Blood donors

This morning, I took Abbey to his first blood donor clinic, operated by LifeStream Animal Blood Bank, organized by Greyhound Supporters of the National Capital Region. What a great initiative!! LifeStream provides blood and blood products to canines all around the world who require transfusions.

Abbey was a great donor. He accepted the needle without hesitation, and promptly lay down on the table. A sample of his blood was extracted initially to determine his blood type [he is DEA 1.1 Positive - (where DEA stands for Dog Erythrocyte Antigens) - only 5% of dogs are this blood type], his hematocrit level (60, excellent for a greyhound - normal dogs have hematocrit levels between 35 and 55), and tested for heartworm (negative). For 19 min, he was then able to relax on the table while 375 mL of blood was removed from his body in the same manner that is done with humans. He was very complacent throughout the procedure, and only became agitated at the end of the session when he knew that 6 of his friends were playing in the living room! In return for his quarterly donation, he will receive free blood transfusions for life, if he ever requires one (hopefully not), a tag for his collar with his blood type, and a complete CBC report (red and white blood cells, platelets) after each donation. His blood will go to help another dog anywhere in the world.