This is 10 year old Cocker Spaniel Ghillie.
In October, Ghillie began bleeding from her mouth without any signs of injury. Worried, her owners Annette and Andrew took her to their vet at Bay Vets in Lancaster, to get checked over.
After various tests, Ghillie was diagnosed with Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia (IMTP), and hospitalised. IMTP is a condition where the body’s immune system, which normally fights infection, starts to damage and destroy platelets. Platelets are cells required to clot blood and prevent bleeding. If enough platelets are destroyed, spontaneous bleeding can occur.
Ghillie began medical management for her IMTP. However, after six days of intensive management, she continued to deteriorate and developed severe anaemia on top of the IMTP.
With her blood count dangerously low, Ghillie was given a blood transfusion. She needed fresh whole blood to get the benefit from both platelets and red blood cells. As this was before Pet Blood Bank started supplying Platelet Concentrate, a new product that we launched in November that will help other dogs like Ghillie, Kent, a dog owned by one of Bay Vet’s nurses, came to the rescue.
Kent is a Labrador who was already familiar with blood donation, having donated five times before at Bay Vets. The transfusion administered was temporarily stabilising but after three days, Ghillie was in desperate need of another transfusion.
As Kent had already donated, the fresh whole blood needed to be sourced from Pet Blood Bank. Fortunately, there was a session running that day at Oak Tree Animals’ Charity in Carlisle. The blood was couriered to Ghillie immediately after it was taken from Klaus, one of our fabulous lifesaving donors.
Thankfully, after the second transfusion, Ghillie’s condition improved.
Ten days after her initial visit, Ghillie was finally discharged and sent home with ongoing medication.
Owners Annette and Andrew said, ‘We hadn’t heard of Pet Blood Bank before and are extremely thankful to them, the donor dogs, and the staff at Bay Vets for the care shown to Ghillie’.
Ghillie has been back in for regular blood testing and remains on her steady road to a full recovery.
Cases like this show just how vital it is for vets to have access to a source of platelets for dogs. Our new blood product, Canine Platelet Concentrate, is now available to vets offering a lifesaving treatment for dogs suffering from excessive bleeding due to a low number of platelets. Thanks to all the support of our wonderful community, we are proud to supply this product and hope it will help to save many lives in the future.
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. To help dogs like Ghillie, find out more about your dog becoming a donor or the other ways you can get involved.
