Saturday, May 27, 2006
The blood bank is looking for dogs that are the equivalent of the human O negative universal donor.
By ERIC SHARP
DETROIT FREE PRESS
DETROIT -- Jim Klauza, a member of the Detroit Sportsmen's Congress, was surprised a few years ago when another member told him his hunting dog had received a blood transfusion from a dog blood bank during surgery.
"I had just never heard of that before," Klauza said. "I had no idea there was such a thing as a blood bank for dogs. But his dog got blood, and it survived.
"The more I thought of it, the more sense a dog blood bank made, with all the hunting dogs in Michigan. We have 1,100 members, so when I heard that they were looking for donor animals, I figured that we could have a dog blood drive at the same time we had our annual human blood drive at the club."
First time
The first effort drew 95 people and a dozen dogs, and though it didn't seem like many dogs to Klauza, he said the people at the Buddies for Life animal blood bank in Bloomfield Hills were happy.
Klauza hopes to double the number of donor dogs when the Detroit Sportsmen's Congress holds its second annual Buddies for Life blood drive next month.
The blood drive, which is open to dog owners who are not members, will be run by Melissa Spooner, a veterinary technician who runs the blood bank at Oakland Veterinary Referral Services.
"We do about three to five [blood] draws a week here," Spooner said last week as she shaved the neck of Amadeus, a 2-year-old German shepherd, before slipping a needle into his jugular vein to withdraw about a pint of blood.
"We won't be taking blood at the Buddies for Life drive at the DSC. What we do there is type dogs."
Blood types will be identified to build up a data base of donors that can be called on for emergencies, surgeries and other needs.
Humans have four basic blood groups -- A, B, AB and O. Dogs have 11 and three more subgroups. Spooner said the blood bank is looking for dogs that are the equivalent of the human O negative universal donor.
Quotable
"They can type human blood instantly in hospitals, so you can use different types for different people," she said. "But we have to send the dog blood to Cornell University for typing, and it takes a week. So we just draw from universal donors. Most breeds are all over the place in their blood types. But we've found that German shepherds, greyhounds and pit bulls are about 90 percent universal donors."
A dog must be 1 to 9 years old and weigh at least 45 pounds to donate or be typed as a donor. Spooner said a dog can give as much blood each time as a human several times its size because "a dog's spleen is just a powerhouse when it comes to making blood. They produce blood about three times faster than people."
Amadeus, owned by Toni Moon, who also works at Oakland Veterinary Referral Services, lay quietly during the five minutes it took for the blood to fill a small plastic bag. The clinic maintains a small blood bank for plasma, which can be kept for a year, and packed red blood cells, which have a shelf life of 35 days. A unit of either runs about $100, roughly the same as for human blood products.
The Oakland facility also maintains a cat blood bank and cat donor list.
The Michigan Animal Blood Services facility in Stockbridge is one of six commercial animal blood banks in the country and offers services for goats, llamas and other livestock as well as cats and dogs. Several universities round the country, including Michigan State, maintain blood banks and do research for livestock, race horses and zoo animals.
Klauza said the Buddies for Life drive and the Detroit Sportsmen's Congress "seemed like a great match because so many of our members own hunting dogs. They have a lot invested in their dogs, emotionally and financially. They won't hesitate to spend money on medical services for their dogs."
Growing demand
There is a growing demand for dog and cat blood, Spooner said, although most people are still unaware that their pets can be donors.
"When a dog gets blood, we give the owner a card telling them where it came from," she said, rewarding Amadeus with a dog biscuit that he wolfed down happily. "A lot of the time they send the donor dog a thank-you card and some dog biscuits."
She patted the friendly shepherd, which was nosing around for more biscuits.
"Amadeus has donated regularly," she said, "and he has saved a lot of lives."
Dog owners can contact Buddies for Life at (248) 334-6877, Ext. 250.