We have step by step administration guides for canine and New World Camelid patients, please see our page on blood administration.

We can supply you with everything you need to collect blood and give a blood transfusion. Please visit our products area and log in or register for an account.

You can use our canine transfusion calculator to work out the blood volumes required for your patient.

Once breached and kept at room temperature, a unit of blood product must be discarded after four hours. However, if it is kept refrigerated it is safe to use for up to 24 hours provided it has been handled aseptically during separation and the product is stored in a sealed manner. For guidance on how to separate a unit of product to allow part of it to be refrigerated, please see our guidance page.

For full information on how to store blood products, please visit our blood storage page.

Please see our page on blood product storage for advice on what to do in this scenario.

We supply canine and feline Alvedia Quick Tests for blood typing. These should be stored between 15-30°C for long term stability.

Blood typing is of critical importance as it allows blood of the right type to be given to your patient.

In dogs, while DEA 1 negative blood can be given to any patient in an emergency, we encourage all practices to blood type patients prior to transfusion to allow DEA 1 positive blood to be used where possible. As most of the dog population is typed DEA 1 positive, blood typing helps us to better manage our stock levels and ensure DEA 1 negative blood is reserved for those dogs who really need it. We advise that all patients are blood typed prior to any transfusion unless it is an extreme emergency and recommend always keeping blood typing kits in stock. Read more about canine blood typing.

In cats, blood typing is of critical importance due to the natural presence of alloantibodies in plasma that are produced in the first few months of life in Type A and B kittens. This means that no prior transfusion is necessary for felines to be ‘sensitised’. Therefore, blood must be type matched at every transfusion, including the first. Read more about feline blood typing.

We supply in-house blood typing kits which indicate the DEA 1 status of the dog; DEA 1 negative or positive, or the blood group of the cat; A, B or AB. These tests are simple to use and take only a few minutes to perform. For full information, please see our blood typing section.

Over the years, Alvedia test kits have become more sensitive and will detect the DEA 1 antigen even when present at a low level. In these cases, due to DEA 1 being present, the administration of DEA 1 positive red cells is safe. We always recommend that DEA 1 negative recipients receive DEA 1 negative red cells to prevent sensitisation which may occur if DEA 1 positive red cells are given. 

It is best practice to both blood type and cross match for any transfusion. Cross matching is mandatory to match the canine recipient and donor for the second transfusion >4-7 days following the first transfusion, and prior to every subsequent transfusion. Cross-matching is also strongly recommended in feline patients to detect serious antibody-mediated incompatibilities. For more information, see our cross matching section.

Yes, all vets in the UK have access to our blood products and consumables via our delivery services and blood sharing scheme. Find out more in our ordering section. 

We operate an emergency out of hours service where we will arrange a same day delivery for you. We have negotiated a preferential service with our courier and are able to offer all UK mainland practices a same day service. The courier will collect your order from Loughborough within one to two hours from order and drive it directly to your practice.

This is a premium service which has an out of hours administration fee, as set out in our price list. The individual delivery charge will be provided when you place your order.

Alternatively, you may be able to access blood products at a nearby blood sharing practice.

If the blood has yet to be dispatched then you can cancel your order. However, once the blood has been dispatched, we are unable to accept any returns due to the nature of the product. Please read our returns policy for full information.

We can only arrange for same day deliveries for products that are needed immediately. Our standard delivery service is overnight and we offer various options depending on what time you require the product by. If you would like to order a same day delivery, please call us on the day when you need the product to be delivered. Find out more about our delivery options.

We will arrange your order immediately and the courier will collect it from Pet Blood Bank in Loughborough. Once we have spoken to the courier, we can provide you with an estimated time of delivery.

Yes, you may be able to do that. We operate a blood sharing scheme which allows practices to borrow blood from others near them. Enter your postcode into our blood sharing locator to find your nearest sharing scheme practice.

While we are working on our blood bank service for cats, please visit The Animal Blood Register as owners can register their cats this way. You could also speak to your local referral hospital who may keep a list of donor cats. We do supply typing, cross matching, blood collection and administration equipment for cats, as well as provide advice and guidance for feline transfusion patients. 

Blood products are species specific, please refer to Xenotransfusion for further information.