If your dog is in a traumatic accident, has an autoimmune disease or cancer, there's one very important thing needed to help save its life: blood. Humans donate blood all the time, but rarely do we stop to think about our pets' needs for blood. At Creature Comforts we have established the area's first canine blood bank and donor system to keep a generous stock of fresh blood on hand in case your pet needs it for treatment or in an emergency.

Founded in 2004, our blood bank was the brainchild of one of our head technicians, Lorraine Lennon. With her hard work and with the help of technician Kareen Kosman, Dr. Pam Wilmot and Dr. Karin-Susan Breitlauch, the canine blood donor program began in September, 2004, and has been going strong ever since.

Dogs have two major blood types, DEA 1.1 positive and DEA 1.1 negative. To qualify to be a donor, a dog must be healthy, 2 to 7 years old, spayed or neutered, over 50 pounds and must be able to sit quietly for 30 minutes. Donor volunteers are extensively checked with a physical examination, a general blood panel, Von Willebrand's Disease check and a thyroid panel (all at no cost). Their owners must be willing to bring them in for a donation once every three months.

Each time a dog comes in to give a donation, a small amount of blood is first drawn from their paw and tested for electrolyte balance, kidney and liver function, and infection. Once the tests results are ready and the dog is okayed for the procedure, a small portion of its neck is shaved and sterilized. Blood is pulled from the jugular vein and fed by gravity down a tube to the collection bag. The blood is weighed on a digital scale as it is taken to insure that just the right amount is drawn.

When the donation is finished, a technician wraps a bandage around the dog's neck and the dog is observed. Then the dog is given a doggie chew and bowl of food for his or her efforts. The total donation takes about an hour.

The donor dog regenerates the blood taken within a few days and suffers no ill-effects from the donation at all. In fact, most of them seem to know that they are helping out, and they love the attention.

Canine blood can last up to two months in refrigerated storage, but we only keep our blood for 45 days to insure that it's as fresh as possible. When the blood is needed for a patient, the patient is tested to determine blood type, and a procedure known as a cross match helps insure that any blood used for a transfusion is compatible. We use about ten units of blood a month, and with our rotating donor schedule, we always have enough blood on hand.

Unfortunately, our donor program is not available for cats. Why? Because cat blood doesn't store well; it breaks down very quickly. There is a synthetic hemoglobin product available called Oxyglobin that can be used for cats (and many other species, including dogs), but fresh, whole blood is still the best because it contains red blood cells, protein and clotting factors.

This is where our clinic residents help out. The cats you see occassionally in our waiting room, they are our resident donor cats. Available at a moment's notice, they have been blood typed and are ready to supply blood when needed. They certainly earn their keep!

So next time you see one of them, thank them. They have helped us save many pets' lives, and the next pet they save could be yours.

Before we started our donation program, we had to purchase blood from a veterinary blood bank in Maryland. This worked just fine, but it took a day to get new blood if the supply on hand was used up. With each unit costing over $300 (a unit of blood is just 450 milliliters) and having a limited shelf-life, it was cost-prohibitive to keep too much extra blood here at the clinic.

We run our blood bank at cost-only, so patients that need blood are only charged for the costs involved in taking and storing the blood. This means a lower total bill than if we had to buy blood from another source.

The blood from nearly every single donor has been used to save a life, and will continue to do so. Greg Paulin, owner of Noga (one of our first donor dogs), says it best. "He knows this is important. If his blood can save anyone from losing a pet, it's worth it."

If you think your dog might qualify for our donor program, please contact Lorraine at our clinic at the phone number listed at the bottom of this page.