There’s great mews from The Times for cat owners and lovers!

On Monday 3^rd July 2023, reporter Kieran Gair (thank you, Kieran!) reported that the first feline blood bank in the UK to provide treatment for cats with medical conditions is to be set up by Banco de Sangue Animal.

They are a Portuguese group, and they already have animal blood banks in Portugal, Spain and Belgium. 

Like us, cats must be transfused with a matching type of blood, but they just have two blood types, namely A and B. 

Cats are prone to blood born disease, and there’s been a problem for cats because there hasn’t been appropriate blood available. 

If you think your cat would be a suitable donor, you can register him or her on the Pet Blood Bank UK’s website.

Pets need blood donors too!
Visit the Pet Blood Bank UK here.

If you think your cat could be a blood donor, he or she needs to be a large, healthy cat who likes being handled and who likes spending time with people.  And he or she should be between 1 and 10 years old, and weight no more than 9 pounds.  They also must be up to date with vaccinations and treatments. 

It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to do a cat blood donation – on average – but the whole process takes 4 hours, since the vet needs to make sure the cat is properly hydrated before they head home.

The Times say that the Royal Veterinary College stores feline blood but only for the animals treated at or referred to it, since it is a transfusion service as opposed to be a blood bank.

Visit the Pet Blood Bank UK here.  

PS Their own recent news is that they are working with Blood Bikes 4 Pets – this is a new, soon to be charity, and it’s working to create the UK’s first professional motorbike blood delivery service for pets!    They service will operate with volunteer riders who can safely take blood products across the country on specialist bikes.  A big thank you to Honda who are helping.  Visit Blood Bikes 4 Pets here – you can donate the cost of fuel to help!  We wish them God speed and all the best 

PPS The Pet Food Blood Bank UK  also need blood from dogs….. fetch more information here.  

And they are supporting the alpaca community by offering a collection kit and blood processing service for alpaca vets.  Find out more