Striking a rich vein with canine blood transfusion

A dog can donate blood three times a year. A dog weighing not less than 10 kg could be a donor and 10 ml per kg would be collected.

June 15, 2016 12:00 am | Updated October 18, 2016 12:59 pm IST - CHENNAI:

The Indian Peace Keeping Force’s (IPKF) Sri Lankan stint may not be a memorable experience for many. But it has had a huge impact on the canine world, say experts.

The say the fact that IPKF had a 42-member dog squad is singularly responsible for the great strides that the country has made in the field of canine blood transfusion. At the heart of this revolution is a great Indian breed. Researchers from the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) and Madras Veterinary College also played a huge role. The dog squad, kept in trenches and bunkers, comprised German Shepherds, Labradors and Dobermans. These dogs were afflicted with tick fever, also known as ‘ehrlichiosis’ and suffered from acute anaemia.

“As blood transfusion is the only way to overcome the condition, we arranged for the dogs to be brought to Chennai two at a time. Since then, we have made big strides in the field of blood transfusion,” said S. Prathaban, Head of the department of the Veterinary Clinical Medicine, Madras Veterinary College.

Now, besides a full-fledged Animal Blood Bank, the Veterinary University Peripheral Hospital (VUPH), Madhavaram also has ICAR-Experiential Learning Unit Transfusion Facilities.

“It has the most advanced medical equipment—the Clinical Apheresis System. It is a highly donor-safe protocol since it separates only needed components and returns back all other blood components to the donor,” said P. Selvaraj, Assistant Professor of Medicine at VUPH.

A dog can donate blood three times a year. Dr. Prathaban said a dog weighing not less than 10 kg could be a donor and 10 ml per kg would be collected. “Per year, we do 140 transfusions. There is a great demand for blood. Even today, there is a request from Mumbai,” he said. The modern facility, the first of its kind in the country, allows a donor to come in once in five to seven days for platelets and plasma. On Tuesday, in connection with the World Blood Donors’ Day, the College honoured Canine Blood Donors and owners, with a view to creating awareness about canine blood transfusion.

‘Safe’ Chippiparais

The awardees include Mani, who has donated blood six times, and Rusty, four times. Both of them are Chippiparais, a native breed of Tamil Nadu. Research has established that they are safe blood donors.

“Dog blood groups are identified based on the surface antigen of the erythrocytes (DEA) and there are more than eight blood groups identified till date,” said G. Baranidharan, Assistant Professor and Blood Bank officer of the TANUVAS Animal Blood Bank, who has prepared a guide on blood transfusion.

Of these groups, DEA 1 and DEA 1.1 are highly antigenic, causing life-threatening transfusion reactions during subsequent unmatched transfusions. It is here that the Chippiparai offers the solution as a safe donor. Across the world, grey hounds are considered universal donors among dogs. S. Thilagar, Vice-Chancellor of TANUVAS, stressed the need for identifying more universal donors among the native breeds.

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