Skip to main content

Transfusion Assistance

The Canadian Animal Blood Bank advocates for the practice of blood component therapy. This practice allows for targeted patient treatment and appropriate allocation of blood products. With this practice, a single donation can produce 4 unique products and help more animals in need.

What is Component Therapy?

Component therapy is a targeted approach to transfusion therapy by using the blood component best suited to replace a specific blood component deficiency caused by a particular illness or condition, versus the general application of whole blood.

For example, a euvolemic patient with symptomatic anaemia and no underlying coagulopathy needs a product that will increase their oxygen-carrying capacity. The best-suited product for this patient would be packed red blood cells (PRBCs). By administering whole blood, we would be doubling the total volume administered to this patient in order to transfuse the same volume of red blood cells. This would put our euvolemic patient at greater risk of transfusion-associated circulatory overload (TACO). There is also the consideration that this patient could be exposed to plasma antibodies from a whole blood transfusion.

What About Conditions Requiring All Components?

Patients suffering from acute hemorrhage can receive PRBCs and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) to replace the specific components the patient has lost.

What Product Is Best for My Patient?

We are here to help! Please see our Product Guide to assist you with choosing the best product for your patient.

Please note that we also supply products to assist with blood typing, crossmatching, and administration of blood products. Find out more about our products by visiting here.

CABB Product Guide

Coming soon! In the meantime, Please do not hesitate to connect with us at orders@canadiananimalbloodbank.ca or by calling our central office at 204-632-2586.

Feline Donor Protocol

This document will provide you with information on identifying feline donors, donation considerations, supplies needed for feline collections, and the collection procedure. For all other inquiries, please contact us.

Feline Protocol Form

Transfusion Reactions

Should one of your patients experience a possible transfusion reaction, we recommend the following protocol to help us best support your team:

  1. If this is an urgent matter that requires immediate assistance, please contact our Central Office team at (204) 632-2586.
  2. For non-urgent matters, or following an urgent matter discussion with our Central Office team, please complete and submit the Adverse Transfusion Reaction form provided below to admin@canadiananimalbloodbank.ca.
    • Use the following Subject Line for your email: “URGENT: Adverse Transfusion Reaction”.
    • Ensure the completed Adverse Transfusion Reaction form is attached. 
  3. Reserve the following samples for possible submission for further testing by our team:
    • serum or plasma sample(s) from recipient PRE transfusion reaction
    • serum or plasma sample(s) from recipient POST transfusion reaction
    • blood product unit suspected of adverse reaction

Please note: serum samples should be separated from red cells following sample collection. All samples should be refrigerated while awaiting follow-up from our team.    

  • After your form has been received and reviewed, a member of our team will follow up to discuss the next steps. 
Adverse Transfusion Reaction Form

Disclaimer 

The Canadian Animal Blood Bank is aware that each patient is an individual and will have individual requirements and needs that must be taken into consideration to support them through the illness they are facing. Therefore, their primary veterinarian must use their clinical knowledge and is ultimately responsible for each patient under their care.