Psi's Dental

[jamngrey]

I just got back from picking Psi up from his dental. They did have to extract one premolar. During prosedure they said his gums bled excessivly & when they removed the catheter it took 15 min of pressure on area to get it to slow & then he bleed thru bandage. After 15 more min of pressure the bandage that was applyed stayed dry.

They were conserned and thought I should think of doing a blood test for Von Willebrand factorand phlph?. I was wondering what those who know think about the test or if you have any other reason for the bleeding. His pre blood work came back fine by the way.

Thanks ahead for any info you can supply

Edited May 3, 2008 by jamngrey

[Batmom]

Assume his pre-bloodwork included a platelet count (or an estimate)?

 

What meds do they use before, during, and after dental? Some anti-inflammatories can cause increased bleeding .....

 

Might ask them for more details. Were his gums bleeding a lot in general (e.g., where they nicked them while cleaning, or just where they did the extraction)?

 

Did they monitor blood pressure during and after the procedure?

 

Might also email the Ohio State people (Dr. Couto & crew) and see what they'd recommend.

 

Only reason I'm asking all this stuff is, when Joseph first came home he had a couple bruising incidents from blood draws. Scared us all (vets and me). His platelets had been checked as well normal, so we did the von W and coag panels before proceeding with anything else. And those rather costly blood tests showed totally normal function. Not borderline, not questionable, totally normal. We went ahead with his dental, no problem, and then his neuter, no problem, and a subsequent blood draw or two, you guessed it, no problem. It sure wouldn't hurt to do those tests, but be aware that they might not show a darned thing.

 

FWIW, my Zema needs pressure kept on quite awhile after you draw blood or remove a catheter -- she gets nervous at the vet's office, and her b.p. goes up.

 

[Guest CyndiW]

I think without a doubt that you should have this test done. My Odysseus had some experiences like this after dentals/extractions and then when he had some lumps taken from his side, he almost bled to death - our local vet spent all night trying to save him and then didn't charge us because he thought it was his fault and we didn't know any different at the time. We didn't think much about it after that and a test was never suggested (we were still very young grey owners that didn't think to ask questions) but years later he got osteosarcoma. The day of the amp, I remembered these incidents and called the vet as they were prepping him for surgery (amp). The vet thanked me tremendously for calling and said they could check for Van Willebrands before surgery. If he had it, no problem - they had plenty of blood and plasma waiting and they would also give him some pre-surgery shots to prevent bleeding. He tested positive. The surgery went great but then he almost bled to death 3 days later when he worked some staples loose and got some massive bleeding going. We were 3.5 hours from this big hospital so I had to take him to a local emergency clinic. They gave him lots of blood from their golden retriever donor. He finally clotted after about 24 hours. It didn't become a problem again until a year later when the cancer went to his lungs/chest. One of the tumors started bleeding. They tapped his lungs once but it filled up again with blood ten days later and we had to let him go. I am not telling you this to scare you but if you know what is going on, then you will be more prepared for surgeries, accidents, etc. if Psi has it. Despite all that happened to Odysseus (which sounds horrible to write), he actually had an awesome life and lived it fully to the last day. He was my rowdy boy and very much the house clown even after the amp.

[CaliforniaGreys]

I have a Von Willebrands boy and there was a time that it was considered uncommon in Greys, but I think that has changed. There could be so many reasons for the bleeding but testing for Von Willebrands is very in-expensive so why not? The founder of Hemopet, Dr Jean Dodd is very published on the subject, and she helped me with many of the conerns I had about Tanner. I wish you luck with Psi and hope you get to the bottom of it.

Edited May 3, 2008 by cbudshome

[ElizabethGPAPS]

My group had a female years ago that took a long time to clot after a blood draw. I can't remember if she tested positive for VW; I think she did. Our Vet said he wouldn't spay her, and that she needed to see a specialist who could have plasma on hand for a transfusion. It just so happened that the Vet I found to do the surgery knew Dr. Jean Dodd (I think they went to Vet school together?) so they talked about the case...Dr. Dodd suggested that we put the dog on thyroid meds for a month and then re-test. That's what we did and the clotting was fine after that. The dog went on to have a normal spay and a normal life (without thyroid meds, I might add, which were discontinued a couple of months later because her thyroid was never low to begin with). So apparently thyroid can have something to do with clotting, at least in Greyhounds.

[jamngrey]

thanks again for all the replys. I am still looking into this factor and will most likely do it. Vet said wasnt a top necessary imedatly but will would be usefull for future refrence. I was just wondering if there was anyting elce it could be?

[Burpdog]

Email Ohio State and ask. Dr. Couto told me very few greys have VWD. The problem with the test is that it isn't complete. Just because a dog has a low reading doesn't mean it's a bleeder. I wish Vet Gen would start doing greyhounds.....

 

You say his bloodwork is normal. What exactly are the readings?

[patricia]

Sending my prayers and good thoughts.