[the one where blue saves a life]

One of the (many) cool things we do at work is blood transfusion for animals in need. This can be due to trauma, illness, surgery, etc. We maintain a list of animals that are blood donors and we rotate through this list depending on our need for blood.

The list of dogs is comprised of employee’s dogs, and dogs that are patients of the clinic. The cat list is five of our six (yes, six) clinic cats, and one doctor’s cat (who has a rare blood type). Pets have blood types, just like people do, and they can be excluded from donating if they aren’t certain types. In December, I went through the process to have Blue screened and blood-typed. This includes routing CBC and chemistry bloodwork, heartworm testing, screening for blood parasites, and determination of blood type based on the three largest factors. She came back totally healthy, and a blood type of 1.1 negative, non-universal. She is eligible to donate, and did so for the first time on Monday!

First she got a little sedative, because she is a nervous girl for all things medical (just like me!). Then we took about a half liter of blood to keep for a dog in need.

Here she is with the first unit she ever donated! Don’t mind her expression, she was still pretty sedate. She did great!