So my dog is in the hospital for emergency surgery from the other day. But being at the small animal hospital I was in the waiting room and saw a picture of a dog. The caption was thanking the dog and the owner for donating how many units of blood, (the dog was, not the owner).
It has never occured to me that people bring in their animals to donate blood for other animals in emergency situations, like a blood bank. I wonder if there are organ donations for animals as well. Its not something that is advertised and I supose I dont think I’m the only one that didnt know your dog or cat could donate blood, or am I?
There are regional donor lists, but I don’t know how they work. I do know that vetarinary colleges have donor lists. There was a horse that was routinely brought in to a nearby university to donate blood.
You can ask your vet or contact the nearest college of veterinary medicine if you’re interested in the programs that may be available. IIRC, donors are screened very thoroughly and are amazingly well-trained and well-behaved animals who are pretty patient when it comes to donation time. (As opposed to my cat who pitches a fit as soon as he sees a syringe.)
I’ve never heard about animal organ donations, but I’ve seen lots posters for dog and cat blood drives. Some vet clinics even keep several dogs or cats at the office for the purpose of blood donation. Such animals are typically strays or abandoned pets that have been taken in by the staff; they live very comfortable lives, and are definitely not treated like simple lab animals.
Yah this hospital was a part of a veterinary college. I just thought it was a great thing but was not something I have ever seen at my vet or even the private surgery clinic. I guess in some areas there is more of an awareness or I’m not paying much attention.
Well, a blood drive in a vet hospital that is part of a veterinary college is more probable than one in a smaller clinic. The college possibly provides greater storage space and accomodations for the donated blood.
In vet clinics, like Jeep’s Phoenix said, they keep animals around for that purpose, or use the staff’s pets as blood donors (with the consent of the owners). Then the blood is just taken when it is needed.
I guess in some areas there is more of an awareness or I’m not paying much attention.