Canine Blood Donation
PABB obtains canine blood products through a community volunteer blood donor program utilizing the Animal Bloodmobile. Canine blood drives are held several times each week in communities across the Delaware Valley. PABB staff work closely with volunteer community organizers in establishing each blood drive location.
A great deal of time is spent educating owners regarding the need for transfusion support in veterinary medicine, as well as ensuring the health and well being of their pet while participating in the blood donor program. Additionally, Penn Vet faculty, staff and students participate in the canine volunteer blood donor program by bringing their pets to MJR-VHUP for routine donations.
Canine Blood Donor Screening
With an aging animal population as well as advances in medical treatments and procedures requiring blood transfusions, the demand for blood continues to increase in veterinary medicine. The Penn Animal Blood Bank strives, with your valued assistance, to meet this growing demand.
We have found in veterinary blood banking, as in human blood-banking situations, preliminary blood-donor requirements and the procedures used to evaluate donor health are ever-changing. The increased awareness of potential spread of infectious disease by blood transfusion has resulted in a need for progressively more testing to ensure the health of our donors and the quality of our blood products for transfusion recipients. At the same time, more stringent requirements have been put in place to ensure the safety of the blood-donation process for our donors.
Canine Blood Donor Requirements
Temperament
Donor temperament is critical to the success of the blood donation. The collection process takes approximately five minutes, during which the dog is lying on its side—a very submissive position, and one that many dogs will not tolerate. Any dog that is anxious or fearful will not do well with blood donation. Please remember that this is a volunteer program—we will not force any dog to do something with which it is uncomfortable.
We rely heavily on the relationship each owner has with the pet. During the donation process, the owner will be at the dog’s head, quietly and calmly reassuring them. If a donor does not have a trusting relationship with its owner, then the donation will most likely not be successful. For this reason, we encourage owners to allow newly acquired pets a sufficient amount of time to develop that trusting relationship prior to volunteering their services.
Body Weight
A dog must weigh more than 55 pounds to safely donate a unit of blood (one pint). It is important for donors to be in good body condition—not underweight or obese. Potential donors must not weigh more than 150 pound for them to comfortably fit on the blood donation table. Donors that are not a healthy 55 pounds or who weigh more than 150 pounds will not be eligible for the program.
Age
Dogs must be at least one year of age and no older than six years of age to be eligible for the blood donor program. A dog will spend approximately the first 12 months of its life developing a healthy body with fully functional organs and systems. It is important for the safety and well-being of our donors to allow them to reach this level of physical maturity prior to blood donation. We are aware that all dogs are individuals and, in that respect, not all will be “ready” to donate when they are one year old. A member of the Penn Animal Blood Bank (PABB) staff can help owners decide if their dog is ready to be a blood donor.
In general, dogs will be retired from the program when they turn eight years old. Just like humans, a certain amount of compromise to the body happens as a result of the aging process. Again, it is in the donor’s best interest to retire prior to the time that age-related illnesses become a concern. This time will vary based on each individual donor. A member of the PABB staff can help owners decide if their dog should retire sooner than the established guideline.
Medication
Dogs are ineligible to donate if they are currently taking any medication (e.g., antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, antihistamines). A resting period of at least 14 days after the medication is finished is required before the dog is eligible to donate.
The majority of infectious diseases in the dog are transmitted by fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. Some of these infectious agents can be transmitted to our patients through blood transfusion. For the safety of both the donor and our blood supply, we strongly encourage flea and tick prevention as well as heartworm preventative.
General Health
Dogs will be ineligible to donate blood if they have ever been diagnosed with any of the following:
- heart murmur or other cardiac conditions,
- seizures or seizure-like activity,
- heartworm disease,
- chronic illness or
- a disease/condition that required a blood transfusion.
Intact bitches are not eligible to donate blood if they are in estrus (heat).
If a dog has recently had surgery, please contact PABB to determine if and when they will be eligible to donate blood.
If a dog has recently been ill (e.g., coughing, sneezing, vomiting, diarrhea), please contact PABB to determine if and when they will be eligible to donate blood.
Blood Type
More than a dozen blood types have been identified in dogs. Just like in people, dogs can experience incompatibility reactions if transfused with the wrong blood type. There is one particular blood type, Dog Erythrocyte Antigen 1.1 (DEA 1.1), that we know causes the most significant adverse reactions in dogs that are not matched appropriately. For this reason, all potential donors will be blood typed and only those lacking the DEA 1.1 type (i.e., DEA 1.1 negative) will be accepted into the program.
Vaccination
Donors must have a current vaccination status for distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, parvovirus and rabies. Four weeks of resting period are required following vaccination before a dog can safely donate. Dogs can be safely vaccinated at any point after donation.
The current Ryan Veterinary Hospital recommended vaccination schedule is as follows:
| |
Puppy Series |
|
|
Last Puppy Booster |
First Adult Booster |
Adult Booster |
|
| Vaccine |
6–8 weeks |
10–12 weeks |
13–16 weeks |
16 weeks |
15 months |
Every year |
Every 3 years |
| Distemper |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
| Canine Adenovirus Type 2 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
Canine
Parainfluenza |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
| Canine Parvovirus |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
| Rabies Virus |
|
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
Leptospira
(optional) |
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Bordetella
(optional) |
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Blood Drive
Information and Scheduling Tips
Blood drives are held over a maximum of four hours. Once a unit of blood is collected, it must be processed within six hours and all the components placed under refrigeration or frozen to maintain the quality of the blood products. Penn Animal Blood Bank (PABB) staff must allow for travel time back to the Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital and actual processing time to maintain the highest quality in our blood products.
When hosting a new blood drive, a minimum of 10 donors are required for the Animal Bloodmobile to make a visit. Once a blood drive is established, a minimum of eight donors are required for the Animal Bloodmobile to visit.
Donors should be scheduled approximately every 20 minutes. If an owner has more than one dog donating, please schedule 15 minutes for each subsequent family donor.
Each dog will receive one bag of Science Diet® dry food or one case of Science Diet® canned food as a sign of our appreciation for their life-saving blood donation. If possible, please ask each client for their food preference. This is helpful information if we are to meet the nutritional requests of all our donors. If possible, please call in or fax a list of food requests and, if possible, a copy of your blood drive appointment schedule.
Once admitted to the blood donor program, owners are encouraged to have their dogs participate in three to four blood drives each year. PABB spends approximately $300 on a health screen (a variety of blood tests performed annually) for each donor. To offset the cost of these expensive laboratory tests, owners should be encouraged to make this commitment from the very beginning.
If you have ANY questions regarding the blood-drive scheduling process or blood-donor requirements, please do not hesitate to contact PABB.