The general public’s awareness of, and attitude to, canine and feline blood donation is poorly understood. Increasing understanding of pet owners’ thoughts about donation may allow more effective blood donor recruitment. The aims of this study were to investigate pet owners’ awareness of small animal blood donation and their attitude and motivations regarding their pet being a blood donor. A mixed methods approach was used, with data collected from 158 pet owners attending a first-opinion veterinary clinic using a written questionnaire of closed and open questions. Most owners were unaware that dogs and cats could donate blood (70 per cent). However, 89 per cent stated they would be willing to let their pet donate blood if they were suitable. This was more likely if the owner did not work full time and less likely if they were aged over 71 years. Thematic analysis of owners’ motivations and deterrents towards pet blood donation resulted in four key themes: ‘Beneficence’, the desire to help others; ‘Necessity of service’, a recognition of the requirement for blood products; ‘Reciprocity’, a hope that if they participated this would result in blood products being available for their pet; and ‘Reservations and concerns’.

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Objectives2022 saw increased numbers of parvovirus-positive dogs admitted to south London PDSA hospitals compared to previous years. A standardised treatment protocol was introduced for all new admissions in 2022: 5 x maintenance intravenous fluid therapy with Hartmann's solution with added potassium chloride, glucose, and metoclopramide; intravenous dexamethasone, maropitant, paracetamol, butylscopolamine/metamizole; subcutaneous amoxicillin. Survival to discharge using the 2022 protocol was compared to previous cases 2020-2022 treated according to varied individual clinician plans. MethodsA retrospective cohort study was performed comparing two groups: parvovirus-positive dogs treated under the 2022 protocol (intervention group, G2022) and those treated according to individual clinician treatment plans from 2020-2022 (control group, G2020-22). Age at admission and survival to discharge were taken from the clinical records. One-sample t-test was used to compare ages between groups, and relative risk (RR) was calculated for survival between groups. ResultsIn G2022 (n=34) 25 dogs (73.5%) survived to discharge. In G2020-