When is A Cat Blood Transfusion Necessary?

You probably think of a cat blood transfusion as you do for a person, but things are rather different.

Common causes that require a blood transfusion in a person would be when they have lost a lot of blood from, say an accident or surgery or when there is internal bleeding. Diseases and ailments which often call for these may include cancer, cancer treatment, liver malfunction, blood disorders such as leukaemia, as well as other illnesses.

However there are risks involved. The receiver can have an allergic reaction, a fever, an immune reaction if the match wasn’t very good, even a fatal lung reaction.

Donors for the human blood bank are carefully screened and are only allowed to donate blood when they are healthy and at infrequent intervals. This allows their blood levels to fully recover before another donation. Only small quantities are taken at any time and the patient is carefully monitored during the process.

Blood transfusions in cats is rather different. For a start it is often recommended when a cat has anaemia. But anemia in cats can easily be resolved with a proper diet and an appropriate homeopathic treatment. This is not difficult.

The idea of a blood transfusion is to help patch up an acute problem as it doesn’t cure the underlying cause. Repeated transfusions would be necessary if the cause is not addressed.

So, the cause of the anemia should always be established. A lot of it comes down to a poor diet. Poor diets abound in the shape of commercial cat food, whatever the price you pay. But other causes could be from a loss of blood or a malfunctioning organ or a chronic disease.

Few people would argue that a single feline blood transfusion after a severe loss of blood would be beneficial. But if a malfunctioning liver or a chronic disease is the cause, this needs the attention.

The other major problem that I can see is the cat donors. Some vets keep cats simply as blood donors. I suggest that, depending on the individual vet, these cats are not subject to the same scrutiny or care that human donors are. I can see that, in some vet clinics, these cats could easily be donating too much blood and too often. I suggest that the income a vet makes from a single cat blood transfusion would be enough to pay for another cat.

Even if the conditions are reasonable, is this any life for a cat? Or any animal?

Some, perhaps more ethically minded vets, will have a database of privately kept cats who are healthy enough to donate a small about of blood infrequently.

Without the necessary and strict checks and balances that occur with human donors, I suggest the collecting of blood for a cat blood transfusion is, for the most part, unethical and cruel. Especially when there are other natural, safe and effective ways to resolve the problem.

Anaemia in cats always has a cause. Instead of patching this up, find a holistic practitioner you can work with. Homeopathy is a wonderful and complete natural system of medicine than does not require the harming of animals or animal testing of their medicines.