Even Animals Can Donate Blood
Several blood banks save the lives of many animals in need of a transfusion every day. The solidarity and generosity of the owners of dogs and cats is essential and donating blood is possible for many animals.
By donating blood, you save the lives of cats and dogs
The urgent blood transfusions for dogs and cats may be needed for several reasons: poisoning, anemia, accidents causing intense blood loss, etc. If the vet has blood available to perform a transfusion, this will increase the chances that the animal that needs it will be saved.
Blood Banks: How Do They Work?
As with people, an animal blood bank is a place where blood is stored, processed and stored for later use for dogs, cats and other animals.
It is important that the quality of the stored blood is guaranteed, as it will affect the health of the animals that will receive it.
The blood that is used for transfusions must come from the same species and must be of the same blood group as the animal receiving it.
If you are considering transfusions between animals and people, it is not possible. Human blood is not suitable for a dog or a cat and not even the opposite.
Nowadays, in Italy there are several blood banks for animals, both public and private, in Milan, Perugia, Genoa, etc. Furthermore, some veterinary clinics and animal hospitals have their own donors and reserves, without having to go to a blood bank.
You can find the blood bank closest to you by clicking on the following link.
Which animals can donate blood?
Animals recognized as valid blood donors are dogs that weigh over 20 kilos and are in good health. The same goes for cats in good health and starting at 4 kilos.
Age is also taken into consideration. The donor animal, be it dog or cat, must not be less than a year old or more than ten.
To verify that the animals in question are not carriers of blood diseases, they undergo several clinical tests before proceeding with the transfusion. Once the donation is finished, the donors will be entered into a database. The owner of the donor animal does not receive any financial reward.
The process of donating blood by a dog or cat takes about half an hour. The ideal is that the animal is calm ; otherwise it will be necessary to administer a light sedative. The animal can donate blood again after eight weeks.
For each donation to the dog, 450 ml of blood are extracted . How you do it? Well, very easy. The animal is placed on a table, usually lying on its side, the hair is cut in a small area of the neck and the needle is introduced, with which the blood will be taken.
Some animals may feel faint after collection . However, most do not exhibit any type of reaction. A single donation could be used to save two lives.
The donor animal will produce lost blood again in no time . This practice does not harm your health in any way.
Blood groups: donation of blood between animals
As for dogs, there are eight different blood groups. Among them, one is considered universal, compatible with all the others.
In the case of cats, however, there are only three different blood groups.
As with people, it is possible to know the blood group of an individual animal through a blood test.
