Blood Donor
U&I Blood Donor Registry is a collection of dogs & cats whose owners have volunteered them to donate blood to other dogs & cats in need. In order to donate blood, a dog must be atleast 20kgs and cats 4kgs. Volunteers are contacted on a need basis. U&I team matches donors to the hospital where the animal in need of donation is. When you sign up your pet to be a donor, you can select which of the animal hospitals in Aizawl is accessible for you and your pet.
One day, we heard about a dog named Hiro who had jaundice. It was heartbreaking to learn that he was struggling for his life and urgently needed blood transfusions.
When we spoke to his pawrents we couldn’t help but tear up and understood the emotional toll we all face when our pets are sick. Hiro would need 5 units of blood, so his pawrents were desperately looking for 5 different dogs to donate one unit each. Hiro’s pawrents journey showed us the need for a donor registry. We felt that many others must have in their shoe and more could be in the future too. We hope to relieve some of pet owner’s stress by having a readily available list of donors.
Since the registry started in April, we have matched 3 donors. The number of units a dog in need of blood transfusions may need depends on their illness. One dog can donate blood once in 3 months. We hope more people will sign up their pet dogs and cats to be a blood donor.
In Aizawl, the general process of blood donation at most pet hospitals is:
1) Check dog's weight
2) Sample blood is drawn to check if its a match for the recipient
The complete blood count test and HB result will show if your pet is okay to donate.
3) If it's a match, your pet will be prepped to donate one unit of blood.
Some doctors may sedate for the blood drawing duration. In which case, your pet will be active once it wears off after donating (time varies depending on the pet)
4) The blood drawing time can vary from 10 minutes or more.
Click here to sign up your pet to be a blood donor
Picture: Cooper, adopted from U&I Rescue, donating blood for Hiro.