Awareness, Motivation, and Fear towards Canine Blood Donation-A Survey of Dog Owners in Lithuania

Prevalence and characteristics of adverse reactions in dogs donating blood

OBJECTIVES

This article aims to analyse the safety of canine blood donation by describing the frequency and causes of any adverse reactions in donors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this prospective study, any blood donor adverse reactions detected by the clinical staff during and immediately after donation were recorded. The owners of the dogs were also surveyed by a veterinary practitioner or veterinary nurse 3 days after donation, using a predefined questionnaire to assess for any clinical or behavioural changes. Data were collected between December 2020 and December 2021 from blood donors enrolled in an animal blood bank programme.

RESULTS

From the 4439 blood donations, 37 (0.83%) adverse post-donation reactions were reported, with no other reactions identified in the remaining 4402 donations (99.17%). Of the total of donations in the studied period, 0.63% (n = 28) of canine donors developed a haematoma in the puncture area, 0.11% (n = 5) developed mild bleeding at the puncture site during the monitoring period, 0.045% (n = 2) developed a skin rash after clipping for donation, and 0.045% (n = 2) developed acute weakness, pallor, tachycardia and tachypnoea during the 30 minutes monitoring period, consistent with hypotension. In both cases showing acute signs of weakness, pallor, tachycardia and tachypnoea, all parameters stabilised and resolved within 10 to 15 minutes upon administration of a 10 mL/kg bolus over 10 minutes of intravenous NaCl. No other delayed reactions were reported by the owners other than the acute reactions already registered by the donation staff.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The low incidence of post-donation reactions in this study is encouraging, suggesting that a high level of safety can be achieved in a structured canine blood donation programme.

Launch of the first canine mobile blood donation center in Asia: development, outcomes, and influence of an animal bloodmobile

Introduction

A mobile blood donation station allows a maximum number of donors to donate blood at any location. In veterinary medicine, no previous studies have reported the use of bloodmobiles for blood donation in animals. We assessed Asia's first canine mobile blood donation center, which was trialed using a modified vehicle in South Korea.

Methods

A vehicle was modified into a canine bloodmobile with two sections: the front as a laboratory and the back as a blood collection room with necessary equipment. To recruit companion dogs nationwide, the campaign was advertised on television and promoted via social media. Applications of the dogs meeting the following criteria were accepted: in general good health, between 2-8 years old, body weight above 25kg, vaccinated, regularly on heartworm and ectoparasite prophylactics. Pre-donation procedures included medical screening and informed consent, followed by blood collection in a routine fashion. Post-donation, dogs were monitored for complications and owners completed a post-donation survey.

Results

Of the 750 applicants, 48 donor dogs were selected for investigation. Ten failed to donate blood owing to the following issues: behavioral problems (2/48), positive results on vector-borne disease screening tests (5/48), in-tubing clot formation (2/48), and absence on the relevant appointment date (1/48). Blood collection took approximately 12 minutes, and the entire procedure lasted an average of 1.5 hours per donor. The prevalence rates of dog erythrocyte antigen 1-negative and 1-positive blood were 32.6% and 67.4%, respectively. There were no donation-related complications, except for one dog that had contact dermatitis induced by clipper irritation. The post-donation survey completed by 46 owners revealed that most were satisfied with the campaign. The convenience of the mobile blood drive (93.5%) was a key factor contributing to high owner satisfaction and willingness to participate in future campaigns (95.7%), in line with findings from prior veterinary and human blood donation motivation research.

Discussion

The bloodmobile effectively increased engagement in canine blood donation by enhancing accessibility. To optimize canine mobile blood drives, procuring larger vehicles and enhancing infrastructure for future campaigns would be beneficial. In conclusion, this study showed that Asia's first canine bloodmobile was successful in terms of improving the convenience, accessibility, and efficacy of canine blood donation. Although the concept is still unfamiliar to the public, active promotion of canine blood donation can help ensure a robust blood donation culture in the veterinary field.