REWARD $2000 - German Shepherd desperately needs kidney donor - Page 1

I am posting this for the owner, who loves his dog very much. If you have a dog from Kraftwerk K9, please check his pedigree. If your dog's sire is V-Ursus aus dem Furstentum Lippe or his mother is Amie von der Mamutsschlucht, you may be able to save a dog's life and make $2000 doing it. Here's the dog's picture and pedigree:

www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/637013.html

Ursus sired a lot of dogs, so there is a very good chance of a match if someone is willing to help.

This is the owner's plea for his beautiful, beloved Shepherd, who is only 3 years old:

I will pay $2000 plus all expenses to the person who will have their dog donate a kidney to save my dog’s life.

I am looking for help saving my dog. Orso is a 3 year old German Shepherd who is suffering from kidney dysplasia (genetic kidney failure). We are looking for a good hearted person who owns a dog of the same bloodline to become a kidney donor to save our family memeber. We have been in contact with the leading kidney translplant surgeon in the country and we have been reassured of the saferty of the procedure for the donor dog (both humans and dogs only need one kidney for completely normal life). We are open to all possibilities including buying a dog or financial compensation for the owner of the donor dog. We would also take care of all expenses associated with transportation and full recovery of the donor dog. Our dog came from Kraftwerk K9, his father was V-Ursus aus dem Furstentum Lippe and mother Amie von der Mamutsschlucht. Orso was born on December 2, 2006. Currently Orso is in critical condition and will die without a transplant. Please help us save Orso.

Please contact Alex at ag@softtrendinc.com or (847) 858-1220 (calling us is better as we are going to be on the road driving Orso to dialysis on 1/2/2010). Thank you.

Sorry to hear about this dog, hope everything works out! I do have a few questions, maybe others have them too.....
Does the donor dog HAVE to be from the same bloodlines?  (or is it the owners preference)
Why? Wouldn't any dog be able to donate a kidney?
Are dogs that similar to people, where they need type specific organs/blood?
How does a K-9 kidney donation actually work?

Correct me if I am wrong, but you state that this dog is suffering from Genetic kidney problems? Why would you search for a donor amongst related dogs then? Am I missing something here? I wasnt even aware that it was possible to transplant canine kidneys. Good luck.

I too would like to know why the bloodlines would matter - if they don't, then I also have a rescue I could/would donate, with some agreements attached - or it would be much easier to find a rescue or other dog available if you didn't have to have a littermate or close relation to donate.

I don't think bloodlines matter for any reason other than chances of finding a match. Typically, organ donation is easiest w/family members, be they human or canine. I'm sure they would gladly test any dogs offered for potential, however.

Just found a really interesting article that gives more hope for an outside donor working. I'm sure the hospital knows this already; that place is probably the best hospital I know of, human or animal.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=0+1275&aid=3280

All very good questions. Bloodlines matter because dogs have very aggressive immune systems that try very hard to reject a transplanted organ. So, yes, dogs are very similar to people in this respect. It’s very important that the donor dog be as closely related as possible to the dog who gets the kidney to insure the best match possible. A good match reduces the risk that the transplanted kidney will be rejected.

Although Orso has a genetic kidney problem (his kidneys are much too small), it’s a very rare problem and it’s highly unlikely that a related dog would have the same problem. The potential donor dog will have his kidneys tested to make sure they’re in good shape before donation.

How does it work? First, a dog who is as closely related as possible must be found as a potential donor. Then a blood test is done to make sure the dog is a good match. If he is a good match, an intravenous pyelogram is done to make sure his kidneys are good (dye is injected into the veins and the kidneys are X rayed). If the kidneys are good, one kidney is surgically removed from the donor dog and transplanted into the recipient dog. This is not a big deal for the donor dog if the surgeon is good. Putting the kidney in the recipient dog is a very big deal since everything has to be attached just right. The dog that gets the kidney also has to be on drugs that suppress the immune system to make sure that the kidney is not rejected.

Thanks for the offers of rescue dogs! I wish this would work, but a relative is needed.

As for the Auburn link—yes, that really did sound promising. Unfortunately, here’s the horrifying rest of the Auburn story:

www.stopanimaltests.com/f-auburn.asp

I despise PETA, but what they uncovered at Auburn was shocking. Many of the dogs who got kidneys from unrelated dogs suffered terribly and many of them died. It was so bad that the Morris Animal Foundation conducted their own investigation and stopped funding research there.

Orso's owner has an outstanding surgeon ready to do the transplant as soon as Orso is stabilized on dialysis. All Orso needs now is a relative with a kind-hearted owner.

How horribly sad for the dog and his owners. I do not have a blood relative, but if I did I would certainly help this dog. I wish Orso and his owners the best of luck, and hope someone has the kindness in their heart to help save his life. Once again, many people on this board have stepped up to help by offering rescue dogs, etc., it's always nice to see when someone truly needs help those here are willing to do what they can.

I would assume that the owner is looking for relatives for the same reason as for humans: the greater probability of finding a match with less risk of rejection. Among humans, there are always "campaigns" to find a match within particular ethnic groups, especially Asian-Americans in my area, for the same reason.

Susan It would help if you could post Orson's blood type.    I never gave this a thought and have NO idea what the blood types of my dogs is.  I m going to look into that.



FYi this is what i pulled up from the internet:   

Yes, a dog does have a specific blood type, although its not the familiar ABO system used to determine human blood type. The actual number of blood type combinations in dogs is still a matter of dispute amongst experts, but the basic blood type test for canines allows for a minimum of eight distinctive results. Some experts suggest that dogs may actually have 12 or more blood types, but only one blood type is considered universally acceptable for unmatched transfusions, a type known as DEA 1.1 negative. Dogs who test negative for another antigen called DEA 4 are ideal donors, but this is the equivalent of finding a rare AB negative blood type in humans.

I hope Orson's owners succeed - Stay positive and post this on GS forums as well.