A charity concerned with the acquisition and storage of dogs blood for use in operations has turned its attentions to cats to build a cat blood bank. This is how I understand it, anyhow. The charity is based in Scotland and is called Pet Blood Bank UK. The home page states that the charity "provides a national canine blood bank". Canines usually means dogs although the charity has started a drive to build up a feline blood bank as stated.As is the case for people, blood transfusions are important, even vital sometimes in operations on cats after an accident, typically. One problem is that we are taking blood from an animal, the domestic cat, that is not sure what it happening and is likely to be uncooperative. That might require sedation, which carries health risks. So the intention is to try and train the donor cat to accept the process of giving blood without being drugged.
The first donor seems to be Basil. In the past is seems that the vets have asked the owner of an injured cat if they have another cat companion from which blood can be taken. Clearly a blood bank will put the matter on a proper footing. I had never though about this which shows how short sighted I am. It is pretty obvious when you think about it. I would expect the charity to be pleased to hear from people who on behalf of their cats are willing to donate. The cat should be:
- between 1 and 7 years of age
- have up to date vaccinations
- and be healthy
- be over 4.5 kg in weight
Cat Blood Bank to Cat Health Problems
Photo: y Brit.
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