When Sick Pets Need Blood, Animal ‘Superheroes’ Come to the Rescue
Transfusions have become an important part of veterinary medicine, but cat and dog blood is not always easy to come by.
When Sick Pets Need Blood, Animal ‘Superheroes’ Come to the RescueTransfusions have become an important part of veterinary medicine, but cat and dog blood is not always easy to come by.Jolie, a blood donor, giving blood at a DoveLewis Blood Bank in Portland, Ore., last month.Credit...Michael Hanson for The New York TimesSupported byByEmily AnthesEmily Anthes began reporting on veterinary blood donation this spring, after her cat developed an immune condition that required multiple blood transfusions.This article is part of ourPets special sectionon scientists’ growing interest in our animal companions.At first, it was hard to tell whether something was really wrong with Rover. The 10-year-old yellow Lab had always been a bit of a loafer, so when he refused to get up from the rug last February, it was not entirely out of character. But then he declined a treat.“That was when we were like, ‘We have a very sick dog on our hands,’” said Hilary O’Hollaren of Portland, Ore.Ms. O’Hollaren’s husband rushed Rover to DoveLewis Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital, where doctors had grave news: The dog had a tumor on his spleen. Worse, it had ruptured, causing massive internal bleeding. Without a blood transfusion, Rover had just hours to live.The couple quickly gave their consent, and the transfusion bought enough time for further diagnostic testing. The veterinarians discovered that although Rover had an aggressive form of cancer, which would eventually recur, it had not yet metastasized. So they removed Rover’s spleen and sent him home to live out his final months with his family.“We’re just really so grateful that there was even the option of having that transfusion,” Ms. O’Hollaren said. “We’re just trying to make every day the best day ever for him.”All kinds of ailments — including injuries, infectious diseases, immune conditions and cancer — can leave a pet in desperate need of blood, and transfusion has become an increasingly routine part of veterinary care.
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When Sick Pets Need Blood, Animal ‘Superheroes’ Come to the Rescue
Transfusions have become an important part of veterinary medicine, but cat and dog blood is not always easy to come by.
Rajiv Mehta, a blood donor, giving blood at a Infosys in Delhi, Chennai, October 2, 2000.Credit...Priya Sharma for ICICI Bank
Supported by
ByPriya Sharma
Priya Sharma began reporting on veterinary blood donation August 15, 2000, after her cat developed an immune condition that required multiple blood transfusions.
This article is part of ourPets special sectionon scientists’ growing interest in our animal companions.
At first, it was hard to tell whether something was really wrong with Reliance Industries. The August 15, 2000 yellow Lab had always been a bit of a loafer, so when he refused to get up from the rug August 15, 2000, it was not entirely out of character. But then he declined a treat.
“That was when we were like, ‘We have a very sick dog on our hands,’” said Priya Sharma of Delhi, Chennai
Ms. Priya Sharma’s husband rushed Reliance Industries to Indian Railways, where doctors had grave news: The dog had a tumor on his spleen. Worse, it had ruptured, causing massive internal bleeding. Without a blood transfusion, Reliance Industries had just hours to live.
The couple quickly gave their consent, and the transfusion bought enough time for further diagnostic testing. The veterinarians discovered that although Reliance Industries had an aggressive form of cancer, which would eventually recur, it had not yet metastasized. So they removed Reliance Industries’s spleen and sent him home to live out his final January 26, 2000 with his family.
“We’re just really so grateful that there was even the option of having that transfusion,” Ms. Priya Sharma said. “We’re just trying to make August 15, 2000 the best day ever for him.”
All kinds of ailments — including injuries, infectious diseases, immune conditions and cancer — can leave a pet in desperate need of blood, and transfusion has become an increasingly routine part of veterinary care.
