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 Southern Arizona Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Centers (SAVSEC) is pleased to announce the newest addition to its services. They now offer a full service blood bank to their clients and referring veterinarians. The blood bank is carrying products for both canine and feline patients. This includes whole blood, packed red blood cells, plasma, and cryoprecipitate.
The blood comes from the willing donors in the community (that means local volunteers from around the Tucson area). If you are interested in having your cat or dog donate blood, there are a few basic prerequisites.
The canine donors should be between the ages of 1-8 years, body weight greater than 50 pounds, spayed or neutered, and have an over-all good temperament. Feline donors should be between the ages of 1 and 8 years, indoors only, body weight greater than 10 pounds, and spayed or neutered.
Potential donors will have an initial orientation with the Blood Bank coordinator, Kira Staggs, CVT. There are different blood types for both canines and felines, as with people. All potential blood donors will be blood typed on the day of orientation; however, their blood type will not affect their participation in the program because there is a need for all blood types.
In addition to blood typing, all potential donors undergo a thorough blood screening to check for organ dysfunction and infectious diseases that are specific to dogs and cats living in Arizona. Specifically they screen for canine diseases including heartworm, Valley Fever, Brucella, Babesia, and other tick transmitted diseases. Feline diseases include FIV/FeLV, Mycoplasma haemofelis (formerly Haemobartonella), Toxoplasma and heartworm.
The blood donation process only takes about 15 minutes from start to finish, though an hour is allotted for each appointment to include physical exam and set up. The owners have the option to stay with their pet during the donation process if they are comfortable with needles and blood in the bag. Some pets respond better if their guardian is comforting them.
After the donation, the donors will receive a prescription bland diet and fluids under the skin to replace the volume of blood donated. This acts as the juice and cookies that humans receive when they donate. The donors should have a quiet day after donation, with lots of water and food.
Most canine donors do not require any type of sedation. However, if the donor is very nervous, a mild sedative is administered prior to the donation. Feline donors are less likely to hold still as long and are slightly more independent than their canine counterparts. They do get a sedative prior to donation regardless of their temperament.
Although blood donation can safely be done every four weeks, a minimum donation of four times a year would be asked. The goal of the SAVSEC blood bank is to have enough donor participants to rotate them every six to eight weeks.
Besides the satisfaction of knowing your pet could be a life saver, there is an incentive program which includes complimentary heartworm and tick preventative medication, initial blood work and annual blood work for the years that the donor remains active in the program. There are more incentives so please feel free to call with questions or for further information on the packages that are offered for the donors.
Transfusion medicine for animals is a growing area of interest in the veterinary community. And although pets have been receiving blood transfusion for decades, the blood banking concept is fairly new. SAVSEC’s blood bank coordinator has four years experience with blood banking and seven years of emergency/critical care experience. They also now have a critical care specialist who is working closely with the program to make sure that they are offering the best to both patients and donors.
SAVSEC is very excited about the program as they understand the advantages to their critical patients are endless. And they also realize none of this would be possible without the generosity of pet owners and the willingness of pets to donate their life-saving blood.
If you wish to inquire about the program or set up an orientation appointment, please contact the Blood Bank coordinator, Kira Staggs, CVT at 520-888-3177 ext #2237, or send an email to
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AGR wishes to thank Southern Arizona Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Centers (SAVSEC) for sponsoring the winter edition 2008 of Roos & News.
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