BLOOD DONOR QUARTERLY

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BLOOD DONOR QUARTERLY A Look at Whats Flowing at
The MSU VTH Blood Donor Program
Barks Of Praise
Growls of Gratitude
Thank you to all of our donors! A special thanks
to our donor dogs that have retired within the
last three months
Max Riddle donated
11 times from 10-16-02 to 10-28-04, saving 22
lives
Scarlet Lusch donated 10 times from 4-11-02 to
7-7-04, saving 20 lives
Watson Haraway donated 14
times from 5-24-02 to 7-13-04, saving 28 lives
Elvis
Vargas donated 9 times from 12-3-02 to
7-12-04, saving 18 lives
Salsa Questa donated
13 times from 9-19-02 to 12-2-04, saving 26
lives
Biko AND Darwin King donated 7 times a
piece from 6-2-03 to 6-11-04, saving a combined
28 lives Samuel Adams Gustafson donated 5 times
from 3-11-04 to 10-8-04, saving 10 lives
Annie Frank donated 2 times
from 9-15-04 to 10-15-04, saving 4 lives

Dakota Hoenerhoff donated 8 times from 10-6-03
to 12-17-04, saving 16 lives
Atlas Leavitt donated 22 times
from 9-25-02 to 10-25-04, saving 44 lives!
More barks of praise go out to our NEW donors
thank you so much for joining our program!
Callisto Pfent started 11-17-04
Boston Devereaux started 12-21-04
Raven Fisher started 12-29-04
Cole LeValley
started 11-10-04
WE are SO pleased to announce that Carter and
Zosha both got homes for the holidays! Carter
went to a wonderful person in Lansing. His new
dad works for MSU, and plans on bringing Cater
back for blood donations! Thank you so much for
not only giving Carter the best home possible,
but also for continuing his donations with the
program! Zosha now lives with her new mom in
Grand Rapids, so although we no longer see her,
she is still in our hearts and we wish them the
best of luck! Thanks to all who adopt donor
dogs! Please consider adopting a donor dog of
your own! If interested, please contact Alice or
Rose in the blood donor room 432-4546.
Donors Of The Quarter
Hi! my name is Mr. Boots. I am a
laid-back, easy-going guy. I have
donated at the MSU VTH Blood Donor Program since
September of 2002! I have donated 24 times
during that period, thus saving 48 lives!!!!! In
my spare time, when not helping others with my
services, I enjoy playing, wrestling, and
sleeping with my brother Atlas. We are the
best of friends! I love to come when called, and
I will let you pet me until you feel like your
arm is going to fall off! I love everyone!

Hello!
My name is Atlas. I am an athletic guy, always
getting into things! I have donated at the MSU
VTH Blood Donor Program during the same time
frame as my brother, Mr. Boots. I have donated
22 times, saving 44 lives with my blood!!!!!!!
In my spare time I also enjoy playing, wrestling,
and sleeping with my brother! Sometimes you can
find me chasing a ping pong ball all over the
house, or playing fetch with my soccer ball! I
love to carry things in my mouth I have even
been caught carrying a banana and a loaf of bread
around the house at different times! I recently
retired from the blood donor program, and am now
enjoying retired life! The Blood Donor Program
is happy to have Mr. Boots and Atlas as blood
donors! They are wonderful, sweet, purr-fect
felines and we could not be more pleased to
present them with the honor of Blood Donors Of
The Quarter! Congratulations! And we hope you
enjoy retirement, Atlas!
ATLAS
MR. BOOTS
Did you know that in 2004 327 units of canine
packed red blood cells , as well as 268 units of
canine fresh frozen plasma were used? These
units were given to help over 500 dogs! In 2004
the VTH also used 53 units of feline packed red
blood cells, as well as 24 units of feline fresh
frozen plasma, helping over 60 cats! We could
not do it without our donors! Right now we have
2 in-house canine donors, approximately 50
on-call canine donors, and 5 on-call feline
donors! These are very special animals. To be a
blood donor, the animals are put through blood
typing, tick screens, health profiles, and
temperment testing! Dogs must be at least 50
pounds, and cats at least 10 pounds. We are
always in need of new donors, so if you think
your dog or cat has what it takes to be a
lifesaver, contact Alice in the donor
room432-4546.
Happy Tails
An amazing tail of survival and courage is our
feature this quarter. Stryker Faulknor is a 14
year old neutered male, black, domestic
short-haired feline that was referred from the
Animal Emergency Center in Grand Rapids to MSU
VTH on August 2nd, 2004 after being trapped in a
house fire. Stryker had severe burns on all four
feet and portions of his face and ears. Due to
the underlying injuries and complications that go
along with critical illness, he developed severe
acute pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
with secondary diabetes mellitus. During
Strykers stay he was in MSU VTHs Critical Care
Unit. Requiring multiple surgeries, he lost all
but a few toes and much of his ears. At times it
was touch and go but, with round the clock care,
Stryker clung to life. During the emergency
procedures, it was found that Stryker had a rare
blood type B. The vast majority of felines that
we see are type A, only 3-7 of the feline
population has type B blood. Since this blood is
so rare, we only have one donor who matched his
blood type. Stryker was in the hospital for 25
days before being well enough to go home during
those 25 days he needed SIX transfusions of B
blood. Blood was sent from around the United
States for him, some coming from as far as Texas
and California to help save his life. Strykers
tail has a happy ending though. He was able to
go home to his family on August 27th of 2004,
having had only a few rechecks since then.
Strykers owners showed that the love for their
pet could overcome all obstacles! We are so
happy that Stryker is still alive today thanks to
the help of donor cats in other states, wonderful
medical assistance, and the love of some very
special owners!