Feline Blood Donation
Who qualifies as a blood donor?
Who qualifies as a blood donor?
- Must be well behaved and friendly.
- Must be a minimum of 10 pounds.
- Must be between 1 and 9 years of age
- Current of all vaccinations and free from infectious diseases an no previous blood transfusions.
- Indoor feline with no exposure to outdoor felines.
- Females can never have been pregnant.
It has been proven safe for felines to donate every 5 weeks; however RMBS typically draws from felines on an as needed basis.
Benefits
The possible donor is screened for any metabolic abnormalities, feline leukemia, feline infectious peritonitis, feline immunodeficiency virus and typed. This is at no cost to the owner.
An annual reimbursement of $100.00 will be given once the donor has completed 6 donations. Receipts from routine veterinary care must be provided for reimbursements. If you choose to continue in the program another routine blood screen wil be performed before continuing.
Donation Process
Donations will be scheduled at the owner's convenience. Felines must be dropped off at AESC for a minimum of 3 hours. An Intravenous (IV) catheter is placed in one of the front legs and a sedative is administered through the catheter. The neck is then clipped and cleaned using a sterile technique. The actual donation takes 5-10 minutes and then the donor is given IV fluids over a 2 hour period. Minimal side effects may occur such as: clipper burn, bruising and swelling.