11/11/2024
Yesterday was our lucky day! One of our customers brought in three local mongrels for blood typing, as she was planning to have one of her dogs become a blood donor to help save another dog’s life. She was hoping that at least one of the three dogs would be DEA 1.1 negative. Surprisingly, two of her dogs turned out to be DEA 1.1 negative! She was thrilled, knowing her dogs could help save other dogs' lives through blood donation.
Just like people have different types of blood, dogs do too! In humans, you might have heard of blood types like A, B, AB, or O. For dogs, their blood types are a bit different, but the idea is similar!
Dog blood types are called DEA, which stands for Dog Erythrocyte Antigen. DEA types are recognized by an international standard: DEA 1.1 (positive/negative), DEA 1.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Generally, DEA 1.1 positive is more common than DEA 1.1 negative.
DEA 1.1 is the most immunogenic, meaning it can cause an immune reaction if there is a mismatch during a transfusion, potentially resulting in an acute or delayed transfusion reaction. Nowadays, new diagnostic kits help quickly determine a dog’s blood type before transfusion, which helps prevent mismatches and ensures safe transfusions.
