Do You Have Your Dog Blood Typed?

I have a new mission!  Getting the word out that everyone should have their dogs blood typed before they need it!!!

Blood typing isn't new in dogs, but most people don't think about having it done.   My Dobie list was talking about how important it is just a few weeks ago.   Remember the dog that needed blood?  I read all the stuff about blood typing and my thought was how likely is it that one of my dogs will be hit by a car, so I never really gave blood typing any more thought.  At least I didn't until last Sat.   My Dobie Jet had a gastric bleed.  He almost died.  We sent a blood typing in with his other blood work and we just got it back yesterday.  Unfortunately we had to give him a transfusion on Tues.  He just wouldn't clot and his red blood cell count and platelet count were getting so low, we just couldn't wait any longer.   Transfusing dogs is like transfusing people, you can get away with using a universal donor type ONCE.  We were worried that we would need to do surgery and if we'd transfused him with something other than his type, what would we do if he needed more blood during surgery?!?!? Anyway, we transfused him with A- (which is the universal donor type as well as Jet's type).  Within 6 hours of the transfusion he clotted and has been slowly improving ever since.  Had we not been waiting for the blood type results we would have transfused him a lot sooner. 

PLEASE get your dogs blood typing done!  Any dog, no matter how well loved and cared for, can have an accident.  That's why they call them that.  But even if they never have an accident, that doesn't mean their blood type isn't something you might really need - look at Jet.

I'm trying to talk my dog training club into having a blood typing clinic in the near future.   If each of you gets their own club to sponsor a clinic, just think how many dogs could get typed!!  I realize that blood typing isn't cheap ($35), but look at all the people that are spending that much and more for DNA typing.  Blood typing could save your dogs life!

Bridget Curry