Animal Blood Banks: Pets Saving Other Pets

You never want to imagine your dog or cat needing a blood transfusion – but there is one group of people working to make sure your pet is covered. They're the folks at animal blood banks scattered throughout the country, a group that likens itself to the Red Cross -- but for pets.

"We do everything the same way," explains W. Jean Dodds, D.V.M., president of Hemopet, the only national non-profit animal blood bank. Blood is taken, typed and stored for shipment to veterinarians across the country. At local clinics this blood supply is put into animals who've lost blood from injuries or is pumped into dogs during surgery. It is also used to treat a host of diseases from anemia to Von Willebrand's (a hemophilia relatively common in canines).

Blood is also ordered by some breeders to be used for puppies whose mothers have died or who are in dire straits, but most blood banks deal strictly with vets.

The goal, according to Debbie Sweany, manager of the Veterinarian's Blood Bank in Southern Indiana, is to ensure the veterinarians have enough blood to serve all their needs. Large 24-hour veterinary clinics in major cities are their number-one clients, but small country vets make orders too -- and they're responsive to the needs of their patients. If a cat is going through cancer treatments, for example, it may need frequent transfusions, and vets will order enough to keep up with that demand.

Like humans, there are multiple blood types in animals. There are three separate types for cats and a series of antigen-based types for dogs. Fortunately, with dogs, there is a blood type that is a near universal donor, Sweany says, akin to the human type O. Cats however, must be matched with the exact type. The good news is that there is more than a 90 percent chance your cat will be type A, making it easier for clinics to the keep the right kind of feline blood on hand.

The blood donation process for the animals is also similar to humans giving blood - a quick stick with a needle and about four minutes of sitting still. No anesthesia is needed, and Dodds says the only pain is the quick needle stick.

Some blood banks work with volunteer donors whose owners participate to help other pets. But ensuring the blood is clean is an ongoing challenge. At places like the non-profit Hemopet, the cost is too great for screening new animals each time. To make sure they can control how healthy the dogs are, Dodds' organization rescues greyhounds from the racetrack to use as donors. Dodds has a very strict rule that the dogs stay at Hemopet for just 18 months, during which time they are readied for adoption and taught to adapt to home life after life as racing animals. Dodds' staff draw half a pint of blood no more than twice a month for 12 months. Then it's on for the search for a family who, after a rigorous screening process, will adopt them as companion animals.

The set-up is similar in Indiana, where both cats and dogs are brought into Veterinarian's Blood Bank, run through screening to ensure they're healthy, cared for and used as donors then adopted out to families.

"I feel like I save their lives and they in turn save other animals' lives," Dodds says of the greyhounds.

Want to sign your animal up to help save lives? Many colleges with veterinary programs run volunteer donor programs, so check with a college near you. The University of Pennsylvania will even send its bloodmobile out to collect.

Tags: animal blood bank, AnimalBloodBank, blood bank, BloodBank, pet health, pet injuries, PetHealth, PetInjuries