Pet Blood Bank – Saturday 6th January

dog blood banks

Canine Donor Programme

Similar to the human blood service, dog owners kindly register their much loved canine companions to give blood at one of The Pet Blood Bank’s many sessions across the country.

After each session, the blood is taken to our processing centre in Loughborough where it is separated into red blood cells and plasma products, and then stored ready for despatch.

The Pet Blood Bank UK run an average of five sessions a week at veterinary practices and kennels, with over 8,000 lifesaving donors registered with the charity. Last year, we sent out over 5,000 units of blood and as transfusion medicine advances, the demand continues to grow.

Every unit of blood can help save four other lives, saving thousands of lives every year.

At Oakhill Veterinary Centre, we support the work the Pet Blood Bank does and we offer our veterinary centre at Goosnargh as a venue. Our next blood bank session will be on Saturday 6th January and we need more owners to bring in their dogs for this great cause.

To get involved, please register your dog using the Pet Blood Bank’s online form, then a member of their team will be in touch to confirm your details and discuss arranging your first appointment. After this, they will send out a Donor Information Pack which includes a Consent Form and a Donor Health Check Form. Please complete these and bring them with you to your appointment along with your dog’s vaccination record.

When you come along to a Pet Blood Bank UK (PBB) donation session, you will be greeted by the staff who are hosting the session. They work on an appointment system, much like your veterinary practice and be given an appointment time convenient to you beforehand.

Your appointment is split into two parts:

Health and suitability check with their fully qualified vet

They will go through the following process with your dog prior to any donation going ahead:

Undertake a physical examination of your dog and take its health history
Carefully clip and clean two small areas of your dog’s neck
Take a small blood sample and run some tests to ensure that your dog is fit to donate
Microchip your dog if it is not already microchipped

Donation

If your dog passes the initial checks, you will be shown to the donation area where a fully qualified phlebotomist will collect about 450ml of your dog’s blood.

After donating, we’ll ask you to stay at the donation venue for a small amount of time to allow your lifesaver to have a drink, something to eat and to be observed by our team. Your dog will receive a goody bag which includes an “I’m a Lifesaver” bandana and tag to thank them. They will also get to pick out a toy to take home and we’ll take their picture for their Facebook and Twitter pages!

You are then ready to go home. They advise that dogs rest for the remainder of the day and can go back to their normal routine the following day.

In total, you should allow around 45 minutes for your appointment, although the actual donation process only takes between 5 and 10 minutes.

If you can’t find a donation session near you, please continue to register your dog as The Pet Blood Bank are hoping to hold sessions all over the UK. They need a minimum of 30-40 dogs to be registered for them to hold a session, so please tell your friends to consider registering their canine companion as well so we can hold a session in your area.

We would like to thank the Doggy Dream Team for providing us with the infographic.

Image creative license to DoggyDreamTeam ©

Keeping chocolate out of reach this Christmas

Christmas is a time where chocolate isn’t usually in short supply and with it being a very busy season, it’s easy to get swept up in the occasion and often forget about leaving advent calendars and chocolate treats lying around, but if your pet does manage to get hold of some chocolate it can endanger their health, sometimes seriously, and even innocent treats can be deadly.

The reason chocolate is poisonous is because it contains a chemical called theobromine and while we usually focus on dogs due to their appetites and their amazing ability to steal food, please note that this chemical is not only poisonous to dogs, but is also poisonous to other animals such as cats, rodents and rabbits.

Although any chocolate should be kept out of reach of your pets, it’s important to note that the darker and more expensive chocolate usually contains more theobromine, which can make the fancier chocolate more poisonous. Although white chocolate contains less theobromine and is less likely to cause chocolate poisoning, it’s still very fatty and can still make your pet ill.

If any of your pets do eat some chocolate, depending on their size and the amount they’ve consumed, initial signs and symptoms can be vomiting and diarrhoea. Chocolate is also a stimulant and can lead to your pet to become excitable, as well as developing muscle twitching, tremors, fitting and life threatening problems with their heart and severe cases can be fatal.

Over the Christmas period make sure that all chocolate is out of the reach, this includes chocolate decorations hung from your tree, advent calendars, boxes of chocolate put out on Christmas day, and one that many people forget is the wrapped chocolates under the tree (most pets have a great sense of smell and can easily get into these chocolate treats).

Although chocolate wrappers are not poisonous, they can cause an obstruction in the gut if eaten. This can be very dangerous and may require surgical intervention. Signs of an obstruction may include vomiting, lethargy, your pet being off their food, not defecating or finding it difficult to defecate.

If you think your pet has eaten some chocolate, please contact us for advice about what to do next.

Halloween emergencies: chocolate toxicity in dogs

Although Halloween is an enjoyable holiday and celebration for many, there are an increased number of dangers to pets that are particularly prominent at this time of year.

We have discussed chocolate on numerous occasions, however this is the number one toxin that is seen in emergency practices – it is a topic you can never be too familiar with.

The Symptoms

Theobromine (found in chocolate) mainly affects the heart, central nervous system and kidneys. Symptoms will occur from 4-24 hours after the dog has ingested the chocolate and will vary depending on the amount of chocolate (theobromine) the dog has eaten.

