Blood bank for dogs established

WHITE RIVER – It is not only humans who need blood during certain medical emergencies. Our furry friends also need transfusions from time to time and a dog blood bank is now being established locally in an attempt to meet the demand.

The Casterbridge Animal Hospital uses on average three units of blood a week. “Having a blood supply ready for when it is needed, is good for everybody,” says Dr Graeme Harman. “I would normally just take blood from my own dogs when it was needed, but they can now catch a break with the establishment of the blood bank.”
A two-year-old black labrador, Servaas, is Dr Marita Raath’s dog. He has been donating blood on a regular basis, with a four to six week time span in-between donations.

A fully trained veterinary practitioner herself, Raath decided to spend more time supplying blood products to five veterinary practices in the White River and Mbombela areas. “The development and maintenance of canine blood banks is a relatively new phenomenon, as are efforts to make blood products available to veterinarians. These blood banks, much like human ones, rely on the donations of volunteers who meet blood-donation requirements.”
It takes time to build up a blood bank of about 80 donors. Pro-Life Pet Rescue resident dogs have come to her aid and in return she offers them health screening and preventative care. Pro-Life is a welfare organisation with resident dogs rescued from various walks of life. They are all up for adoption and some also take part in the donor programme while staying at the sanctuary.

Donors must be in general good health and vaccinated, weigh more than 25 kilograms, be calm, friendly, obedient, cooperative without their owner present, and comfortable being handled physically.
Before Raath takes Servaas’ blood, he is sedated. Then a spot is shaved to make the finding of a vein easier. It takes about 10 minutes for the blood bag to fill up.

Just like all humans, dogs also belong to different blood groups and there are also some universal blood donors, just like the O-blood group in humans. Boxers, greyhounds and German shepherds, can donate to all the different blood types and it does not matter whether the receiver is from a small breed or a large one.

She processes some of the donated blood in a centrifuge to separate it into components of red blood cells and plasma. Raath bought the centrifuge from the South African National Blood Bank. There are many benefits to have a blood bank for dogs so close by: “Most of the time the need for a transfusion is a life-saving treatment, especially in the warmer months because of tick fever,” says Harman.

Raath says there are a lot of benefits for the owners of the donor dogs as well. “Canines benefit from basic health screening and preventative care. They also benefit from blood screening for biliary or Babesia.”