Print

Treatment

If blood loss is severe, your dog will be hospitalized and will receive blood and plasma transfusions. In fact, repeated transfusions may be necessary to control or prevent further hemorrhaging. Your veterinarian will probably also prescribe vitamin K, especially if your dog has ingested rodent poison or is experiencing other conditions that deplete this vitamin.

Living and Management

The blood will continue to be tested on an ongoing basis to determine the effectiveness of vitamin K supplementation. It should begin to normalize 24 to 48 hours after the beginning of therapy. The only way to test whether a hereditary deficiency has been treated successfully is by factor analysis; whether the hematomas (collections of clotted blood) have been resolved, and most importantly, whether the bleeding has stopped. Transfusion sometimes causes immune reactions when antibodies resist the new blood. If transfusion is a decided treatment, your pet will need to be monitored for symptoms of rejection.

There is no particular breed that is more susceptible than another, so there is nothing that can be done to prevent it unless it is known to be in the genetic makeup of a breeding dog. If it is determined that a hereditary factor is responsible for the coagulation factor deficiency, it is best not to breed this dog.