Your pet can also donate blood

Pancho was a 50 kilos of giant Schnauzer. He died a long time ago, but for years he was a blood donor. “He was so used to him, when he had to donate, he put his leg directly”tells who the owner, the vet Benito Pérez Delgado. The same can do many other pets, whose blood can save the lives of many of their homonyms, the problem is according to one study Published in 2019, most owners do not have this option (70%).

To be suitable for donation, dogs have to weigh more than 20 kilos, Be between 1 and 8 years old and be in perfect health. The latter two requirements are also extrapolated to the rest of the animals. «All species can donate blood, but at veterinary level we work with five, especially: Dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets and horses »Luis Viñals expresses, director of the Veterinary Transfusion Center from Madrid. Donations can be made once every four months.

Just like people, they all have different blood groups – with the exception of ferrets. “In dogs are known until nine, with names such as Dea, Kai – which means ‘dog’ in Korean and was baptized so because it was in this Asian country where it was discovered – or the valley – which came from Dalmatian, because the first patient in which it was detected from that race was -” says the specialist. “In cats there are three groups, A, B and AB, but although their denomination coincides with people’s, we do not have the same recipient as they”clarify.

The big problem is that we can talk about many blood groups, but there are no analysis to determine which animal each has, because it is not economically profitable. «In Spain, For dogs we can only determine the DEA-1, KAI-1 and KAI-2. The interesting thing is that dogs have not acquired antibodies through maternal groups, which means that they can receive blood from each group in a first transfusion, ”says Viñals. Before a second transfusion it would be essential to make an assessment to prevent another, that cannot help but get a blood.

Without ‘universal donor’

Donor extractions are used when it is necessary to make a transfusion. This can be done by sure infectious diseases (Leishmania, parvovirus in puppies), Trauma (For example broken for an indignation), Certain tumors, operations, internal or external bleeding, severe anemies and even poisoning. It should be noted that there is no so -driven ‘universal donor’ in animals, although people thought a few years ago.

Give A cross-anti-dicopter cross reaction testThat is, face the blood of the donor and the recipient. If they are compatible, there will be no response. This can be done in a simple way in veterinary clinics.

Another strange aspect is that all the material used for donations is not prepared for veterinarian, because it is not interested in the economic level, so that it is used of human medicine. Donation suits are therefore between 450-500 milliliters (ml) blood. The disadvantage is that most companion animals do not have the size of a person, so in many cases it is necessary to adjust these tools. «A dog of 20 kilos, maybe the 500 ml of blood can donate and fill a bag, but one of the small race doesn’t. Cats donate a maximum of 50 ml, rabbits 40 ml and fret 10 ml. For its part, a horse can donate a maximum of 8 liters, “Viñals explains.

The first scientific research into a blood transfusion in animals was conducted with a dog in 1965, but it was only in 1988 when the first blood bank was created in veterinary. The model arrived in Spain in 2002, creating the veterinary transfusion center by Viñals. «What we have created is a network of clinics throughout the country that have their permanent blood bank and we take care of feeding. There are also veterinary clinics who have their own donors, to whom they take blood they use if they have needs, “the specialist explains.

The most important difference between the Blood Bank itself and the transfusion center is that the latter, in addition to collecting and storing the extractions, is responsible for processing them, that is, the blood separation in their different blood loves, spreading them and performing research activities.