LBTC
01-21-2007, 04:29 PM
Well, today started as a good Sunday, and only got better. :p We slept in, did laundry, worked out, and my dog Diva saved another dog.
Well, okay, the vet saved her, but with Diva's help. They called looking for a blood donor, as we told them when we moved to town that our dogs are donors. We tried 'Cuda first, along with two other dogs that the vet and his friend had. 'Cuda is definitely our bigger boy, so he's usually the first requested to give blood.
None of the first three dogs was great when they mixed the red blood cells of ours with the serum from the little doggie in crisis. I guess she has hemalytic (or something like that) anemia. Her blood was killing off her red blood cells. So, of the first three, 'Cuda was the best match, but there was still some clotting which isn't great. So then we brought Diva down there. Not only was she the best match of the 4, with virtually no clotting, but she's had incomplete typing done and in 2 of the 3 tests she appears to be a universal donor.
Our vet is no dummy. Once he had her sedated and they were taking her blood, he said that she really needed to have her teeth cleaned (which we knew) and then offered to do it for free. This is a real godsend for us! We don't have lots of available cash for the care of our fur-kids right now (we will when DH starts making plumber money in a few years) and I was already worrying about how we could afford the $400 bill to clean her teeth! Yes, the vet now thinks of Diva as a precious and important doggie and he wants to keep her in fabulous health, etc. Yay!
So she had a drug that sedated her, then a vitamin b/iron injection (great idea!), then another drug that woke her up. She's a bit out of sorts now, but seems to be doing just fine. I think she'll get a little of the turkey soup I'm making, cuz she's just such a special little girl. Mind you, since she's only a 44 pound border collie, he does wish she was as big as a saint bernard!
They said they'd let us know how the recipient does. She looked like a papillon to me - very small and cute. They had to get some blood into her first, then they can try to control the condition with drugs, and they have to check her organs to see how they are. Hopefully they caught it in time, and she'll be alright. Oh, yes, and this poor little recipient's owner drove her three + hours to get here for this treatment.
Life is good
Hugs and butterflies,
~T~
Well, okay, the vet saved her, but with Diva's help. They called looking for a blood donor, as we told them when we moved to town that our dogs are donors. We tried 'Cuda first, along with two other dogs that the vet and his friend had. 'Cuda is definitely our bigger boy, so he's usually the first requested to give blood.
None of the first three dogs was great when they mixed the red blood cells of ours with the serum from the little doggie in crisis. I guess she has hemalytic (or something like that) anemia. Her blood was killing off her red blood cells. So, of the first three, 'Cuda was the best match, but there was still some clotting which isn't great. So then we brought Diva down there. Not only was she the best match of the 4, with virtually no clotting, but she's had incomplete typing done and in 2 of the 3 tests she appears to be a universal donor.
Our vet is no dummy. Once he had her sedated and they were taking her blood, he said that she really needed to have her teeth cleaned (which we knew) and then offered to do it for free. This is a real godsend for us! We don't have lots of available cash for the care of our fur-kids right now (we will when DH starts making plumber money in a few years) and I was already worrying about how we could afford the $400 bill to clean her teeth! Yes, the vet now thinks of Diva as a precious and important doggie and he wants to keep her in fabulous health, etc. Yay!
So she had a drug that sedated her, then a vitamin b/iron injection (great idea!), then another drug that woke her up. She's a bit out of sorts now, but seems to be doing just fine. I think she'll get a little of the turkey soup I'm making, cuz she's just such a special little girl. Mind you, since she's only a 44 pound border collie, he does wish she was as big as a saint bernard!
They said they'd let us know how the recipient does. She looked like a papillon to me - very small and cute. They had to get some blood into her first, then they can try to control the condition with drugs, and they have to check her organs to see how they are. Hopefully they caught it in time, and she'll be alright. Oh, yes, and this poor little recipient's owner drove her three + hours to get here for this treatment.
Life is good
Hugs and butterflies,
~T~