Pet of the Month...........
This month we haved decided to award Tilly the border colllie
pet of the Month. Tilly was brought to the surgery back in October
because her owners were concerned that she was very quiet and not
her usual self. The vet examined Tilly and found she had fast heart
rate, pale mucous membranes, a low temperature and a very tender
abdomen. Tilly was immediately admitted for investigation and
treatment as the vet suspected Tilly may have an internal bleed.
Blood was taken for analysis, this showed Tilly was anaemic and an
ultrasound scan of her abdomen showed she had a mass possibly
associated with her spleen or liver. Tilly was taken straight into
surgery for the mass to be removed. Once inside her abdomen the vet
found a large splenic mass which was bleeding, a total of 600mls
of blood was removed from her abdomen. The vet performed a
splenectomy which involves the whole spleen being removed, this was
carried out to ensure the whole tumour was removed and none left
behind. Tilly's abdomen was then lavaged with sterile saline to
prevent infection. Following the surgery Tilly was kept
hospitalised while she recovered and so she could receive
intravenous fluids, including fluids which also help to maintain
her circulation following the blood loss, Tilly also received
intravenous antibiotics and pain relief. The following day a blood
test was performed as Tilly had lost quite a lot of blood so we
needed to check her packed cell volume (PCV), this is the
percentage of red blood cells in the blood. Tilly had PCV of 11%,
if a dog's PCV drops lower than 15-20% a blood transfusion is
required. A low PCV means the animal is anaemic, when the PCV is
life threateningly low it can lead to coma, organ failure,
hypothermia and death. Therefore Tilly received 1 unit of packed
red blood cells which was given to her intravenously whilst she was
closely monitored to ensure she did not show any signs of a
transfusion reaction.
Like humans dogs have different blood groups, in the dog there
are 8 different groups called dog erythrocyte antigen (DEA)
1-8. Dogs can be blood typed to get an exact match however often
DEA 1.1 negative blood is used as this is considered universal to
both DEA 1.1 positive and negative dogs. Following her transfusion
Tilly was again kept hospitalised for monitoring. The next day
Tilly was much brighter and had begun eating again, her PCV was
rechecked and had gone up to 34% which was an excellent sign that
the transfusion had worked however there was the presence of blood
in her urine which showed a minor blood transfusion reaction so
antihistamines were prescribed for Tilly to prevent further
reaction. Following a full examination the vet was happy to
discharge Tilly and her owners were very glad to have her home
again, Tilly came back for a few further checks but is now doing
excellently and histopathology of the mass removed showed that the
mass was benign which means a great prognosis for Tilly!
If you are interested in your pet becoming a blood donor please
check out the pet blood bank website www.petbloodbankuk.org
Canine Donor criteria:
- Be aged between 1-8 years of age
- Weigh more than 25kg
- Have a good temperature
- Never have travelled abroad
- Be up to date on all vaccinations
- Be fit and healthy
- Not be on any medication