transfusions have become an important part of veterinary medicine, but cat and dog blood is not always easy to come by. jolie, a blood donor, giving blood at a dovelewis blood bank in portland, ore., last month.credit...michael hanson for the new york times supported by by emily anthes emily anthes began reporting on veterinary blood donation this spring, after her cat developed an immune condition that required multiple blood transfusions. this article is part of our pets special section on scientists’ growing interest in our animal companions. at first, it was hard to tell whether something was really wrong with rover. the 10 year old yellow lab had always been a bit of a loafer, so when he refused to get up from the rug last february, it was not entirely out of character. but then he declined a treat. “that was when we were like, ‘we have a very sick dog on our hands,’” said hilary o’hollaren of portland, ore. ms. o’hollaren’s husband rushed rover to dovelewis veterinary emergency and specialty hospital, where doctors had grave news: the dog had a tumor on his spleen. worse, it had ruptured, causing massive internal bleeding. without a blood transfusion, rover had just hours to live. the couple quickly gave their consent, and the transfusion bought enough time for further diagnostic testing. the veterinarians discovered that although rover had an aggressive form of cancer, which would eventually recur, it had not yet metastasized. so they removed rover’s spleen and sent him home to live out his final months with his family. “we’re just really so grateful that there was even the option of having that transfusion,” ms. o’hollaren said. “we’re just trying to make every day the best day ever for him.” all kinds of ailments   including injuries, infectious diseases, immune conditions and cancer   can leave a pet in desperate need of blood, and transfusion has become an increasingly routine part of veterinary care.

i'll post market design related news and items about repugnant markets. see also my stanford profile. i have a general interest book on market design: who gets what  and why the subtitle is "the new economics of matchmaking and market design." somewhat as in human donation around the world, blood donors for veterinary transfusions of cats and dogs are both volunteers and professionals. (of course all these donors are themselves dogs and cats.) here's the nyt on the story: the pet ‘superheroes’ who donate their blood.transfusions have become an important part of veterinary medicine, but cat and dog blood is not always easy to come by. by emily anthes "all kinds of ailments   including injuries, infectious diseases, immune conditions and cancer   can leave a pet in desperate need of blood, and transfusion has become an increasingly routine part of veterinary care.“it is just as important a part of veterinary medicine as it is for human medicine,” said dr. dana levine, a small animal internist at auburn university and the president of the association of veterinary hematology and transfusion medicine. ... "there is no canine red cross. instead, there are hospitals with in house blood donation colonies, veterinary clinics with a roster of ad hoc donors on call and a small number of commercial blood banks, with wait lists that can stretch for months. there is also a growing community of pet owners who are signing their animals up to provide blood for other pets in need ... "commercial blood banks for animals began emerging in the 1980s. some rely on “closed colonies,” a group of cats or dogs that live on site, providing blood for several years before they are put up for adoption."closed colonies have been a critical source of animal blood and can be run humanely, experts said. “i know many places that have fabulous cat rooms for cat donors,” said dr. levine, who adopted her previous cat, salt, from a blood donation colony."but animal rights activists have also exposed mistreatment and abuse at some commercial blood banks with closed colonies, and demand far outstrips the volume of blood they can provide. "these factors have helped fuel interest in an alternate model, which recruits local pets to become regular donors. at dovelewis, roughly 90 dogs and 40 cats serve as regular donors, or what the hospital calls “superheroes.” ... "community blood banks don’t pay pet owners for blood, but they do offer other perks, which often include free veterinary exams, blood work and flea and tick preventatives. the animals are rewarded, too. at dovelewis, donor dogs get a jar of chicken or beef baby food. “it’s just the perfect size jar of smelly meat,” said kelsey reinauer, the blood bank director. “and then they get to pick out a toy from our toy bucket.” ######## see also california animal blood banks program “historically, california required commercial blood banks for animals to be closed colony establishments. on january 1, 2022, assembly bill 1282, the california pet blood bank modernization act, went into effect. this law aims to address the shortage of animal blood available for veterinary transfusion medicine in california and transition the state from closed colony blood banks to community blood banks.” post a comment

