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Blood for Critically Ill Animals Is in High Demand

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November 7, 2000, Section F, Page 12Buy Reprints
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The nation is in desperate need of blood donors among them, dogs and cats.

Advances in veterinary medicine and pet owners increasingly willing to spend large sums on the family dog or cat have caused a nationwide shortage of blood for critically ill animals.

The country's four national animal blood banks all have back orders, with a two-month waiting list for hard-to-come-by cat plasma and up to a six-week wait for dog plasma.

The blood banks ship blood and blood products to clinics around the country, often on a moment's notice, so doctors can perform emergency surgery when Spot has been struck by a car or Felix needs a kidney transplant.

''If you say you need the blood and I say I don't have it, chances are that dog's going to die,'' said Valerie Courtright, associate director of a Michigan clinic that held three dog blood drives last month to help increase supplies.

The Animal Blood Bank in Dixon, Calif., the country's largest animal blood supplier, ships 1,600 to 2,000 units a month to 3,000 clinics throughout the United States and Canada.

''There's more dogs that need blood than there are dogs to give it,'' Pat Kaufman, the director, said. ''We just can't keep up.''

Only about 5 percent of dogs meet donor criteria, the blood bank says, and animals must have vaccinations and be screened for diseases and blood disorders.

Large dogs make the best donors. A German shepherd, for instance, can more easily part with a pint of blood than a poodle.

Demand for blood has skyrocketed in the last year as clinics perform more and more procedures.

Loni Kuriga, a veterinary technician from Wisconsin, has spent thousands of dollars on procedures for her 15 animals, including a $1,200 treatment for her cat's asthma and dental work for her 40-year-old horse.

''My dogs and cats and chickens are part of my family,'' Ms. Kuriga said.

Doctors at the 24-hour Animal Emergency Center in Glendale, Wis., are pleading with pet owners to increase blood donations from their animals, Dr. Marla Lichtenberger said.

Her clinic, like many others, calls on animal donors any time there is an emergency need for blood. The clinic has even performed bird and ferret transfusions.

Juneau, a Siberian husky, donates blood every two months at the Glendale clinic.

On Thursday, a technician shaved fur from a spot on his neck, then inserted a delicate needle and plastic tube in his jugular vein as he lay calmly on an examination table. It was all over in about 10 minutes. Juneau did not bark once.

''It's neat to know that maybe out of that, some dog will live,'' said the pet's owner, Cheryl Felker of Milwaukee.

Besides the Animal Blood Bank in Dixon, Calif., the other three national animal blood banks are Midwest Animal Services, Stockbridge, Mich.; Hemopet, Irvine, Calif., and Eastern Veterinary Blood Bank in Annapolis, Md.

Human blood donors have also been in short supply in recent months. In September, the American Red Cross issued a national appeal for donors -- the second such call in two months. It cited worse-than-usual blood shortages over the summer.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section F, Page 12 of the National edition with the headline: Blood for Critically Ill Animals Is in High Demand. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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