Missy's HEART Pet-Blood Donor Drive

A gift of blood is a gift of life.  Patients can require donor blood for many different reasons - many diseases cause the body to either reduce production of red blood cells or destroy red blood cells once they have been produced, blood loss is common in the case of trauma or surgery, and many parasites can feed on blood to the point of anemia.  The need for blood in these situations is the same between both humans and their animal companions.  Lack of red blood cells can cause a miryid of life-threatening complications, since red blood cells are needed to carry vital oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.  Our pets cannot offer to donate blood on their own, so please consider helping them give this gift so that other pets may live.

Whole blood can be stored safely for only 30 days.  Therefore, we would like to create a registry of donor pets in our community that we can call upon to give blood on a rotating schedule, so that fresh blood is always available.  Dogs will need to be at least 40lbs and cats will need to be at least 10lbs.  During this drive, we will gather the owner's contact information, type-match the pet's blood, and provide a free microchip for pet identification in our database.  After the drive, we will begin contacting owners on the registry and scheduling individual pet donations. *Please note: blood donation will take place on a different day than the blood donor drive*

During individual pet donations, dogs will recieve a free 4dx test for heartworms and tick-borne disease and cats will recieve a quick feline triple test for heartworms, FIV, and FeLV.  Once it is determined that the patient is clear of disease, the pet will be admitted for blood collection.  Pet donors will be given a small amount of sedation to keep them calm and relaxed during the collection process.  One bag of blood (bag size appropriate for the patient's weight) will be collected from the jugular vein.  A small patch of hair may need to be saved from the neck in fluffier dogs to allow access to the vein.  Once the collection is complete, and the sedation wears off, the pet will be returned to its owner.  Depending on supply, the pet may be called in again every few months.

As thanks to you and your pet for your contribution to the Missy's HEART pet blood bank, you will recieve your choice of:

• a free "my pet is a superhero" t-shirt
• a free "I am a superhero" pet bandana OR collar tag
• a free bag of treats for your pet