“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
-Winston Churchill
Meet Waylon. He’s the boxer puppy in the below picture with Grimm and Rufus, although he is much bigger now. And no, he’s not mine. At one point, he almost became part of my household but, because another was smitten by his cuteness, I was let off the hook. Waylon is now 9 months old, crazy as only a boxer puppy can be, and is Rufus’ blood brother.
Back in June, Waylon presented to my veterinary clinic on an emergency basis for vomiting, lethargy, inappetence and basically a failure to thrive. He was skin and bones, white as a sheet and completely depressed. Originally from a breeder in Missouri, his owner at the time brought him to Texas and assumed that everything was normal. He trusted that the breeder had dewormed and vaccinated the puppy as stated and couldn’t believe the reason his young dog looked the way he did was because of hookworms.
Hookworms can be devastating to young pups, frequently causing severe anemia if left untreated. Hookworms feed on their host’s blood by attaching to the mucosa of the small intestine. Enough of these parasites were present in Waylon to reduce the amount of red blood cells in his body to 8%, a dramatically low number when a growing pup should have a hematocrit of at least 30%. A blood transfusion was needed but the owner at the time could not afford treatment and wanted to go ahead and euthanize the little pup. I offered the owner another option: turn him over to my hospital, we would cover treatment and, if he survived, adopt him out. The man readily gave his consent. Now all Waylon needed was blood.
My personal dogs, with the exception of Charley, have always been blood donors. (Charley could not be a donor because of his chronic ehrlichia infection.) My dogs have been lucky enough (or unlucky, I guess, if you ask them) to be universal donors. Grimm, because of his size, his high hematocrit level, universal donor status and easy-going nature, has been the go-to dog at the clinic for blood when we have no packed red cells in hospital or when whole blood is needed. He has saved the lives of numerous parvo pups, IMHA dogs and other anemic puppies. However, I did not have Grimm with me the day Waylon came in. I did, however, have a nine month old red head named Rufus with me who was ready to step up to the plate.
I have warned clients in the past that I am not responsible for any changes in their dog’s behavior after receiving some of my dog’s blood. I am joking, of course, as the new blood will not change their personality in any way (although they will feel better) and will only remain in their dog’s system for a short time. After receiving Rufus’ blood, though, I swear Waylon became a mini-Rufus for a while, at least until the blood was replaced by his own.
Just two hours after receiving the blood, Waylon’s color and attitude improved immensely. He started barking and jumping around, his appetite returned and he wolfed down his puppy food. His barking turned into ogre noises like those Rufus’ makes. He was now Rufus’ blood brother.
Waylon was adopted by one of the technicians at the hospital. Curiously enough, the technician who adopted Waylon was the same technician who originally brought Grimm into the treatment area where I first met him. Because of her, I have Grimm. Because of me, she has Waylon. Circle of life…sort of. Anyways, I digress. Waylon’s parasites were treated, he continued to thrive and has been my dogs buddy ever since. Fast forward now to the end of October.
A rescue group came in with a litter of six, seven-week old Australian shepherd mix pups, all of which were suffering from hookworm anemia. One was too sick to be saved. The remaining five pups needed blood fast. The only available dog at the hospital able to donate was Waylon. Because each pup was so little, they only needed a small amount of blood and, because Waylon is now so big, he was able to donate a bit to each of them. All of the remaining pups survived and are now in foster homes, waiting to be adopted. See? Even a dog can pay it forward.
There are so many things given to us each day: a small kindness, a helping hand, the gift of life. How many times can we say we really do pay it forward? I would like to think I do my part, but I know at times I have fallen short. I challenge each of you to pay one positive act forward each day. You don’t have to give blood to save a life…sometimes a smile may make all the difference.
“You may be only one person in this world, but to one person at one time, you are the world.”
-Anonymous
So many wonderful layers of gratitude in this post. And a wonderful reminder that paying it forward can be just as meaningful when done in small ways.
That’s the really cool thing about paying something forward–there is such an opportunity for exponential growth. The amount of change one person or being can make is amazing and the small things really do add up!
That’s so awesome. I do have a question. How do you find out your dog’s blood type? Is there some sort of typing test?
Yes, there is a blood typing test for dogs, mainly looking for either positive or negative type. The negative type is the (usually) universal donor in dogs. Most times, the donor dog’s blood is cross matched against the receiver to make sure there won’t be excessive reactivity. This is especially important with the IMHA (immune mediated hemolytic anemia) dogs as their immune system is excessively reactive. Most of the blood banks we get our commercial blood from (packed red cells, plasma products) use retired racing greyhounds for their blood. After an intense vetting process and a few rounds of donating, the dogs are then put up for adoption. When commercial products aren’t available, or when whole blood is needed, that’s when Grimm & co. come in handy!
Such a great post! I love all the paying it forward going on!!
Thanks so much! Even dogs pay it forward!
wow, what a great story. Puppy pay it forward. It is so nice to know that the dogs were at the right place at the right time to help another dog. Personally I like paying it forward. As someone who has been given grace I think it is important to give it away. It never feels so right to say YES as when you are offered the chance to do something for someone else.
I love this. Sometimes we forget that giving something away results in gaining so much more.
What a beautifully written story and amazing pictures of your Rufus…he is such a doll and so photogenic!
I’m glad you think so! He is pretty photogenic, but that’s only because he doesn’t move very much so most shots are blur free. Plus, he can be very malleable, so you can pretty much fold him into spot and he’ll just stay put! 🙂
I did not know there were so many instances of blood needs! We have a pretty large supply here, perhaps I should ask my vets if they want to test our potential donors. Thanks for the idea.
Just keep in mind that the bigger the dog, the better. Plus, none of the donor dogs can have any transmissible diseases, be on any medication other than heartworm/flea and needs to be younger than about seven or in excellent health. Also, donor dogs get a 16 gauge needle stuck in their jugular and be very still while the blood is collected, so some dogs have to be sedated to be donors. Luckily, all mine have super high pain tolerances and can actually hold still when needed. Some areas actually have programs where you can have your dog screened to be a donor and the dogs are used regularly for a pet blood bank. Ask your vet if there is a program like that in your area!