JUAN THE CAT SAVED BY SUE THE DOG IN RARE BLOOD TRANSFUSION PROCEDURE
Source: stuff.co.nz (Extract)
Posted: August 23, 2020
A cross-breed hound called Sue has saved the life of a much-loved Cornish Rex cat called Juan in a rare cross species blood transfusion procedure.
Heather McAlpine has credited the quick thinking of Picton Veterinary Clinic, after its vets performed the life-saving procedure this month, calling on a local to bring in Sue, who donated 60ml of blood.
The ordeal began when McApline came home to find two-year-old Juan acting unusually: urinating often, and twitching.
She took him to the clinic, where they thought he might be dealing with a bladder irritation.
Vet Dr Christine Mackenzie said Juan was bright and perky, but slightly irritated when he was admitted on August 1.
They ran blood tests which did not explain the problem, and days later they were shocked to see his blood count had dropped significantly. This meant he was losing blood.
He was deteriorating fast, and they suspected he had eaten rat poison, but later discovered Cornish Rexs could experience blood clotting disorders.
They considered sending him away for a cat to cat blood transfusion, but time was running out.
“He was close to dying,” Mackenzie said.
Clinic co-owner Geoff Simpson suggested a xenotransfusion, the transferring of blood from one species to another, and Mackenzie agreed it was the only way to save Juan.
It was an emergency, and though risky, a xenotransfusion might buy Juan enough time to rebuild his own blood cells.
While Mackenzie had performed blood transfusions between dogs, it was rarely performed on cats, she said. In 20 years of practice, she had not seen a cat requiring a blood transfusion, let alone a situation which called for xenotransfusion.
“If you haven’t done it before it’s quite scary.”
She called a friend who brought in Sue, who donated 60mls of blood. Over three hours, they slowly dripped the blood into Juan, and by that evening, he was purring again.
Juan stayed at the clinic for more than a week for monitoring and antidote treatment, and was sent home in good spirits. McAlpine said they knew they didn’t have another option.
“We thought that we were going to lose him … the next morning I went in, and he was sitting up.” McAlpline was thrilled and grateful to the Picton vets. “We love him ridiculously. A lot.”
Xenotransfusion includes transfusions from non-human animals to humans. French physician Jean-Baptiste Denis undertook the first documented animal to human xenotransfusion on June 15, 1667 when he injected the arterial blood from a lamb into the arm of a 15-year-old boy.
Closer to home, a Tauranga vet saved a cat’s life in 2013, after performing a blood transfusion from a Labrador dog. And police dog Kosmo survived a stabbing in 2018, after it received a blood transfusion from another police dog, Oza.