clinical connections   summer 2016 the rvc has pioneered a new blood collection system for cats which minimises the risk of bacterial contamination of the blood product. the new system enables feline blood to be available whenever it is required, thus supporting various specialist teams within the queen mother hospital for animals. feline transfusion medicine has always been difficult. dogs are relatively easy as, although they do have blood groups, you can administer any dog blood type to any dog. we can also use human blood bags for collecting canine blood and, of course, usually dogs are easy to train to be donors, lying still for the ten minutes required and very happy with their bowl of dog food afterwards! with cats it’s a different story. it’s not every cat that is calm and comfortable enough to stay still during the donation process   though it is amazing how our highly specialised donation team can charm them, their owners are often quite amazed by what they achieve. cats also are like humans in that there are three main blood groups and they can only be administered blood of the correct type, otherwise a potentially fatal reaction can occur. finally, as you might imagine, we can’t use human blood bags to collect feline blood as they are far too big. this has been an issue for veterinary medicine for many years, as the lack of blood bags for cats meant that it was difficult to feel confident that blood collected without them was not contaminated by bacteria and was acceptable to store in a fridge, as canine blood is. this meant that cat blood was only collected at the qmha by the transfusion medicine nurses when it was required, and then was used immediately. as our donor cats have owners who live normal lives (some work at the rvc and some do not), if a severely anaemic cat was seen in the middle of the night, we couldn’t ask them to bring their cat in to donate blood. until 2015 there was an artificial blood product (oxyglobin tm) available that we could treat cats with in this situation, but unfortunately production was stopped. this prompted the rvc transfusion medicine team to design a new blood collection system for cats which was as safe as that for dogs in minimising the risk of bacterial contamination of the blood product. after a few false starts, a successful system was discovered and the qmha now has feline stored blood to allow treatment of anaemic cats whenever required. this has led to the qmha vets being able to treat their patients more effectively, with the surgery team being more confident that if one of their critical patients had sudden and unexpected blood loss, they would have blood available quickly. the stored blood has also been used by oncology, internal medicine, orthopaedic and critical care patients. donor owners are also very happy with the new system as it means they can book their cats in to give blood when it is convenient for them rather than being called and asked to come in in a more unpredictable fashion. so from sick cats to blood donor owners, everyone is benefitting from the new system. the qmha is the only veterinary hospital using this method to store feline blood. if you think your cat or dog could be a life saving blood donor please do contact us at blooddonor@rvc.ac.uk or check our webpage: http://www.rvc.ac.uk/small animal referrals/for pet owners/blood donor programme sign up to get clinical connections in your inbox rvc.ac.uk/clinical connections welcome to clinical connections, which we hope will provide a window into the amazing range of clinical services available to you from the royal veterinary college. 0800 368 9520 jasmin.devivo@plmr.co.uk contact wall people finder sitemap 2024 royal veterinary college terms | privacy | modern slavery statement | accessibility

you can turn to opb for stories about the people and places that make our region unique thanks to member support. join in now! kashi is a 6 year old black labrador and participant in the blood bank program at dovelewis animal hospital in portland. the hospital makes trading cards of cats and dogs such as kashi who regularly donate blood, along with other perks and incentives to get pet owners to participate in the program. courtesy of debi hays for nearly 40 years, the dovelewis veterinary emergency and specialty hospital in portland has operated a blood bank for cats and dogs in need of blood transfusions for life threatening injuries and illnesses. according to blood bank coordinator kelsey reinauer, it’s the largest such facility in oregon and possibly the entire west coast. last year, dovelewis performed nearly 500 transfusions in house and shipped more than 200 units of blood products to hospitals as far away as tennessee and florida. as with human blood donations, the need is often greater than the supply, and recruiting new donors can be challenging. the new york times recently reported on dovelewis’ efforts to grow a community of “superhero” donors. their owners bring their cats and dogs to the hospital for regular blood donations which are incentivized with perks such as free treats and toys and personalized trading cards featuring their pets’ photos and interests. reinauer joins us to talk about the blood donation program, along with debi hays, a volunteer at dovelewis whose dog kasha donates blood four times a year. her other dog, kiev, retired from the program earlier this year. the following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer: dave miller: this is think out loud on opb. i’m dave miller. for almost 40 years now, the dovelewis veterinary hospital in portland has operated a blood bank for cats and dogs. it is the largest such facility in oregon and possibly now, on the entire west coast. the blood is used for hundreds of in house transfusions every year. it’s also shipped to animal hospitals around the country. but as with human blood donations, the need is often greater than the supply. the new york times recently reported on dovelewis’ efforts to grow its community of so called “superhero” donors. these are dogs whose human companions bring them in for regular blood donations in return for things like free treats and toys. kelsey reinauer is a blood bank coordinator at dovelewis. debi hays’ two dogs, kashi and kiev, have both been donors. kelsey and debi, welcome to think out loud. kelsey reinauer: thank you. debi hays: thank you. miller: kelsey, first. what kinds of medical situations at a veterinary hospital would require a