Page 5 - Paws and Hooves - Spring 2024

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Page 5 - Paws and Hooves - Spring 2024
P. 5

DID YOU
                                                                                                         KNOW?





       All about blood









       The RVC’s Blood Donor Programme is       Packed red blood cells (PRBC) – these
       vital to the everyday functioning of our   are often used in patients who are anaemic
       hospital, enabling our diverse services   due to lack of production or destruction of
       and specialised care.                    their own red cells or blood loss. PRBC can
                                                quickly restore a patient’s red blood cell
       The blood from our donors can be
       separated into different components.     count, allowing more oxygen to travel around
       This means we can ensure each patient    the body.
       gets exactly what they need and we can   Fresh frozen plasma – this is rich in clotting
       even split units for smaller patients.    factors and helps patients with a wide range
       By reducing wastage every donation       of clotting problems as well as those with
       has a greater impact. For example,       critical illness.

         one unit of whole                      Frozen plasma – this is used if patients
                                                require additional protein support or have
         blood can help up                      been intoxicated with certain pesticides.

         to five dogs.                          Plasma can be frozen for up to five years.
                                                Serum eye drops – these are used by our
                                                Ophthalmology Service to treat patients with
       Our blood donations can be used for:     severe eye ulcers which are not healing.
       Fresh whole blood – this is used in patients   Cryoprecipitate – available for
       requiring all the components of blood to   our canine patients suffering from
       support them through their condition.    haemophilia and other diseases
                                                preventing normal blood clotting.




       FELINE                                   CANINE

       BLOOD FACTS                              BLOOD FACTS

       •   Cats are type A, B or AB             •  The most important canine blood
                                                   type is DEA 1
       •   Giving a cat the wrong blood type can
          result in a fatal transfusion reaction  •  Most dogs in the UK are DEA 1 and can
                                                   take positive or negative blood
       •   Most cats are Type A
                                                •  Around 40% are DEA 1 negative
       •   Only 10-15% of cats are Type B
                                                •  You can give a DEA 1 negative dog
       •   Around 2% of cats are AB
                                                   DEA 1 positive red blood cells but they
                                                   won’t last as long as if you had given
                                                   DEA 1 negative cells






                                               Nesto before and after receiving
                                               serum eye drops to treat an ulcer

       Our blood donor heroes vary hugely, not only in blood type, but also in their breed,
       appearance, and personality.  Whatever blood type they are, we make sure they all have   Dottie, a blood serum donor
       one thing in common – that they are comfortable and happy to give blood.
                                                                                         P&H        SPRING 2024  5
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