As a veterinarian, Dr. G. R. Baranidharan often gets to see how much love people have for the animals they raise. On a recent Friday, a group of Army officers had brought their commanding officer’s dog that was suffering from renal failure all the way from Pune to the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Tanuvas). A week earlier, a man brought his sick goat.
Goats and sheep are given up for slaughter even at the slightest hint of disease. Owners rarely take the effort to save a goat since it is not as valuable as a cow nor as much of a pet as a dog. But this man — Dr. Baranidharan recalls he seemed a person of modest means from north Chennai — was far too attached to his goat. “We decided to do blood transfusion since the owner was very particular about saving the animal. Though blood transfusion is common in large animals, it is not done in the case of goats and sheep as the process is not commercially viable,” said Dr. Baranidharan, Assistant Professor and Blood Bank Officer at Tanuvas.
Free of cost
The one-and-half-year-old female goat had the disease anaplasmosis caused by ticks. The goat was on the verge of getting jaundice and was suffering from anaemia. It would have died in 10 days if blood transfusion had not been done, says Dr. Baranidharan.
A team of veterinarians including Dr. Cecilia Joseph, Professor and Head, Department of Clinics, Dr. B. Gowri and Dr. C.S. Arunaman, who have expertise in the field of blood transfusion for large animals, went ahead with the process and did it for free of cost.
There was one problem though. Unlike in the case of other animals, kits for testing the blood group of goats have not been developed since vets rarely get such cases.
Checking compatibility
“The owner himself arranged a donor goat. We examined the RBC of the donor and the serum of the recipient under the microscope for compatibility. We found that the blood of the donor was suitable for transfusion and the animal recovered immediately,” said Dr. Baranidharan, explaining that blood was drawn from the jugular veins of the donor.
The goat received 400 ml of blood and was treated for the disease. The vets had made a goat owner happy.
