Those who have had pets are sure to know, by now, that animals can have anaemia. The disease is life-threatening and it comes in varying degrees in different animals. The severity of the same is what dictates whether the affected animal can have a blood transfusion or not. Other than anaemia, there are other diseases that affect animals where a blood transfusion is the only measure that can prevent a looming fatality. Some diseases just need various components of blood so as to make the affected animal become better. There are various veterinary blood banks that perform blood transfusion, but those with separated blood components are limited.
Animal Blood Bank Program
Every blood bank has its own program of donating and transfusing blood. Some blood banks also own specific brands of animals from which they get healthy blood. Dogs and Cats Referral, based in Colorado, has managed to develop its own unique blood donor program that takes care of dogs and cats. The referral follows all the rules and guidelines as laid out by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM). If a caretaker has an animal that can be considered to be a blood donor, even one such volunteering is a big sacrifice, since blood transfusion is a very involving and detailed procedure that needs attention to detail and a high amount of concentration.
Advantages Of Blood Bank
Once an animal is diagnosed to be in need of blood transfusion, the initial step is to check what blood type is required. A major advantage of these blood banks is that it is possible to get a variety of blood products for an array of diseases other than anaemia. You can get fresh frozen plasma, immunoglobulin, and cryoprecipitate, among others. These are products obtained from whole blood samples even though some intricate distillation processes are required to separate them. Some animal hospitals have a well-stocked blood bank where each of the components are kept for special use. Various other blood banks rely on caretakers to release their animals for blood donation.
While this is considered as the only way to obtain blood for use in desperate cases, it is important to note that the blood obtained from animals should be stored carefully in order to be used later. It is not prudent to wait until an emergency case arises and then rush to request caretakers to bring their animals to donate blood. Such methods may not work. Planning ahead is vital and so, the only way to ensure that pet fatalities are reduced significantly is the presence and availability of faunal blood banks across the country. (NOTE TO DEVELOPER: Kindly link immunoglobulin to the article “Check Out the Top Animal Blood Banks in the United States”)
When an animal is taken to a veterinary with the sole problem of anaemia, chances of needing a specialty product may be next to nil. As, once the blood type of the animal is confirmed, the animal is put through the recommended blood transfusion process. It is highly likely that a whole transfusion may be needed so as to ensure that all the components of blood are able to infuse properly. It is in such instances, that an animal blood donor is hurriedly needed.
Some blood donors pool a number of healthy animals which undergo intense screening to ensure that they are healthy to donate.
Animal Blood Donors
Donors are required to have not even the slightest sign of disease since the blood donated may be kept for long and the germs may survive and breed. The animals that donate blood are required to have rested enough to ensure that they are not tired and to erase the chances of fainting after blood donation.
The blood drawn from the donor is prepared to be infused into the ill animal. The recipient animal should show improvement during or after the transfusion is completed. The animals that donate blood are highly valued since these are the ones that make it possible to have a high life expectancy of animals. There are specific blood donation clinics across the country whose success in transfusing blood is unquestionably remarkable. Taking your ill animal to such a blood donation center is a guarantee that the animal will survive.
Blood Transfusions
Blood transfusions save lives of animals and they are required to be done under a lot of care and supervision. Veterinarians across the world are, therefore, known to be keen in their work since they are entrusted with the health of pets adored by their owners to the core. For many, these animals are all the family they’ve got. It is all these factors that make animal blood banks an important part of human life, and so, it is little surprising that a lot of crucial developments are being made in this regard, slowly but steadily.