Transfusion saves dog's life and could change the donor's too

Earlier this month, Judy Blackburn's dog Haley fell ill, and she and her husband were scratching their heads trying to understand what was wrong.

Haley, being only a 2.5-year-old Catahoula and Terrier mix, was by all means healthy prior to her sickness.

In an interview on July 26, Blackburn said, "About four weeks ago, we just noticed that she was losing her energy. She started sleeping a lot, and she lost her appetite. She wasn't doing very well. Then, three weeks into her sickness, she just totally stopped eating."

She continued, "We thought that she had some sort of infection, so we took her into Tharp [Veterinary Service], and they treated her for an infection. Over the following week, she just got worse and worse to the point that she would hardly move. We took her in again on a Wednesday, and they did an ultrasound and found that her spleen was really enlarged. That's when they decided that they were going to have to take her spleen out."

Haley's surgery was set for later that week, but her condition worsened quickly. "On Friday, we noticed that she couldn't even drink water. She would try and it just fell back out of her mouth," said Blackburn.

The Blackburns took their dog back into the Tharp Veterinary Clinic that Friday, and it was determined that Haley immediately needed a blood transfusion in addition to the surgery to remove her spleen. "That's where New Hope came in," Blackburn remembers.

Edie Cliame, the director of New Hope Humane Society in Worland, said that she was there to answer the phone that Friday.

She recalls, "Dr. Tharp called to ask for a dog to provide a blood transfusion; he hasn't had to ask for quite some time. When they ask for that, we usually try to provide the biggest, healthiest, and easiest to work with dog we have to be a donor. That's how we chose Sasha."

Sasha is a large Pitbull that has been at the shelter since she was a puppy, nearly two years ago. Cliame said, "She's a very sweet dog. She loves people and other dogs, and her favorite is going for walks. She stays with two large males in one of our outdoor dog runs, and she holds her own when she wrestles them." As a large breed of healthy weight, Sasha was a great candidate to donate blood with minimal risk of complications. As Cliame mentioned, it helps, too that Sasha is a sweetie.

With a donor chosen, Sasha was quickly brought over to the clinic where she was put under anesthesia and had her blood drawn.

Meanwhile, Haley had her spleen removed, and the surgery went without complication. Afterwards, she received a transfusion of blood from Sasha.

Cliame said that Sasha came back after donating blood with no issue. "She bounced back so quickly," Cliame said.

She continued, "They told me that she might be out of it for a while since they had to put her under [sedation], but she wasn't - she was walking around, and seemed pretty alert. We brought her back and put her in her usual dog run and gave her water and some treats, and the next morning she was just back to herself."

"I'm glad that she took it so well, and I'm really glad that she could help. It's something we always try to do; we have these big, healthy dogs that are just sitting here waiting for a forever home, and that they have the chance to give life-saving blood is pretty amazing," said Cliame.

Haley's recovery hasn't been quite as straightforward, but she's lucky to be alive and she's managing pretty well, thanks to Sasha and the team at Tharp Veterinary Clinic.

Post-operation, the clinic performed a biopsy on Haley's spleen and found that she was suffering from hypersplenism, a condition that makes the spleen overactive and results in complications with red blood cell count.

Blackburn said, "We think she had an allergic reaction to a vaccine she got in January, and her immune system has been fighting her."

Haley's owners were able to take her home two days after her surgery, and they've tried a few different medications to aid in her recovery. They switched the day before the interview on July 26, and thought this one looked promising, evidenced by her willingness to eat.

"It's been kind of up and down for her, but we expect her to recover fully after about a month," Blackburn said, adding that she and her husband are thankful to veterinarians Victoria Otto and Steve Tharp and all of the staff at Tharp Veterinary Clinic, staff at New Hope Humane Society and to Sasha for saving Haley.

The story might not end there, though, because when the Blackburn's met Sasha at the clinic they took a liking to her.

Blackburn said, "We've been thinking about adopting Sasha, because she's a sweet dog, and it's a special bond to have given blood to our dog that may have saved her life."

The Blackburn's have already taken Haley once to visit Sasha at New Hope Humane Society when she was feeling well, and they thought it went well.

"As soon as Haley starts feeling better, we'll take her to the shelter again. Hopefully that's next week," said Blackburn.

Sasha and Haley already share a special bond because of the life-saving procedure to save Haley, but you can root for them to be sisters soon, too.

Cliame, who excitedly approves of this adoption in the works, said, "I hope it works out, it would be great for everyone."