I was asked an interesting question by a Cat World subscriber the other day (it happens you know!). And that was, 'Can my cat become a blood donor?' The answer is, yes they can! However there are very strict circumstances to qualifying and this could be of interest to other people - so here's the answer. The cat must be healthy and fully vaccinated, calm of temperament, weigh at least 4kg but not be fat and be aged between 1 and 8 years of age. They will need to be tested for Feline Leukaemia virus, Feline Immunodeficiency virus, Feline Infectious Anaemia and have been exclusively a resident in the UK. The cat's red cell count will be checked, if all is well the cat will then be sedated and given intravenous fluids at the same time to replace the blood taken. Just to put it into perspective, the amount of blood taken from human donors is 450ml, whereas feline donors donate 40-50ml. If you think your at qualifies and would make a calm donor, ask your vet for more details of how you can get involved.