Meet Ted, a 12 year old cocker spaniel, who’s happiest when digging - at the beach, in fields, even in his owner’s clean bed!
Three years ago, Ted needed a lifesaving transfusion after becoming dangerously anaemic, with no clear diagnosis. After further examination and tests, he was found to have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which had since been under control with a special diet.
However, Ted recently had a serious flare up of his IBD, which wouldn’t subside with medication. This led to Ted having severe blood loss and needing a second lifesaving transfusion. As Ted had already received a transfusion in the past, it was vital the blood he received was closely matched to his, otherwise a dangerous transfusion reaction could occur. This means doing a test called a cross match, which checks Ted’s blood against different donor blood units to find the best match.
His owner, Karen, said, ‘The closest match was administered to him and he was brought back to life, from a sad floppy thing that was slipping away, to his usual bright and barky self!’
Now, Ted, is back to his sociable self, cheering on his young brother Hector, who’s followed in his footsteps as a flyballer, an activity he loved himself before becoming unwell.
Ted is also a lifesaver himself, having helped to detect cancer in his owner’s other dog, Betty. Ted knew something was wrong and was continually pointing at Betty and pawing at his owner, so much so that she took Betty for a scan where tumours were discovered. Betty had no symptoms at all and surgery to remove the tumours gave her owners another two happy years with her, all thanks to Ted.
Karen added, ‘Ted is a tiny dog with a huge personality – he’s awesome honestly. I’m so grateful to your organisation for helping to save his life, twice!’
Dogs like Ted need other healthy dogs to donate blood so that it is always there in situations like this. If your dog is aged between 1 and 8, over 25kg, and fit and healthy they could be a lifesaver. Visit our dog blood donation pages to learn more.
