A cat which needed an emergency blood transfusion has had its life saved by quick-thinking veterinary nurses at a hospital.
The Hospital for Small Animals, part of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, was able to identify, screen and draw blood from a donor within four hours to save the cat’s life.
Frank, a seven-year-old domestic shorthair cat, was referred to the hospital after displaying severe neurological signs. A scan soon revealed that a large brain tumour had been pushing on his normal brain tissue.
Specialist neurosurgeons operated to remove the tumour and improve his survival chances. However, the day after his surgery, Frank’s recovery was in question.
He had developed cardiovascular distress due to his blood loss, resulting in a racing heart and low blood pressure.
Since feline blood products are difficult to store, the Hospital keeps a small list of local donor cats for emergency cases. Lindsey Ashburner, an emergency and critical care veterinary nurse, contacted cat owners to find a donor of the same blood type as Frank.
Max, a one-year-old Maine Coon, passed screening checks and was able to donate 35ml of blood for Frank.
The procedure was kept calm and comfortable by giving Max a light sedative, as well as numbing cream at the collection site. The blood donation procedure took around five minutes.
Frank showed immediate improvement after receiving the donation. A follow-up confirmed that he was recovering well.
Catherine and Phil, Frank’s owners, said: “We would like to thank everyone at the hospital who helped Frank. You all made a difficult time easier for us.
“Frank is doing very well and has regained a lot of his playful behaviour and cheeky personality. We would also like to express our gratitude to Max and his owners.
“Blood donation is such a wonderful and important thing and we are forever grateful.”
The Hospital’s donor list includes indoor and outdoor cats which are between 1-8 years old and weigh over 4kg. Eligible cats should not have travelled outside of the UK, should not be on medication and should be up to date with vaccinations and parasite control.
Donor cats should also be relaxed in hospital and able to travel to the Hospital of Small Animals at short notice.
Donors can register by emailing hfsablooddonors@ed.ac.uk with their details.
Ms Ashburner said: “In emergency care, every second matters. When a critically ill cat needs a transfusion, having local donor cats we can call on makes a life-saving difference. We would love to expand the Hospital’s list of current blood donors so that we can help more feline patients in their hour of need.”
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