Traditional animal rivalries were put aside in New Zealand when a dog's blood was used to save the life of a poisoned cat in a rare inter-species transfusion, reports said yesterday.
Kim Edwards, a Tauranga, North Island, cat owner was frantic on Friday last week when her ginger tom, Rory, went limp after eating rat poison.
She rushed to her local veterinary clinic for help. Veterinarian Kate Heller said the feeble feline was fading fast and needed an immediate transfusion to survive.
But there was not enough time to send a sample to the laboratory for testing to determine the cat's blood type. Instead, she decided to take a gamble and use dog blood to try to save the animal, knowing it would die instantly if she gave it the wrong type.
Edwards called her friend Michelle Whitmore, who volunteered her black labrador Macy as a dog blood donor in a last-ditch attempt to save Rory. Heller said it was the first time she had performed the rare procedure.
"People are going to think it sounds pretty dodgy - and it is - but hey, we've been successful and it's saved its life," Heller told the New Zealand Herald.
Edwards said the cat appeared to have come through its ordeal unscathed, and seemingly without any canine side effects.
"The vets just went above and beyond. It is incredible that it worked," she said.
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