Can my dog go home same day after a blood transfusion for anemia?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm so sorry to hear that your friend's dog lost so much blood during her surgery. While it is a routine surgery, complications like bleeding can occur. There is a chance that your friend's pet will be OK, she may require a blood transfusion if her anemia (level of red blood cells) is low enough. She may also just need time for her own body to make more red blood cells. There are lots of patients in critical care units that have lost a lot of blood that are able to be nursed back to health. I hope this is helpful!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Baxter. Depending on his anemia, this is likely a significant factor to consider when discussing surgery. If for example, he is suffering blood loss from a mass in his belly. Removing the mass and stopping the bleeding would be life saving. If however, his body is attacking and destroying his red blood cells, surgery may not be recommended. I hope this information helps!

I'm so sorry to hear this happened to Rocky. I can tell you loved him a lot. He may have had a chance at survival with the blood transfusion but there is no guarantee. If he had liver failure then no treatment would have been effective long-term. Without having his entire medical history it is hard for me to comment other than to make generalizations but I believe you did what you could and it does not sound like the blood transfusion would have helped that much. Again, I am sorry for your loss. Best wishes.

Pets that are anemic have a decreased ability to oxygenate their body, since red blood cells carry oxygen. While some increased respiratory rate is expected, it has me very concerned. Oxygen therapy will help to make sure that every red blood cell is filled with as much oxygen as possible. I would recommend discussing this with the vet and inquire about oxygen therapy and continued hospitalization.

Poor girl. Some pets do bleed heavier than others. I would make sure that try and replace her fluids by offering her Pedialyte non-flavored mixed 50:50 with water. This will help replace her electrolytes and also make sure she hydrates herself. I would most definitely still recommend keeping her appointment tomorrow so that the vet can access her to ensure she isn't becoming mildly anemic due to the extensive blood loss. If she has, then the vet will likely recommend iron supplements for her to treat for this. I am not sure what the concern is for other dogs. Her bloody discharge isn't contagious nor should it be a problem for other pets. Just clean as needed and the other pets should be just fine. Best of luck at the vet tomorrow.

A crossmatch looks at antibodies in the recipients serum and proteins on the surface of donor cells that could cause an immune reaction. It is not always considered to be necessary as long as the blood type of the donor and recipient is known and it has been less than four days between transfusions. Some veterinarians recommend crossmatching before any transfusion if the dog’s full medical history is unknown.

It sounds as Dahlia is suffering from a gastrointestinal condition, possibly an infection. it could also be due to ingestion of a foreign body material. i would recommend taking her to the vet the first chance you get, she will need to be checked first, if the vet thinks it's a simple gastrointestinal infection she will need an antibiotic course and a special food for a few days in order to get better.