Homeless cat to save lives by donating blood

By Suzanne Le Breton
St. Tammany News
Published on Sunday, June 20, 2010 12:21 AM CDT

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A cat that someone abandoned outside the Humane Society earlier this year will now save countless other cats’ lives.

Peony, named after the Indiana state flower by the intake manager at the shelter who hails from the state, was found in May left outside the Humane Society in a cardboard box.

They thought the 2-year-old tortoiseshell cat would spend sometime at the shelter with the other cats waiting a new home, but this cat was meant for more.

PEONY

The Louisiana Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center in Mandeville contacted one of the board members at the Humane Society and was looking for a cat or two to serve as a blood donor for other sick cats.

But, not just any cat would do. The cat had to be of a certain size and age; and it had to be used to being handled daily by people.

Peony meets all of the requirements.

Every day cats just like Peony and her former neighbors at the Humane Society need blood transfusions for different types of veterinary procedures. A transfusion is a clinical necessity and without animal blood donors, surgeons would not be able to perform life-saving operations.

For the next year, Peony’s full responsibility in life will be to save the lives of other cats by providing her own precious blood.

After her year of service is up, she will return to the St. Tammany Humane Society, where hopefully her service will be rewarded with a new and permanent home with a loving family.

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Comments

1 comment(s)

Andy wrote on Jun 21, 2010 12:04 AM:

" How is this cat 'donating' blood? Not being able to give consent, I'd say Peony is being used to harvest blood, but she can no more 'donate; her blood than a young child that was being used for the same purpose. "

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