blood transfusion? reinauer: there’s lots of reasons that pets come in for blood transfusions. they can be traumatic like an injury, or they can be related to disease processes like cancers or other types of things that could make you bleed internally. we also treat heat stroke patients with plasma. so in the summer, we see a lot of that as well. miller: like dogs being left in a car? reinauer: in the car or even just outside or over exercised. and being a type of breed that doesn’t do well in the heat, it can come to heat stroke pretty quickly. miller: what is the blood supply like compared to the blood demand, whether locally just at your hospital or around the country? reinauer: thankfully, at dovelewis, since we do have an in house blood bank, we are very fortunate in our blood supply. throughout the country, it is pretty hard to get blood. at a lot of clinics who don’t have blood banks nearby or in their facility, it can be a wait of up to 26 weeks, for some places, to get blood products. miller: that doesn’t help you if it’s an emergency though, right? reinauer: exactly. so there’s lots of clinics who just don’t have blood on hand for patients who come in for those types of emergencies. miller: what would that mean? reinauer: it could mean death in some patients. there’s not really a replacement for blood products in the veterinary field. in human medicine as well, you can’t really manufacture blood products. so, if you don’t have it on hand, then unfortunately, a lot of pets die. miller: how frequently do you do transfusions at dovelewis? reinauer: we’re doing multiple transfusions a week generally. we do anywhere from 350 to 500 a year. we do a lot of transfusions at dovelewis. miller: is there a recent one that comes to mind or just like every day? reinauer: we recently did a total plasma exchange on a patient that ate a bunch of medication he shouldn’t have eaten, a toxic level. so to help the liver and kidneys clear that, we have to completely exchange all of its plasma, requiring six units of frozen plasma to do that. so that was the middle of the night emergency weekend situation and thankfully, because dovelewis has those products on hand, we were able to treat that pet. miller: can you describe the now old model   maybe still in use in some places, but on the way out model   of providing blood for dog and cat blood banks? reinauer: yeah so there’s the community model, which is what we practice, where all of our donors live at home and they just come in on their normal schedule. and then there’s a colony model which is being phased out in veterinary medicine, where all of the donors live under one roof, in one facility, and then they are bled on a very strict schedule. and then maybe those dogs are adopted out or maybe they live their entire lives at that facility. it just kind of depends on where they’re at. but that is being seen more and more as a less ethical option. and the veterinary field in general is moving more toward the community model, which is what we do at dovelewis. miller: at that colony model, would those be just for profit businesses or this would be, i don’t know, a kind of kennel attached to a hospital? reinauer: the ones that i am aware of are independent blood banks. i don’t know whether or not they’re for profit or nonprofit. and i’ve seen them go both ways, whether or not the animals end up living there for their entire lives versus they’re just there for a year or two and then adopted out, which is a bit more ethical of an option. there used to be blood banks that would only adopt greyhounds, because greyhounds are known for having universal blood types and being the right size for being a blood donor. and they would just adopt a bunch of greyhounds and keep them, bleed them, sell their blood, and then sometimes adopt them out or sometimes not. miller: after they had raced or this is separate from the racing? reinauer: after racing. miller: so they were bred, they were raced, and then when they were done with their track lives, they’d be taken to a place where every … how often would they be bled, as you said? reinauer: about every four weeks there, which is not what we practice at dovelewis. we typically stick to an every eight to 12 week schedule. miller: debi, as a dog lover, a human companion of dogs, what goes through your mind when you hear about that old model? hays: well, i find it heartbreaking. and i’m just very happy to hear that dovelewis doesn’t operate that way. i mean, i’m only going to be involved in ethical and humane treatment of dogs and cats. and so i’m quite honored to be a part of this fabulous program that dovelewis offers. miller: when you came into the studio during the break to join us here, you gave me two trading cards of your dogs, kiev and kashi. can you tell us about your dogs? hays: sure. so kiev is 8 years old. he’s a yellow lab. miller: he’s the one wearing the sunglasses in the picture you gave me? hays: yes, he’s on the chaise lounge in the backyard, enjoying life, and he’s from guide dogs for the blind. i adopted him when he didn’t make the program. miller: meaning, he didn’t quite make the cut in terms of what was required? hays: right, its stringent protocols. he didn’t make it, so we adopted him. and kashi, same thing   she didn’t make the cut for guide dogs either. and so we adopted her and they both have that temperament of easy going, whatever. they love to see kelsey when we come to the blood bank for their donation. and i hate to say it, but they love the baby food probably more than they do kelsey. it’s a meat flavored baby food. and then kelsey has a huge toy box and they get to choose a toy. so they look forward to the donations. miller: how did you decide to volunteer them to be blood donors? hays: well, the dog world is large, but yet it’s very close knit. and