Wakefield animal hospital appeals to pet owners to sign up their cats as emergency blood donors

Paragon Veterinary Referrals is making the plea to cat owners to come forward with their pets to help potentially critically-ill feline patients when time is of the essence.

For canine blood transfusions, Paragon – along with vet practices up and down the country – can call upon the Pet Blood Bank UK but there is no such storage facility for cats.

Blood must be taken from the donor cat and given to the recipient in a relatively short space of time. A transfusion gives a cat’s body a boost, providing it with vital red blood cells, which can then allow a vet to proceed with a more in-depth investigation into their condition.

Sometimes a cat may need two or even three transfusions before their body has a healthy amount of red blood cells.

Paragon ward team leader Lydia Barry said: “All blood transfusions take place in our ICU and, due to the critical nature of the patients involved, it’s hard to predict when we will need blood.

“Sometimes we do three transfusions in a week, sometimes it is one in a month. On average, we tend to carry out about two transfusions per month.

“With feline blood donors, we will call owners at short notice so, ideally, they need to be based in Yorkshire and happy to drive to us.

“Even if someone is not a client of ours, we would love them to consider their cat going on the emergency donor list.

Lucy Townsend, from Wakefield, said she was inspired to sign her pet cat, Sunday, up after she sadly had to have an eye removed.

She said: “We signed up for Sunday to be a donor after she was an inpatient at Paragon in the hope that we could do a good deed for at least one other cat!

“Sunday unfortunately had to have an eye removed, we suspect most likely the result of a fight, and we knew the team at Paragon were second-to-none and super caring, so it made the decision even easier.

“We would definitely encourage other cat owners to sign their pets up. Our daughter was six at the time and it was a great experience for her to understand.

“The process itself didn’t take long at all. Sunday stayed in overnight as it was an emergency situation and evening surgery was required but the team could not have been any more helpful. We were kept updated throughout the process and collected her the next morning.

“Sunday seemed totally unaffected by her adventure and was treated like a hero both at Paragon and at home afterwards!”

Donor cats must be aged between one and 10 years old, healthy and weigh more than 4kg. Donors must be up to date with their vaccinations and flea and worm treatments, and not on any medication or had a blood transfusion themselves. All cats are tested before they are able to donate.

Anyone who would like to sign their pet up to become a cat blood donor should call Paragon on 01924 908 333 and ask for either Jessica Herley, Kira Davison or Jane Scott.

Alternatively, email [email protected].