If cats have 9 lives, Hugo the pure-blooded ragdoll has actually assisted include a tenth to a fellow feline’s; all by method of a blood contribution.
Key points:
- Feline blood contributions conserve ailing cats in requirement of transfusions
- A register exists for family pet owners who wish to choose their cats as donors
- There are far less cat blood donors than dog donors
His owner, Anne Pleash, had no concept cats might offer blood till she saw a notification at the veterinary practice while Hugo remained in for a check-up.
The happy pet-mum of 2 cats and a dog says she wished to pay it forward for other family pet owners.
“I believed, ‘What a fantastic thing to do’ and I popped him on the register,” she said.
“I like my animals … I do not have kids so they’re my fur children and if I ever required blood, I would hope that there would be a contribution for my little cat and my little dog.”
Like people, cats have 4 various blood types, and they require to be suitable for an effective blood transfusion.
During Hugo’s check-up, the veterinarian staff took a sample to identify his blood type prior to putting him on the register.
It wasn’t long prior to he was hired to provide a paw in a time of requirement.
“I got a call asking, ‘How quickly can you get him here? We’ve got a cat that’s quite sick and needs a donation’,” Ms Pleash said.
More cat blood donations needed
Far north Queensland vet Graham Lauridsen said there was a general shortage of cat blood and is calling on more owners to register their furry family members as donors.
He said having access to blood supplies during an emergency is the difference between life and death.
“There have been a couple of instances in the past few years where it’s been really touch-and-go, where we have actually said to the client, ‘Your animal needs a blood transfusion. We can try to source one if we can’,” he said.
Dr Lauridsen said there were far fewer cat blood donors than dog donors, forcing him to get creative to save one feline’s life when compatible cat blood wasn’t readily available.
“In a complete emergency situation, it is possible to actually use dog blood for cats,” he said.
“That’s something I’ve resorted to only once in my career, but it worked.”
Cat criteria for eligibility
While it is relatively straightforward to register a cat to become a blood donor, there are several criteria that need to be met.
Eligible cats need to be between 18 months and seven years of age, weigh more than 4 kilograms and be fully up to date with vaccinations.
Dr Lauridsen said some vet practices also insisted on taking blood from “inside cats” only due to other risk factors.
“There’s a few diseases out there that will spread from cat-to-cat and obviously outside cats are more likely to come across each other,” he said.
“The main one is FIV, feline immunodeficiency virus, think of human AIDS and the cat version is exactly like that.
“It is potentially transferable from a ill cat to a healthy cat via a blood transfusion.
“There are a few other diseases out there, weird and wonderful ones, but that’s the main one.”
Donor for life
Ms Pleash said having already saved the life of at least one fellow feline, she’ll make sure Hugo continues to be a regular blood donor.
“He can give blood up until seven years old, he’s only two in July, so he’s got five more years of giving blood if it’s needed,” she said.
