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  

Love cute animals? View more at Lifestyles of the Cute and Cuddly blog

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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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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