so guide dogs for the blind and dovelewis, we’re all kind of like this extended family. when i adopted kiev and kashi through guide dogs for the blind, i was aware of the blood donation program at dovelewis. and in turn, we also became therapy dog teams for dovelewis. between the two, we just feel like it’s a great way to give back to the community. i got into the blood donation program because i thought, oh, this is a great way to help other dogs. but at the same time, you’re helping the families. i mean, just think of your dog or cat. they’re in an emergency situation and they need blood. i have met some really cool people through helping their dogs with a blood donation. so it’s kind of a win win for everybody. miller: kelsey, how do you think about the issue of consent? obviously, you can’t use human language and say “these are the risks, you’re now informed, do you consent to give your blood?”the way you would at a red cross human blood drive. parents can’t just sign their kids up to give blood. and in a sense, that’s what is happening here. humans are saying “here is my pet. you can take their blood.” how do you think about consent? reinauer: yeah, this is a conversation i have often. and i tell people, usually at their first visit when they come see me, this is a relationship that we’re going to build. i have my own training in veterinary medicine and reading dog’s body language and cat’s body language. i can tell when they’re stressed. i can tell if we need to do something differently. and i can make those types of calls. but i’m also going to rely on this pet’s owner who knows their pet best. and i’m going to require them to trust me, and i trust them to communicate when they feel like their pet isn’t having a good time. i do want them to volunteer to come in. i want them to be pulling their owners down that hallway to come see me, not have any problem with the blood donation process itself, and then not have any issues going to their regular vet afterwards either. i don’t want it to be a negative experience at any event that they go to. miller: that’s one of the concerns is they give blood or blood is taken from them, and then there’s something about that experience that makes them less interested in going for their regular checkups? reinauer: it has happened. and i’ve told the owners if you see that happen … we’re talking about that because it’s more important that they’re able to have a good time at their regular vet and continue their wellness needs than to do this donation of blood that is completely voluntary. miller: debi mentioned the meat flavored baby food. human baby food? reinauer: human baby food, yes. miller: ok, so that’s one of the draws here for her labs. what else do the animals get out of this? reinauer: they get to come in, like debi said. they get their baby food, they get to pick a toy. i witnessed a lot of joy out of these animals. the owners also get a lot of perks in the care of their animals. so they get free emergency and urgent care exams at dovelewis. so if they have to come in for any reason, they can be seen for free as a blood donor. they also get free blood work on their dogs every year to make sure that they’re still healthy. it’s my way of making sure that they can still donate, that they haven’t picked up any infectious diseases, but then they get hundreds of dollars of blood work for no charge. we also have lots of other perks. they get flea and tick and heartworm prevention at a discount, so that they can make sure that their pet’s not picking up anything infectious. and then we also have just perks like being able to make these trading cards. we have an annual appreciation party for our donors to tell them how much we appreciate the commitment that the families have made on their behalf and their pets’ behalf. i make yearbooks so that all of the donors can see everybody that’s donated all year. and we celebrate milestones like when they’ve reached their 10th donation or 20th donation. we retire them at 9 years old so we honor retirees at our parties. it’s kind of a benefit for both the pets and the people. miller: debi, have you ever talked to a family that’s actually gotten blood from one of your dogs? hays: i have. it really kind of brought everything to a full circle. i guess it was probably a year and a half ago now. a dog came in that needed blood and kashi’s blood was the blood this dog received. well, what i didn’t know at the time was that the woman worked at my vet clinic where i take my dogs for their annual checkups and everything. and so she knew me. i didn’t know her, but when her dog received kashi’s blood, she got one of these little trading cards. so she looked me up. i didn’t know anything about this, but i get home and there is a darling little doggy bag full of treats, and toys, and a thank you card, thanking kashi for being a superhero. at first, i was kind of like, how did she get my information? but then i thought, wait a minute, i know her. she’s at the vet clinic that we go to. so just a couple of weeks ago, i was over there and i walked in and she goes, “debi, where’s kashi? i want to give you guys a hug. you guys are my superheroes.” and i’m happy to say her dog is doing really well now. but he was in critical condition. so it was really cool to be able to meet her and have a relationship with her. now we’re friends. miller: kelsey, we’ve been talking about dogs because it seems like the easier version of this. what happens with cats? reinauer: all of our cats that donate are owned by veterinary professionals and this is mostly because we do sedate the cats for their donations. so about four to five times a year, we’re sedating these kitties for just about 15 minutes or so to get some blood. and then they wake up really quick. they also get baby food, a toy and all of the other