Donor Dogs Save Lives!

By K. Jane Wardrop, DVM, MS, DACVP
Copyright KBTF 2011
Reprinted from the KBTF Newsletter "What's New"

K. Jane Wardrop, Professor, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, WSU

Have you ever donated blood and then given yourself a pat on the back, knowing you were helping others and saving lives? Well, dogs can be blood donors too.

Just like people, dogs can suffer injuries and illnesses that require blood transfusions. A donation of blood from a healthy donor dog can save the lives of these canine patients.

Donated canine blood transfusions are routine in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University (WSU) which saves the lives of many beloved pets. The following provides information on the WSU Canine Blood Donor Program, but similar, programs have been established in veterinary clinics and Colleges of Veterinary Medicine around the world.

Can any dog donate blood?

Our donor dogs are generally >60 pounds, between 1-6 years of age, and can lie quietly on a table for about 10 minutes. No sedation is used for the procedure, and the dogs know that if they stay still there will be treats afterwards! To ensure a safe blood supply, extensive health testing and disease screening are performed before the dogs are allowed to donate. Our donors donate once every 2-3 months and are generally in the program for 2-4 years.

All our donor dogs live at home with their human "parents" and come in to donate on a regular schedule. There are some donors labeled as "emergency call in donors," and are generally owned by veterinary students. If the hospital runs out of blood suddenly in the wee hours of the morning, these donors are called in to help save lives.

All the donor dogs and their "parents" are "volunteers." Other than free health exams, some screening tests, and vaccinations as needed, there is no compensation for donating their blood. They do receive free bags of food, which are donated by one of the pet food companies and of course the treats after their donation. The goal is to keep a welt-stocked blood bank capable of handling emergencies to treat everything from a Chihuahua to a Great Dane! Donors are always needed, and we are always recruiting!

What happens during the donation?

We use the same equipment and techniques used by human blood banks, with the exception that the blood is taken from the jugular (neck) vein of dogs rather than from a limb vein. Similar to human blood donation, dog blood donation is quick (4-8 minutes) and painless. Using 4 sterilely attached blood bags, we take 450 mL of blood (one unit or pint) from the dogs. After the collection the dogs get treats and lots of praise. Our goal is to have the dogs look forward to the procedure. We actually have some dogs that try to help us out by jumping up on the donation table.

What happens to the blood?

After the whole blood is collected, the bags are centrifuged (spun) in a sterile fashion to separate red blood cells from the plasma. Plasma contains important clotting factors and proteins, and once separated can be frozen for a year before use. The separated red blood cells are preserved in a special solution which extends their life in a refrigerator to 5 weeks. Because of our 4 bag collection system, one unit of blood in our hospital can actually be used to generate products for up to four different patients!

Do dogs have blood types?

Dogs have at least 6 well characterized blood types, also known as dog erythrocyte antigens (DEA). DEA 1.1 is the most important blood type, as transfusion of this type of blood into a dog that is negative for DEA 1.1 will cause the recipient to form antibodies. The first transfusion generally is not a problem but repeat transfusions of DEA 1.1 positive into a negative patient will result in life threatening transfusion reactions. Prior to transfusions, typing and specialized testing (crossmatching) are routine at WSU and reactions to blood type are rare. To ensure that the right blood is given to the right patient, there are blood typing cards and typing strips available for veterinarians to use. If you want to know your dog's blood type, which could be handy in an emergency, just ask your veterinarian if that can be done and recorded.

Can adverse reactions occur?

Any time you are taking blood from one animal and giving it to another you run the risk of a reaction. But attention to type matching, specialized testing known as crossmatching, and using only blood processed in a sterile fashion from screened blood donors cuts down the risks considerably. Fortunately reactions are few and generally not life threatening.

How do I find a veterinary blood bank?

Ask your veterinarian! Most metropolitan areas have veterinary blood banks, although these usually tend to be located in veterinary emergency clinics. Some of these banks will sell blood to local veterinarians. Veterinarians can also have blood shipped to them from larger commercial veterinary blood banks. A unit of red blood cells can cost between $100 and $500 in addition to charges for intravenous equipment and fluids.

What's new in veterinary transfusion medicine?

Exciting advances are being made in regenerative medicine and cell therapy from blood and bone marrow. Dogs were originally used as research models for human bone marrow transplants. In some areas they perform marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplants, in particular for dogs with a cancer known as lymphoma.

Stem cells are now also being used to treat some cases of osteoarthritis in dogs. Veterinary neurologists and cardiologists are looking forward to the day when canine stem cells can actually be used to repair damaged spinal cords or hearts in dogs!

What is the take-home message?

Even if your own dog is too small to be a donor, please spread the word to others that dogs need blood too and that blood donors are always in demand. Talk to your local veterinarian to find out how you may help in your own community.

My personal motto is that "no dog should die for want of blood." Because of some great canine blood donor heroes, we've kept that motto within our WSU veterinary hospital.

About Dr. Wardrop

Veterinary hematology and transfusion medicine are my passions and I am a co-editor of the 6th edition of Schalm's Veterinary Hematology textbook (a huge book that came out in 2010). / have 3 % cats (the % cat being a semi-feral cat that lives in our garage), 1 extremely spoiled Golden Retriever, 3 kids, and a very tolerant husband.

Meet the Donor Dog Heroes!

First there is Coal, a black Labrador Retriever who gives the staff "high fives" after his donation. (See the photo of Coal "high flying" Dr. Wardrop). Coal has been donating in the WSU program for about 3 years, donating a total of 2 gallons or 16 units! His owner, a veterinary student, graduated this summer and will be taking Coal with her to become a donor dog at her own clinic.

Meet Nove, pictured on the left below, with her favorite bandana about her neck. She was a donor at another school before moving to the WSU region, has been donating for a year and a half giving 5 pints or units of that precious blood.

Other donors include Max, a rather chunky Golden Retriever that will do anything, really anything for the post donation treat.

Just recruited into the donation program is a Black Russian Terrier who has to be lifted onto the table-all more than 100 pounds of him! Plus he responds best to commands given in Russian so the team is learning Russian commands to keep him happy during the donation.

Some dogs have simply fallen asleep on the table during the donation and need to be woken up when it is over while others bolt upright at the sound for the finish alarm on the collection device. The team has to hold onto them tightly while they finish the process as they know snacks are coming and they can hardly wait!