Everyone Meet Bailey!
Age: Approximately 1 year old
Breed: Bull Mix
Weight: 22.2kg
Bailey is a canine HERO! Why?
Before I tell you why this is her background. Bailey was found wandering the streets, limping and in pain last year. She was picked up by the kind people at the SPCA Hastings Centre who brought her into us for a check over and to have her limping addressed. After diagnostic radiographs she was found to be recovering from four broken metatarsals (Toe bones). Bailey had to be cage rested to finished the healing process, surgery unfortunately was not going to be an option as the radiographs suggested the injuries were old and the bones where starting to callus on their own.
Bailey is typical of her breed full of energy, fun and affection, cage rest was going to be hard so Bailey best chance was to go out to a quiet foster home to finish her recovery. Lucky for Bailey she ended up with one of our very own vets. Bailey was a very good patient, she quickly adapted to her new surroundings and she recovered perfectly. With no contact from her owners she put up for adoption! Well…….. Bailey never made it back to the SPCA as her foster family quickly fell in love with her! So that brings us to why Bailey is a HERO!
“Bailey gave blood…. and that precious gift was used to save another dog’s life!”
Like humans, animals frequently need transfusions for lots of different reasons, yet there are few national canine blood banks or commercial operations that supply blood. Donors can make a huge difference to save a life. Similar to humans in order to be eligible to donate blood, dogs must be in good health. Donors must be a certain weight and size, be current on their required vaccinations, they must be free of any medications other than flea, tick, and worm preventative.
When it was time for Bailey to give blood, the process is surprisingly simple. Bailey was taken into ICU, was given a relaxing medication and laid on her side. Her veterinary nurse monitors her vitals and checks for signs of stress, while the veterinarian inserts the needle and monitors the draw. Blood is taken from the large jugular vein in the neck. Bailey was a good dog and gave just over 400ml’s of blood.
Once blood is taken from the donor dog, it is kept warm, filtered and then put straight back into the receiving dog. The patient is closely monitored throughout the process by both the vet and nurse to look for any signs of reaction. Dogs are amazing, you can give them any type of canine blood the first time around, but you can only do this once, you need to do blood typing if you need to repeat a transfusion at a later stage.
Afterwards the Bailey was a bit groggy from the medication and was fed a nice meal and checked over again before going home! Bailey saved a life with her donation!
