Dog 'Donates' Blood to Save a Cat's Life

Veterinarians near Tauranga on New Zealand’s north island have recently completed one of the first successful cross-species blood transfusions after one woman’s cat fell ill because it accidentally ate rat poison. (Dumb cat! That poison’s not for you, ya idiot!) The owner then called a friend who volunteered her own dog for a blood transfusion. Both animals were taken to a vet’s office where the vet was like, “Why the hell not? Let’s try it!” and performed the procedure.

According to The Independent, the owners’ and vets’ decision was a “potentially fatal move” for the cat because there was no certainty that the animals were a blood match. However, the parties decided to press on in the name of love and science and the cat is now “back to normal.”

Yay, medical advancements! It’s a cool story, definitely, but did you that it’s also a story about an interspecies friendship that’s persevered against all odds? At least that’s how The Independent is spinning it:

Stereotypes suggest dogs and cats rarely get on, but pet owners usually disagree, stating their beloved pooches show nothing but affection towards the felines they encounter.

One domesticated double-act took this nonconformist stance to inter-species relations even further, when a dog in New Zealand donated blood to save the life of a cat that was dying after eating rat poison.

Donated? This dog’s blood was taken! The dog was blood robbed! Give the dog its blood back! Or will this be like a vampire thing where they can now sense when the other is danger? Only time — and the next medical advancement — will tell.

Image via Shutterstock.

Dog donates blood to save life of cat that had eaten rat poison [The Independent]