Animal Blood Bank has high standards for blood component safety and donor well-being.

Donor well-being is ensured on several levels: careful selection of potential donors, good donor health, thorough communication with owners, detailed planning of all donations, high standards of hygiene and safety, and a specialised team that includes veterinarians, nurses and auxiliaries with specific donor training.

Potential donors are selected for their calm and affable temperament, this allows easy and safe handling, which minimises discomfort, and anxiety when performing the donation.

The feline donors are always kept in quiet environments, exclusively for cats, and accompanied by a team with Cat Friendly training. This way, we obtained a generous pool of donors needing low doses of sedation or no sedation whatsoever. Furthermore, we often notice a continuing decrease in the sedation doses used, indicating a familiarisation with the procedure, BSA team and environment, suggesting the donor is becoming more relaxed and cooperative with each donation. The donor's health is ensured by a complete medical history, physical examination, parasite treatment, vaccination, screening for the presence of infectious agents, complete blood count and annual biochemical profile. Any clinical findings and all laboratory results are recorded in the donor's file and reported to the owner.

To ensure that each donation is a smooth experience for the donor, owners are provided with clear information about the procedure and special care before and after donation. The donation is scheduled in advance, allowing it to be carried out by an experienced team in a calm and planned way.

All procedures have been recently verified and confirmed by an expert team from the International Society of Feline Medicine. A Bronze Grade Cat Friendly Clinic Certificate has been awarded to a Blood Bank for the first time and is a source of pride.

If you would like to learn more about our Cat Friendly program and the potential adverse effects of donation, see the recent article published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery “Feline blood donation adverse reactions: classification and description of acute and delayed reactions in a donor population.”

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