Meet gorgeous Cocker Spaniel, Coco, who owes her life to the blood donation and fantastic veterinary care she received after contracting Parvovirus, every puppy owner’s worst nightmare.
Initially a full of beans spaniel pup, at just 12 weeks old, Coco went off her food, became nauseous, and was unusually quiet. Her owner Suzanne works at one of our host venues, Bay Vets in Lancaster, so knows how quickly puppies can go downhill. She brought Coco into the vets immediately and tests revealed that she was suffering from Parvovirus, despite being fully vaccinated.
Coco deteriorated quickly and on her second day of hospitalisation, she required a feeding tube to get some much needed nutrition into her. She was becoming weaker and weaker and developed severe anaemia. A blood transfusion was her best chance to give her some strength to fight off the virus.
Slowly, Coco began to improve and after 10 days, while still weak, she was well enough to go home and continue her recovery there.
Suzanne said, ‘I can’t thank the vets and nurses who cared for Coco enough. I believe the blood donation she received helped her enormously. I will be forever grateful to the dogs (and their human helpers) who donate their lifesaving blood, but also to the team at Pet Blood Bank who keep this service running as efficiently as it does.’
Fast forward to now, three years on, and you would never know Coco went through such a traumatic start in life. Suzanne added, ‘Coco is loving life and has bundles of energy, the super blood has made her the fastest spaniel I know!’
It is so important that in an emergency we have blood available for dogs like Coco. If your dog is fit and healthy, between 1 and 8 years old, weighs over 25kg, and is confident, they could become a blood donor and help to save lives.
