Bichon Frise
Breed Description - see AKC for detailed standard
Breed problems can be both inherited or diseases and disorders seen frequently in a breed and mode of inheritance unknown. Both are listed.
Breed problemsCataract
Ciliary dyskinesia
Corneal dystrophy
Entropion
hemophilia B
Pododermatitis
Retinal detachment
Retinal dysplasia
Epilepsy
Medial Luxating PatellaHemophilia B (factor IX deficiency)
von Willebrands
White dog shaker syndrome. That isn't a very scientific name, but it describes the condition exactly. Small white dogs - Bichon Frise- can develop tremors for unexplained reasons that can be very severe. These dogs usually have really bizarre eye movements and get much worse when excited or stressed. M.R
I think that von Willebrand's testing is done in approximately the same manner in most cases, though. In order to establish a value of "normal" for dogs, blood is pooled from a number of dogs in order to get a sample with an average amount of von Willebrand's factor. Then an individual dog's blood is tested against this standard to determine how active it is in comparison to the "normal". Values of less than 50% concentration are considered to be suspect as carriers of von Willebrand's disease and values less than 25% to be suspicious of the disease in a particular dog -- although some labs do not consider the disease to be present until values are very low, such as the "8(%?)" reported for your dog. This is a little confusing, even to veterinarians who are trying to determine the risk factor for things like surgery.
The best option when surgery is contemplated for a dog suspected of having von Willebrand's disease is to have cryoprecipitate on hand. This is a blood product that contains concentrated platelets and von Willebrands factor. Giving this just prior to surgery should reduce blood clotting time significantly and allow surgery to be performed without excessive blood loss. Fresh frozen plasma may be helpful if cryoprecipitate can not be used. Blood components are available from several canine blood banks at the current time and can be shipped to most locations in the United States, though. Administration of l-thyroxine seems to help in some dogs but this effect is debatable and should not be relied on. Doing a mucosal bleeding time prior to surgery may be a good idea, too. It doesn't always correlate well with surgical bleeding but it gives some indication of the effectiveness of therapy. Most dogs with von Willebrand's disease survive surgery despite their condition and some without anyone noticing any problems (I know, I have diagnosed this disease at least once AFTER performing surgery on a patient who did just fine during the surgical procedure). Still, you know about the problem and have the option of being careful. Neutering is an elective procedure, so why take an unnecessary risk? Cryoprecipitate will add to the cost (it might even cost more than the surgery) but it will make the procedure a lot safer.
I have not seen life expectancy figures for dogs with von Willebrands but I think it is not significantly shorter than "normal" life expectancy except in severe cases (dogs with 0% von Willebrands concentration, for instance) -- as long as some precautions are taken to avoid high risk situations. I definitely think you should test the parents prior to rebreeding them and would advise letting the breeder know of this problem.
Mike Richards, DVM
This page was last edited 05/27/08
