Chikkamagaluru: A veterinarian and his two staff members gave a dog a new lease of life by successfully performing a blood transfusion despite limited facilities. The procedure is considered rare in the Malnad region, where even basic infrastructure required for safe blood transfusions is largely unavailable.The recipient, a four-year-old crossbreed of a cocker spaniel and dachshund owned by Rolan of Gabbal village near Magundi in Kalasa taluk, was suffering from tick fever. During examination at a polyclinic, veterinarians found an infection and pus accumulation in its uterus. Although surgery to remove the uterus was advised, the dog was initially unfit to undergo the procedure.The animal was in an unstable condition, with a haemoglobin level of just 7g per decilitre (g/dL). According to veterinarians, a healthy dog normally has a haemoglobin level of 12 to 15 g/dL.To stabilise the dog and make it fit for surgery, a blood transfusion was deemed necessary. Dr Manikanth and his two staff members, Rakesh and Sughosh, prepared for the procedure at the veterinary hospital in Jayapura, a small town in Koppa taluk. Notably, the dog had not eaten for three days, but it resumed eating soon after the transfusion.Dr Vagesh Chauhan of Chikkamagaluru and Dr Chandrashekar Salimath of Udupi provided guidance on the transfusion, while Dr B Vishwanath of Tumakuru offered technical support.“It was a challenging task to perform the transfusion with such limited facilities. Normally, blood transfusions are carried out at polyclinics equipped with facilities such as laboratories and ECG machines. We completed the procedure using only a stethoscope and by continuously monitoring the animal’s heartbeat,” Dr Manikanth said.According to him, the entire process, from collecting blood from the donor to transfusing it into the recipient, took nearly two hours. The recipient dog, weighing 8kg, received 80ml of blood. The donor was a 17kg crossbreed of a cocker spaniel and Labrador, also owned by the same person. “We can safely draw blood equivalent to 10% of an animal’s body weight. For a first-time transfusion, blood matching is generally not necessary,” Dr Manikanth added.The dog is expected to undergo surgery within a couple of days to remove the infected uterus, he said.
