Calling pet owners to register their dogs, cats as blood donors

Mysore/Mysuru: Unlike in human beings, there is no Blood Bank for dogs and whenever a dog is in need of blood, veterinarians begin searching for pet owners urging them to donate blood of their healthy pet to save the lives of the pets which are in need of blood.

Blood transfusion in dogs is not that common unlike in case of humans. Due to lack of awareness among pet owners, many dogs die due to unavailability of blood from donor dogs. The need for a blood transfusion is always an emergency, especially during severe bleeding or sudden destruction of red blood cells due to various diseases. Transfusions may also be needed to treat anaemia in dogs. Dogs with blood clotting disorders often require repeated transfusions.

The search for healthy dogs takes a lot of time which results in the death of the dog in need of blood. But if pet owners come forward and register their dogs for blood donation, vets can easily call the pet owners, draw blood and transfuse it immediately without wasting time, thus saving the time which is wasted on searching for a donor.

There are more than 12 blood groups in dogs and the most common blood group is Dog Erythrocyte Antigen (DEA) 1.1.

Which dog can donate blood

Any healthy, vaccinated and regularly de-wormed dog, aged between 1 and 8 years with above 25 kg body weight and PCV (Packed Cell Volume) above 40 can donate blood.

How a rescued desi dog gave a new lease of life

About two years ago, Blacky, a desi dog, was beaten up brutally by a few people on the street and was rescued by one K.M. Mary, who brought it to Shree Pet Clinic in Vijayanagar 4th Stage, where Dr. H.V. Deepak treated Blacky for its wounds.

After it recovered, Mary again brought it to the Pet Clinic, where Dr. Deepak administered vaccines against various diseases and also advised Mary to register Blacky as an Emergency Blood Donor. After Blacky got enrolled as a blood donor, it has saved the lives of 10 dogs in two years by donating blood in times of emergency at the Pet Clinic.

Recently, a three-month-old Doberman pup named Titan, belonging to a resident of Vijayanagar, was brought to the Pet Clinic and Dr. Deepak, who examined Titan, which was in coma stage, found it to be suffering from Tick Fever (A Haemoprotozoan disease) in which Haemoglobin, PCV and platelets had drastically dropped to critically low levels and was in need of emergency blood transfusion.

As Blacky was registered as an Emergency Blood Donor, it was summoned to the Pet Clinic. Blood was drawn from Blacky and was transfused immediately which saved Titan from its death bed.

Dr. Deepak said that blood donation in pets is completely safe and is good for the health of the donor dog also.

One bag of donated blood can save the life of another pet dog, he said and urged pet owners of both dogs and cats to register their pets as Emergency Blood Donor at any nearby Pet Clinics or call Mob: 94807-02704 to register their pets.