Dog Saves Cat with Blood Donation

Rory, a cat in Tauranga, New Zealand, was in sad shape after eating rat poison. In fact, he was dying. The only thing that could save him was a blood transfusion.

It was Friday night and no labs were open to check his blood type, let alone get supplies. So vet Kate Heller sought advice and was told to try dog blood.

"I hadn't heard about it or read about it. It's not in any textbook," says Ms Heller.

Rory needed a donor fast. So Ms Edwards thought fast and phoned a friend in her book club.

"[I had] never heard of anything like that before. I thought she was joking," says Macy's owner, Michelle Whitemore.

But Rory desperately needed the 18-month-old Labrador. Macy was rushed to the vet where she donated 120ml of blood, and within an hour Rory the cat was saved.

A cat can only take a small amount of dog blood, but he's a small animal, and it was enough to dilute the poison. Three weeks later, Rory has recovered from the incident. Link -via Arbroath  


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Yea, I think the 'diluted the poison' thing is just a misunderstanding by the author of how rat bait, and rat bait treatment works. People working in 'specialist fields' like vet med had to deal with people misinterpret the details of our work, and being armchair experts all the time. You just did it yourself, assuming vit K and fluids would be enough to save an animal suffering for severe acute anaemia.

120ml is not a small amount for a cat, it's a pretty big transfusion. With that volume, I suspect the cat had a PCV (packed cell volume, or % of blood that is red blood cells) of around 10 - 15. It should be about 35 - 40 in a cat, so that is INCREDIBLY low. The vet stated the cat would have died without the transfusion, and with a PCV like that I would have to agree.

I agree media tends to sensationalise and play into collective fears, because it sells an they exist to make money. But really, the dog-to-cat aspect of this story is what's interesting, and it almost certainly saved the cats life. No-one would be interested in the other aspects of the treatment, which would include lots more than just vit K and fluids.
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Nope, not a vet, just a former farm-boy trying to understand how what seems to be so little blood "diluted the poison" and managed to save the cat with no other meds mentioned or any other saving action taken. Also a bit of a rant on the state of The Media today; they seem to leave out or twist the most important parts of stories anymore. Along these lines are the "Labrador bites girl for no apparent reason" never gets in the media, but "Doberman/Boxer mix who was severely beaten, bites to defend itself" gets to the media as"Pitbull viciously attacks owner".
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Glad the cat is ok. That being said, this and secondary poisoning (if the cat ate a poisoned rat or mouse) are the two biggest reasons NOT to use poison for pest control.
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I think we can safely assume the cat also received Vit K and fluids. I know I've seen plenty of animals with rat bait coagulopathies that I've given blood transfusions as well. I assume you're also a vet since you're passing opinion, how does only treating with Vit K and IVFT work out for you? Do you lose many? What PCVs are you seeing pre-treatment and how long do they take to recover?
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O.K.? I thought all vets knew that Vitamin K was the rat poison antidote? Rat poison works by inhibiting clotting factors, causing a rat to die of internal bleeding. If he'd bled out that much, how would a 120mL (one-half U.S. cup) save him? Need more details.

EDIT TO ADD: 260mL is a typical feline blood volume so the cat had bled out severely. Though, I would imagine Vitamin K and fluids would have saved it.
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