I’m a regular blood and/or platelet donor. My blood type is O+. I know that there are animals who are also blood donors, so there is blood on hand when Fido needs surgery. So… do doggies and kitties have different blood types too?
Is Sparky “dogblood type A” but Fluffy “dogblood type X”?
This may be of interest to you.
At the hospital where I work - we have universal donor horses but all other species are hit and miss. Our blood donor dogs are greyhounds that donate for a while then are placed in homes. The cats are just big old cats and the cow is a typical cow. She also has a fistula in her side to donate rumen bugs to cattle with GI trouble.
The most blood types are found in cattle. They have something like 13 major antigens.
Since animals don’t come with antibodies against other types, you can transfuse them (at least the first time) without worrying about cross matching.
Cats do!
Type A cats have weak immune response to type B blood. Type B cats have a strong immune response (first time) to type A blood.
Luckiy most cats are type A. Type B cats tend to be more common in British-derived breeds.
Oh, and yes, different animals may have different blood types, but in many cases the reactions if they are transfused with a different blood type is not as bad as in humans.
:smack: Of course. I was Googling varioations of “animal hematology” and never thought to Google “blood type”. Thanks for the resposnses, the links are interesting reading.