When it comes to blood transfusions, it’s more complicated than it seems. First, they have to find someone with the same blood type. The blood types are A, B, AB, and O. Second, we have to look at if it’s positive or negative. This is very important because if they transfuse the wrong blood type then the patient can get sick. But there is a blood type that is universal, O positive. This means that anyone can receive this blood. Humans are not the only “species” that need blood transfusions. Domestic dogs are another species that need blood transfusions.
Domestic dogs needs blood transfusions for the same reason. They could need it because blood lost, illnesses, and other emergency situations. But dog blood is different from human blood. It is more complicated. First, there are 12 different blood types that a dog could have. Secondly, their blood type is considered universal only if they have a negative blood type. This is for certain blood antigens. Testing dog blood takes longer, so it is easier for dogs to only receive ‘negative’ blood. There are not a lot of breeds that have universal blood, but greyhounds are one.
85% of greyhounds have universal blood. Their blood is rich in red blood cells, lower than average white blood cells, and platelets. When it comes to the procedure, the dogs are not sedated. They don’t need to be sedated because of the dogs’ big veins and calm demeanor. The large veins make it easy to draw the blood. Calm demeanor means that they are relaxed when the blood is being drawn. Some greyhounds even fall asleep during the drawing of blood. For a dog to be able to donate blood, they need to be between 1-7 years old and weigh over 50 pounds.
It is important to check the blood type between the same animals. This is because within that there are different blood types. It is also important to not mix blood between species. This could cause the animal to die. For example, if a cat receives dog blood then this wouldn’t be helpful. This is because dogs and cats don’t have the same blood.
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