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| My Experience Drawing Blood For Testing & Where To Get The Supplies...etc. |
Well I've had horses for a long time and now that I'm getting seriously into goats....well it was time I learned to do my own
vaccinations and also draw blood for testing.
I myself don't care for needles so this all sounded REALLY intimidating. This spring I "read up" and managed to learn to
vaccinate my horses on my own and with a lot a reading and the help of a friend also learned how to vaccinate goats.
Drawing blood though....well that sounded REALLY SCARY! To find an artery? To have to get a needle in it? Well it had me
really stressing but no way around it....I had to learn. I thought well...if others can learn to then so can I...which means so can
you.
I was just tried this place for CAE testing and they use the ELISA test and their pricing is GREAT:
BIOTRACKING
So this is what was recommended to me to use for supplies and after purchasing them and doing 15 goats (some Nigerians,
Nubians, and Mini-Nubians)...well I totally recommend any newbie go with the same supplies. :)
BLOOD COLLECTION SUPPLY LINKS
-Please click on the names of the items to be taken to the site they are sold on.
-You will need at least as many HOLDERS as you have goats to be tested.
-The NEEDLES you will need. These screw into the holder and are in essence double sided. So once screwed in their will be one
pointing out (which will go into the artery) and one will be within the holder pointing down). I ordered both size to try them
both as various breeders seemed to like one or the other. I myself found that in the future I will only be ordering the shorter,
1" , ones. I found the others to be too long for me.
-The VACUTAINER TUBES you will need. I think I ordered the 10 ML. These were rather large and next time I may order
the 3 ml ones. The 10 ML work great though...just take up a little extra space.
MY EXPERIENCE IN DOING THIS:
Well I thoroughly looked over these two sites first in terms of learning how to find the vein:
http://goatconnection.com/articles/publish/article_151.shtml
http://www.u-sayranch.com/goats/drawblood/page2.html
-I then shaved the goats next the two days prior (as I had 15 goats to do). Unfortunately my clippers quit when I was close to
done so three goats did not get shaved. NOTE: When I did draw blood I learned that you DO WANT YOUR GOATS CLIPPED.
Doing those three unshaved goats was 8 times harder then the others.
-On the day of the blood draw I went and attached all the needles to the holders (leaving the cap on the outter needle until I
was ready to use it).
-I had my test tubes already labeled (though you may want to wait as a little blood may get on some). I would probably do it
again though and have extra labels ready to replace or cover any that get blood on them as being organized really made a
difference.
-I also had a soapy bucket of water to rinse or wash my hands after each goat.
-Have extra test tubes ready as you'll need them when you miss the vein and have to try again.
-So then I'd have Matt hold the goat while I prepped the vile, needle, and holder.
-I would take the vile and push it up into the lower part of the holder and into the lower needle pushing the top of the vile into
the needle but NOT pushing the needle all the way through/in yet.
-I would then find get down by the goat and remove the top needle cap.
-Then I would hunt for the vein/artery. Once found I would count to three so Matt could increase his tight hold on the goat
and then would put the needle in the vein/artery.
-I then had to quickly push the but up so that the needle fully pierced it and thus the suction began.
-At the point the blood is sucked FAST into the tube. It takes about 2-3 seconds to get all you need.
-I'd then pull the needle out and place my finger on the goats neck to allow it to clot for a few seconds.
-While Matt put that goat away I would pull the needle out of the vile (it then reseals itself). And i would then remove the
needle(s) from the holder and put their caps on, discard them, and then wash.
-I'd then proceed to prepping the next needle, vile, and holder.
I think I really recommend the vile, holder, and needle over a syringe as I imagine it is MUCH quicker and easier. The goats
start to squirm after 5 seconds in their awkward position and probably due to the needles etc. I imagine working with a
syringe and plunger and trying to keep the needle in place and draw back the plunger would make it very hard compared to
simply holding the needle in place while the vaccutainer/vile does all the work for you. That is just my thought though.
vaccinations and also draw blood for testing.
I myself don't care for needles so this all sounded REALLY intimidating. This spring I "read up" and managed to learn to
vaccinate my horses on my own and with a lot a reading and the help of a friend also learned how to vaccinate goats.
Drawing blood though....well that sounded REALLY SCARY! To find an artery? To have to get a needle in it? Well it had me
really stressing but no way around it....I had to learn. I thought well...if others can learn to then so can I...which means so can
you.
I was just tried this place for CAE testing and they use the ELISA test and their pricing is GREAT:
BIOTRACKING
So this is what was recommended to me to use for supplies and after purchasing them and doing 15 goats (some Nigerians,
Nubians, and Mini-Nubians)...well I totally recommend any newbie go with the same supplies. :)
BLOOD COLLECTION SUPPLY LINKS
-Please click on the names of the items to be taken to the site they are sold on.
-You will need at least as many HOLDERS as you have goats to be tested.
-The NEEDLES you will need. These screw into the holder and are in essence double sided. So once screwed in their will be one
pointing out (which will go into the artery) and one will be within the holder pointing down). I ordered both size to try them
both as various breeders seemed to like one or the other. I myself found that in the future I will only be ordering the shorter,
1" , ones. I found the others to be too long for me.
-The VACUTAINER TUBES you will need. I think I ordered the 10 ML. These were rather large and next time I may order
the 3 ml ones. The 10 ML work great though...just take up a little extra space.
MY EXPERIENCE IN DOING THIS:
Well I thoroughly looked over these two sites first in terms of learning how to find the vein:
http://goatconnection.com/articles/publish/article_151.shtml
http://www.u-sayranch.com/goats/drawblood/page2.html
-I then shaved the goats next the two days prior (as I had 15 goats to do). Unfortunately my clippers quit when I was close to
done so three goats did not get shaved. NOTE: When I did draw blood I learned that you DO WANT YOUR GOATS CLIPPED.
Doing those three unshaved goats was 8 times harder then the others.
-On the day of the blood draw I went and attached all the needles to the holders (leaving the cap on the outter needle until I
was ready to use it).
-I had my test tubes already labeled (though you may want to wait as a little blood may get on some). I would probably do it
again though and have extra labels ready to replace or cover any that get blood on them as being organized really made a
difference.
-I also had a soapy bucket of water to rinse or wash my hands after each goat.
-Have extra test tubes ready as you'll need them when you miss the vein and have to try again.
-So then I'd have Matt hold the goat while I prepped the vile, needle, and holder.
-I would take the vile and push it up into the lower part of the holder and into the lower needle pushing the top of the vile into
the needle but NOT pushing the needle all the way through/in yet.
-I would then find get down by the goat and remove the top needle cap.
-Then I would hunt for the vein/artery. Once found I would count to three so Matt could increase his tight hold on the goat
and then would put the needle in the vein/artery.
-I then had to quickly push the but up so that the needle fully pierced it and thus the suction began.
-At the point the blood is sucked FAST into the tube. It takes about 2-3 seconds to get all you need.
-I'd then pull the needle out and place my finger on the goats neck to allow it to clot for a few seconds.
-While Matt put that goat away I would pull the needle out of the vile (it then reseals itself). And i would then remove the
needle(s) from the holder and put their caps on, discard them, and then wash.
-I'd then proceed to prepping the next needle, vile, and holder.
I think I really recommend the vile, holder, and needle over a syringe as I imagine it is MUCH quicker and easier. The goats
start to squirm after 5 seconds in their awkward position and probably due to the needles etc. I imagine working with a
syringe and plunger and trying to keep the needle in place and draw back the plunger would make it very hard compared to
simply holding the needle in place while the vaccutainer/vile does all the work for you. That is just my thought though.