invasive than an ordinary neuter, I'm even more worried than I would be about neutering an ordinary vWD dog. On the flip side - I'd rather do the surgery while he's young and (otherwise) healthy than wait until he has cancer AND vWD and is in a weakened state.
  3. I guess it's sort of off-topic, but while we're talking about it, does vWD affect whether stomach tacking is advisable?
  4. In the event that vWD is confirmed, would you say that agility is a 100% no-go, don't even try it? Goes without saying that if so, we will not even be entertaining the idea.
  5. What would you do?

Thank you any advance for any insight into how to handle this, assuming that vWD is confirmed. I'm head over heels in love with this dog, and want to make sure that I make the best possible decisions to keep him safe.
 
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Discussion starter · #14 ·
Thank you all for taking the time to respond. I very much appreciate the input. I will consider gastropexy off the table, and will be pursuing the recommended vWD test shortly. Just to clarify, I had intended to have him tested at his one year visit in December, not two years. :) I feel a little more on top of the situation having read everyone's thoughts, so thank you again!
 
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