An Interview with Dr Lindsey Squires BVSc (Pret) MRCVS

In February 2005, Dr Lindsey Squires gave a talk to the club entitled ‘Veterinary Haematology and Transfusion Medicine: with the emphasis on companion mammals’. This title, put into layman’s terms, is the science of animal blood (in particular dogs and cats) and blood transfusions within that sphere. The talk was extremely interesting, but I wondered just how Dr Squires had become specialised in this subject. I thought that an interview with her would be interesting!

Steve: Are you in general practice?
Dr Squires: Yes, I do regular locums as well as running my blood bank.

Steve: What caused you to form an interest in Blood transfusions?
Dr Squires: I have always had an interest in haematology, but it was my colleague from Onderstepoort who gave me the push to try a blood bank in Natal.

Steve: Do you find that blood typing and matching is a benefit to the sick animals, rather than using any blood available?
Dr Squires: Yes, it dramatically lowers the chances of a fatal reaction to the donor blood, especially in the case of cats. Most dogs will tolerate one unmatched transfusion as they do not have natural antibodies to foreign blood groups.

Steve: Is it true that yours is the only other blood bank outside of Onderstepoort?
Dr Squires: In South Africa, yes. There are some extremely large blood banks in the USA, some doing more than 4000 units a year.

Steve: How do you make sure that you are not passing any illness to the recipient?
Dr Squires: Each donor is clinically examined, and a blood smear taken and examined at the time of donation. The history of the dog is also taken. Any abnormalities in any of the above, and the blood is not drawn. All donors are also screened annually using a panel of laboratory tests.

Steve: Do you need to be on call 24/7 in case of an emergency?
Dr Squires: No. Packed red cells can be stored in a fridge for up to 6 weeks, and plasma can be stored in a deep freeze for up to 5 years. So no vet has an excuse to be without either product! However, I do get emergency calls, and I do try to help as much as I can.

Steve: When transporting blood, do you need to keep it at a certain temperature?
Dr Squires: Yes. Plasma must be kept at -18C and blood must be kept at between 1and 6C

Steve: What have you found to be the main cause that a dog needs blood?
Dr Squires: In this country - mainly dogs with anaemia resulting from infection with the biliary parasite. However I have supplied blood for dogs with bleeding ulcers, auto-immune disease and those that have eaten rat poison!

Steve: If I think my dog could be a possible donor, what must I do?
Dr Squires: Fill in the form below. Your dog must be between 2 & 5 yrs old, weigh not less than 25kg’s, be generally healthy and have an extremely calm disposition. Each donor gets yearly vaccinations, worming tablets every three months, a tick collar and a food voucher, plus a yearly health check.

Steve: Thank you Dr Squires, and good luck with your Blood Bank.

Download the Blood Donor Scheme here