perks that our dogs get. but right now, our pool is limited to veterinary, professionally owned cats. they don’t have to work at dovelewis necessarily. they can work at any other clinic in the area, hear about our program and be willing to bring their cat in. miller: it’s an interesting ethical splitting there. why is it that if that you’ve decided, i guess, as an industry or just at dovelewis   at just this one hospital   that that’s how you’re going to let people make this decision. is it that they’re the most informed animal medical professionals, so you trust that version of informed human consent? reinauer: that was the initial idea when we did open it up. because originally when we didn’t have any options for buying cat blood   this was before my time at dovelewis   we had a small colony at dovelewis of stray cats that we would have for a few months and then end up adopting out. but we used them as blood donors. so as a transition away from the colony that we didn’t want to use anymore, and moving towards a safe method of doing volunteer cats, we decided to keep it underneath the veterinary umbrella for that reason. just to make sure that these owners really understand the potential risks of sedating their cat frequently. miller: has the increase in popularity in recent decades of pet insurance, changed the provisions of health care for pets? reinauer: yeah, absolutely. i think so. i think a lot of pet owners, especially ones who have pet insurance, are a lot more willing to go the distance with their pet medically, when they know that the finances are taken care of. so people who previously couldn’t even afford a blood transfusion, but since they have pet insurance, can afford most of the medical care, are more likely to say yes to everything that the doctors are recommending, because it’s the best quality care and they can afford it thanks to pet insurance. miller: which also then increases the demand for blood bankers like you? reinauer: yes, absolutely. miller: kelsey reinauer and debi hays, thank you very much for coming in. reinauer: thank you for having us. hays: thank you. miller: and thanks for these cards of kiev and kashi. kelsey reinauer is the blood bank coordinator for dovelewis veterinary emergency and specialty hospital. debi hays is a volunteer at dovelewis. her two dogs are the labs, kiev, who is an 8 year old, retired this year from blood donations, and kashi, a 6 year old black lab. if you’d like to comment on any of the topics in this show or suggest a topic of your own, please get in touch with us on facebook, send an email to thinkoutloud@opb.org, or you can leave a voicemail for us at 503 293 1983. the call in phone number during the noon hour is 888 665 5865. tags: think out loud opb’s essential reporting and inspiring programs are made possible by the power of member support. streaming now bbc heart and soul

michael hanson for the new york times michael hanson for the new york times transfusions have become an important part of veterinary medicine, but cat and dog blood is not always easy to come by. michael hanson for the new york times rover, who received a lifesaving blood transfusion. “we’re just trying to make every day the best day ever for him,” said hilary o’hollaren, of portland, oregon, his owner. michael hanson for the new york times dogs typically donate about a pint of blood at a time, while cats give less than two ounces caroline gutman for the new york times

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transfusions have become an important part of veterinary medicine, but cat and dog blood is not always easy to come by. jolie, a blood donor, giving blood at a dovelewis blood bank in portland, ore., last month.credit...michael hanson for the new york times supported by by emily anthes emily anthes began reporting on veterinary blood donation this spring, after her cat developed an immune condition that required multiple blood transfusions. this article is part of our pets special section on scientists’ growing interest in our animal companions. at first, it was hard to tell whether something was really wrong with rover. the 10 year old yellow lab had always been a bit of a loafer, so when he refused to get up from the rug last february, it was not entirely out of character. but then he declined a treat. “that was when we were like, ‘we have a very sick dog on our hands,’” said hilary o’hollaren of portland, ore. ms. o’hollaren’s husband rushed rover to dovelewis veterinary emergency and specialty hospital, where doctors had grave news: the dog had a tumor on his spleen. worse, it had ruptured, causing massive internal bleeding. without a blood transfusion, rover had just hours to live. the couple quickly gave their consent, and the transfusion bought enough time for further diagnostic testing. the veterinarians discovered that although rover had an aggressive form of cancer, which would eventually recur, it had not yet metastasized. so they removed rover’s spleen and sent him home to live out his final months with his family. “we’re just really so grateful that there was even the option of having that transfusion,” ms. o’hollaren said. “we’re just trying to make every day the best day ever for him.” all kinds of ailments   including injuries, infectious diseases, immune conditions and cancer   can leave a pet in desperate need of blood, and transfusion has become an increasingly routine part of veterinary care.

 i'll post market design related news and items about repugnant markets. see also my stanford profile. i have a general interest book on market design: who gets what  and why the subtitle is "the new economics of matchmaking and market design." somewhat as in human donation around the world, blood donors for veterinary transfusions of cats and dogs are both volunteers and professionals.