Cross species transfusion saves the life of a cat

Dogs and cats can help each other in many ways–from being a warm body to snuggle with to donating life-saving blood.

After her cat ate rat poison, New Zealand resident Kim Edwards and her vet made a risky decision: use a dog as a blood donor. The incident took place on Friday night, after the companion animal blood bank was closed; there was no way to get a blood type on Rory. Edwards called a friend who volunteered her dog Maci as a donor.

According to the New Zealand Herald, the owner, Kim Edwards said her cat was failing fast, “really flat and gasping and howling.” The rare procedure seemed like their only chance. The gamble paid off. Though Rory may have used up one of his nine lives, an hour after the transfusion, he was reported to be sitting up, purring and, according to vet Kate Heller “tucked into a bowl of biscuits.”

Apparently, there were no ill effects from the procedure. Edwards reports, “Rory is back to normal and we don’t have a cat that barks or fetches the paper.”

Read the full story in The New Zealand Herald.

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