By Sherry Shephard, USA TODAY
Medical conditions ranging from heat stroke and bleeding disorders to cancer and kidney disease can require blood transfusions for dogs and cats just as they can for humans.
That's why pet owners in growing numbers are both donating their pets' blood and relying on animal blood banks to provide it when their pets fall ill.
The concept of blood banking in animals has been around since the early '90s, says Holly Carey, assistant administrator to the animal blood bank and registered veterinary technician at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in Baton Rouge.
In recent years, "it's really taken off," Carey says, in part because "there are diseases that we know about now that we may not have known about before."
Carey says that before animal blood banks, some clinics would have a donor on hand — a dog or a cat — that would be used for whole blood transfusions in instances of trauma. But animal blood banks that are more like human banks have become more prevalent.
"Our blood bank is different from some because ours is strictly volunteer," says Ann Schneider, medical director for the Eastern Veterinary Blood Bank in Severna, Md. "People bring in their pets to donate blood on a regular basis." She says the need for blood donations grows every year.
"As the level of patient care increases, more people are likely to do whatever it takes to make their pets better," she says.
"In the old days, vets used to just draw the blood when they needed it, but that's become less and less acceptable over the years because of more discussion about blood products and proper use of blood products. So the need for blood donors will continue to grow indefinitely, and I'm hoping we can grow along with it."
Schneider says that although there were others, two of the largest blood banks that existed before Eastern Veterinary Blood Bank opened in 1993 were in California.
"I was in Maryland, so if I needed blood from one of my patients, I would either have to have it shipped overnight or draw it myself," she says. "It was quite apparent that just based on the geographic situation we needed more blood banks."
The blood bank at LSU School of Veterinary Medicine opened in 1992.
"We've turned into a 24-hour emergency critical-care facility, and that has increased our caseload," Carey says. "There are a lot of things out there that people didn't know were toxic, like the sago palm. And because of that, there are more critical cases coming through here now."
Veterinarian Jocelyn Garber's black Lab is a frequent contributor to the LSU blood bank. "I started bringing him when I started here about 10 months ago," Garber says. "I bring him in once every three months. We see a lot of dogs here that require transfusions."
Blood donations at LSU are mostly kept in-house, but donations received at the Eastern Veterinary Blood Bank are shipped cross-country.
"People call us and we ship the blood, and we also have a distribution centers," Schneider says. "There are clinics across the country that keep our blood on hand so if someone in their area needs blood, they can get it from them."
Bank staffers also do a lot of traveling.
"We go anywhere we can get within a few hours," Schneider says. "Most days we are on the road, and we schedule donors to meet us there."
LSU blood bank director Mark Acierno says that because the hospital is fairly large and staffers treat critically ill patients, they can't wait to get blood from somewhere else.
"We have to have it on hand," says Acierno, an associate professor and internal medicine specialist. "As the caseload has grown, the need for the blood bank has increased."
The blood banks are paid for by clients who use the services.
"When clients need blood products, they pay for those products and that in turn allows us to maintain the blood bank," Acierno says, adding that the need for blood goes up and down. "We don't have as much as we'd like, especially going into the summer months."
Incentives for donating can include annual blood work, heartworm prevention, infectious-disease screenings and free food, Schneider and Carey say.
"We also have little giveaways like bandannas and ID tags," Schneider says. "And once they have completed a year in the program, they are eligible for free blood if the dog ever needs it during its lifetime."
Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.