Restlessness and hyperactivity
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
Rapid breathing
Muscle tension, inco-ordination
Increased heart rate
Seizures

How much chocolate is too much?

The VetsNow Chocolate Toxicity Calculator for Dogs is a useful tool.

The symptoms of poisoning vary depending on the size of the dog and the amount of chocolate eaten – the larger the amount of chocolate eaten, the more severe the symptoms tend to be. However, signs of toxicity can occur with small amounts of ingestion. For example, this is how chocolate is likely to affect a dog weighing 30kg:

Ingestion of 200g of milk chocolate is likely to cause a digestive upset (vomit and diarrhoea).
If the dog had eaten 500g of milk chocolate, it is likely that cardiovascular problems would occur (increased heart rate)
If the dog has eaten 750g of milk chocolate, it may experience seizures.

How do we treat chocolate toxicity?

The following steps are taken:

Identify how much chocolate the dog has eaten – look out for empty wrappers as these can be a useful indication. The type of chocolate and the time it was consumed are also important factors in identifying whether the dog has eaten enough to be a toxic dose and what treatment should follow.
There is no antidote to theobromine. Depending on the timeframe, in most cases inducing emesis with apomorphine will aid in retrieving some of the ingested chocolate. Activated charcoal may also be used to absorb any chocolate remaining in the intestine. In more severe cases, intravenous fluids may be necessary as well as close monitoring of mentation, heart rate, blood pressure and kidney function.
With prompt intervention and treatment, the prognosis for a dog who has experienced chocolate poisoning is often positive.

Top tips for managing chocolate toxicity cases successfully

Don’t forget about the packaging – was this also ingested? Could this cause a risk of GI obstruction?
Chocolate can be an additional ingredient in seemingly innocuous food items (e.g. cakes, protein supplements) so make sure you check the list of ingredients.

If your dog has consumed chocolate, please call your vet.

Could your pet be affected by pyometra?

Although pyometra is a fairly common condition, many people don’t know what it is.

Pyometra is an infection of the uterus (womb), common in female dogs and cats that haven’t been spayed.

In dogs, every time they have a season (usually about twice a year) they undergo all the hormonal treatments associated with pregnancy, regardless whether or not she is pregnant.

The changes that occur in the uterus during each season, increases the chances of an infection with age. A very common organism called E. coli, found in your dog’s faeces, usually causes pyometra. Some injections with hormone, either to prevent seasons or for the treatment of other conditions can increase the chances of pyometra developing.

pyometra dogs preston

The signs usually develop around four to six weeks after the female has finished bleeding from her last season. In some cases, the bitch may appear to be having a prolonged season.

The signs and symptoms to look out for are:

Early stages:

Licking back end more
Season lasts longer than usual
Off colour
Off her food
Drinking and urinating more
Vomiting

Advanced stages:

Pus coming from vulva
Swollen abdomen
Collapse

If your dog has this condition, urgent treatment may be required, if left untreated these signs will worsen to the point of dehydration, collapse and death from septic shock, so please contact your vet as soon as possible.

Diagnosis and treatment

Your vet will probably suspect your dog has pyometra based on your description of the signs and from their examination of your pet.

They may suggest procedures such as ultrasound and blood tests to confirm the diagnosis, rule out other possible causes, and to check that your pet is well enough to undergo treatment.

The treatment of choice for pyometra is surgery to remove the uterus. The operation is essentially the same as a routine spay.

However, there is more risk involved and a higher chance of complications when the operation is being carried out on a sick pet. Your dog will also be given intravenous fluids (a drip), antibiotics and pain relief.

Can I prevent pyometra?

Most dogs will make a full recovery after treatment for pyometra, if the condition is caught early. Spaying your dog before she develops a pyometra will prevent this condition occurring.

If left untreated, or if the dog has had a pyometra for a while before presentation, she may be septic (bacteria has gone into the bloodstream) and more prolonged hospitalisation and treatment may be required. In this situation the prognosis is usually worse.

The importance of regular health checks for your dog

Owning a dog is great fun and immensely rewarding, but they’re also a big responsibility.

Although you get to know and understand different aspects of their behaviour and their day-to-day routines, it isn’t always obvious to know if your dog is ill, it’s even harder to spot any potential dog health problems.

Most people don’t take their dogs to the vets unless there’s an emergency or obvious signs of illness, however a regular health check may detect issues earlier.

A health check up usually includes 10-points that include:

10 point health check dog preston vets oakhill veterinary centre

If any abnormalities or issues are found, the vet will discuss them with you and a plan for further investigation can be discussed.

Health checks every 6 months are great for your dog as the vet can detect subtle changes in your dog’s overall health. This is especially important for older dogs as these checks play a huge part in the ‘prevention is better than cure’ approach. As part of our 365 Care Plan, dogs and cats get a 10 point health check with a vet every 6 months included.

Oakhill Veterinary Centre puts an emphasis on preventative health care and our 365 Care Plan for dogs and cats was designed with this in mind.

To find out more about the 365 Care Plan click here. If you’d like to book your dog in for a health check, then please contact us.

Category: Dogs

Dogs: