The cat is coming out of the bag! A feline blood service is on the way…
We’re so excited to say that Pet Blood Bank has received authorisation from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) that our application to operate a feline blood service has been approved. This marks a significant new chapter in veterinary transfusion medicine for cats across the country and comes after many years of development work behind the scenes by the charity.
Access to feline blood products has historically been a significant challenge for the veterinary profession in the UK, with no dedicated national service available. The new service will address this gap, aiming to give vets a reliable and welfare-focused source of feline blood products, just as we do for dogs.
The development of the feline service is being headed up by veterinary nurse, Wendy Barnett, founder of Pet Blood Bank UK.
Wendy, who is the Clinical Director at Pet Blood Bank, said, ‘We know how much a dedicated feline service is needed having heard that message clearly from veterinary colleagues over many years. We are absolutely delighted that we can now say it’s happening. This has been a long time in the making and we’re incredibly proud to be taking this next step to support cats, their owners, and the veterinary teams who take care of them.’
More information will be coming soon as we develop the service and start running donation sessions.
In the meantime, we’d love to hear from anyone interested in registering their cat as a lifesaving donor.
To be a donor, cats need to be:
- Fit and healthy
- Between 1 and 8 years old
- Weigh 4.5kg (9.92 pounds / 0.7 stone) or more
- Have a good temperament
Cats will donate consciously so must be amenable to being handled and able to travel calmly in a carrier to the donation session.
Finally, we just want to say a massive thank you to our veterinary colleagues across the UK for always supporting us. We are a charity for the profession, by the profession, and having your support is what makes it all possible. We’re very much looking forward to developing this next chapter of Pet Blood Bank with you.
