About Blood Donation

As with humans, dogs sometimes require blood transfusions. We have access to a National Pet Blood Bank which can provide us with lots of different blood products but sometimes a transfusion directly from a donor is most appropriate for our patients. This can provide platelets that are essential to help the blood clot.  No products available from the Pet Blood Bank can provide us with such components.  The added benefit to our patients of having donor blood is that it is available immediately, without having to wait for it to be delivered from the blood bank.  With this in mind we are currently setting up a Hollybank Veterinary Centre Blood Donor List of clients who may be willing to allow their dog to donate blood to a patient in the hospital if required in an emergency.

The Pet Blood Bank is a registered charity that was established in 2007.  It has provided over 10,000 units of blood products since then and has saved hundreds of dogs’ lives.  The blood can be ordered for same or next day delivery all over the country.  Just as with humans, donations from healthy dogs are required to keep the Pet Blood Bank stocked. Hollybank Vets will be hosting a donation session later on this year.

How Does It Work

Dogs need blood for a variety of reasons, just the same as in humans.  It may be due to losing blood through bleeding – either from trauma or surgery, from the body breaking its own blood cells down (which can occur in auto-immune diseases) or if the body fails to produce new blood cells (often seen in bone marrow diseases).  Thankfully such occasions are rare, but they do happen and when blood is needed we would be very grateful to have a list of donor dogs that could come down and give us blood for immediate use.  By the very nature of blood donation we often need to call on our donors at short notice.  We understand you may not always be available to bring come down but if we have a number of donors we can call upon then this increases our chances of having an appropriate donor available.

We appreciate that many people may not be familiar with the procedure for dogs to give blood. We only ask dogs who are between one and eight years of age, over 25kg in weight and not on any medication.  They must not have travelled abroad.  We perform a thorough clinical exam and run a full blood screen on all dogs prior to them donating to ensure that they are in good health.  We clip fur from the neck and place a needle into the jugular vein to collect the blood. Most dogs happily lie comfortably on their side whilst this is being done. The whole procedure only takes about ten minutes and afterwards they can have something to eat and drink and a big fuss!

At the Pet Blood Bank donation session blood is taken in exactly the same way as described above but is stored in the Pet Blood Bank to be used as needed rather than being given immediately to a recipient.

What is the difference between being a blood donor for Hollybank Vets and being one for the Pet Blood Bank?

If you agree for your pet to become a donor for Hollybank Vets their name and your contact details will be placed on our register.  This means that we may call upon you in the event of us needing a donation.  This is likely to be very infrequently – may be even only once a year. The need for donations is not frequent and we want to make sure that different dogs are used on different occasions so it is not always the same dog giving blood.  If your dog gives blood for an emergency patient at Hollybank we would like to thank you with a free bag of Royal Canin Lifestage food.

The Pet Blood Bank session is hosted by Hollybank Vets but run by the Pet Blood Bank (PBB) staff. If you would like to participate in this event then your details will be passed to PBB and they will contact you to organise your appointment.  This will take place at Hollybank Vets.  Your pet will then be placed on the PBB’s database but you are under no obligation to donate on other occasions or in other locations, you would only be committing to the session run at Hollybank.

I’m keen for my dog to become a donor!  What do I do next?

If you would like your dog to participate in the PBB donation session and/or become registered on Hollybank’s donor list,  or if you would like to discuss what is involved further then please contact Helen McCrorie on 01606 880890 or email helen@hollybankvets.co.uk

Log on to www.petbloodbankuk.org to find out more about PBB and their work.