Life savers

I couldn't be more proud of my two little life savers! Kira has been a canine blood donor for a year and a half now, and yesterday Kelly was finally able to begin donating again. About every two months, we travel to a local vet hospital where volunteer vets from Eastern Veterinary Blood Bank come to collect donations.

Kelly did well the first time she donated, but after one experience where the male vet made her really nervous, I stopped taking her. Now that she's older, and because I was assured we would be seeing one of the female vets, we decided to try again and she was wonderful! She was a little shy at first, but didn't squirm at all on the table and her heartbeat was reportedly normal throughout (a good sign that she handled it well). Afterwards she even accepted some treats from the vet tech.

Kira, on the other hand, has always loved it! The vets always welcome her to lick their faces, and of course she happily obliges. She is very patient and calm on the table. And she especially delights in the attention from the staff, not to mention the piles and piles of treats they give the dogs before and after the donations (kind of like the cookies and orange juice for people). I wrote an article about Kira's experience for the PGSPCA newsletter last winter.