Dear Barbara:
There is a line of blood components available through Dr. Jean Dodds and
Hemopet of Irvine, California. Hemopet supplies purified, properly typed red
blood cells, plasma and other components available by Federal Express.
Hemopet -- 176672-A Cowan, Suite 300 (949) 252-8455
Irvine, CA 95402-0446 Fax: (949) 252-0224
If you are not able to find a donor kitty, perhaps this might be an option.
Or, if they are too far away to be practical, perhaps they know of other such
suppliers that may be closer to you.
When I had to take one of my kittys for a transfusion due to toxic shock from
a spot-on flea control product, I was told that for a first transfusion, it
is not necessary to do blood-typing and find a match, that any feline blood
type will do. It is only for second and subsequent transfusions that becomes
imperative -- if the first blood given was not a match there will be antibodies
present for it.
Best of luck to you in finding a donor kitty for Jelly Roll. Are there any
vet schools at a university or large vet hospitals nearby? They might have
donor kittys with various blood types on hand. I know some of the larger vet
hospitals here keep a donor kitty or two "on staff". Since I have umpteen kittys,
I just scooped up my biggest and most robust furkid to be the donor and both
kittys came through just fine.
Sally in San Jose
