A veterinary hospital located in Koppal, a district in Karnataka, is currently in the headlines after a blood transfusion was performed here from a 3-year-old Labrador Retriever to a 10-year-old Labrador dog. According to Local 18 Karnataka, the 10-year-old Labrador’s haemoglobin levels had dropped to 3 grams per deciliter. Due to this low haemoglobin level, this dog required blood. When the veterinary hospital’s doctors got to know about this incident, they contacted the owners of 3 dogs through their addresses in the city. The medical professionals asked the owners to come up with their pets in the clinic and get their blood samples tested.
Amongst the 3 dogs, the blood of the Koppal resident Basavaraja Poojar’s 3-year-old Labrador Retriever Bhairav was a match for the required blood sample. 300 ml of its blood was tested and taken from the neck within 12 minutes and given to a 10-year-old Labrador dog as per medical regulations.
Dogs generally have 7 blood types and have blood volumes of only 10 per cent of their body weight. This is the sixth time a blood transfusion between dogs has taken place in Koppal. Koppal Veterinary Clinic is popular for its excellent track record in animal care.
Blood Transfusion between dogs
History
In 1665, a physician named Richard Lower successfully performed a blood transfusion between two dogs. This is some 150 years before the first successful human-to-human exchange was managed. It may have been an experiment, but 350 years later, doggy donors are still helping to save lives. An organisation named Pet Blood Bank has been running canine blood exchanges since 2007 and provides veterinary surgeries with blood needed for pets with poor health. Similar to humans, dogs also have different blood types and will either be DEA 1 positive or negative.
The donor dogs are brought in by their owners to the Pet Blood Bank. A local anaesthetic cream is applied to these animals to help keep them comfortable while blood is taken. Over 10,000 lifesaving dogs are registered with Pet Blood Bank to date.
The blood types of both dogs must be matched before the transfusion.
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