Nine Lives Blood Services was founded by Alice Parr because of her love for cats and their needs which often get ignored. She was a Licensed Vet Tech at the Emergency and Critical Care Unit at Michigan State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for 30 years. Her co-founded is double degreed veterinarian and MBA, Kath Edsall.Not only do they humanely collect and ship feline blood all over the US, they are active in finding forever homes for their retired feline blood donors and they are passionate about all things relating to cats.
There are three blood types for cats – A, B, and AB.

• A: there is a higher incidence of this blood type in cats in the Midwest
  it is the blood type associated with mixed breed cats – or feline mutts
• B: there is a higher incidence of this blood type in cats on the East and West coasts|
  there is a higher incidence of this blood type of several pure bred cats, including British Shorthair,
  Rex, and Somali. Many of the cats in Australia are type B.
• AB: is very rare. Alice Parr has seen only 3 cats with type AB blood in 30 years

How does the blood bank acquire the blood?
   Blood screening, the same policy as when people donate blood, is done to find ideal candidates. The cat must be free of 4 blood borne pathogens. They must also be FELV and FIV negative.
The cats come from shelters and live with Alice for about 18 months in a closed colony. After 18 months the cats are returned to the shelter where they are put up for adoption. Nine Lives Blood Services
are very active in feline adoption, particularly of older cats.
While the cats are in Alice’s care 45 milliliters or 3 Tablespoons of blood are drawn every 3 or 4 weeks. Are there any side effects? Alice tells us there are very few, but sometimes a cat won’t regenerate red cells quickly enough to donate every 3 weeks. Before taking the blood the cat is given a mild sedative and blood is drawn from a vein in the neck.
     What we love about Nine Lives Blood Services is that Alice and Kath try to only use the cats for 18 months, which is unlike many other blood banks which might keep a cat until they can no longer give blood. Cat Faeries has a customer who adopted such a cat and the cat was under socialized and had a hard time adjusting to a house and home. This would never happen to a cat who was in the program at the Nine Lives Blood Bank because their cats are well cared for and live with Alice personally. All of the cats come from the shelters and most adjust very well to life in the colony. They are group housed in large open runs with water fountains, climbers, resting perches, and lots of opportunity for play or hiding. Some of the cats come to them with shy or fearful personalities and they do their best to work with them…

When a cat retires as a blood donor at the Nine Lives Blood Bank
     After a cat’s 18 month stay the cat goes back to the shelter for adoption. One of the pluses about adopting one of these cats is that they are used to being with a group of cats and thus might be an ideal addition to your multi cat household.

 How the blood reaches your vet’s hospital:
     The vet calls in the order and it’s shipped Fed Ex overnight

  When your cat might need blood:

• Blood loss from an injury

• Surgery
• Cancer
• Bone marrow disease

• Feline FIV and FELV

     Nine Lives Blood Services, PLLC
457 Lentz Court
Lansing, MI 48917

(517) 410-3350 mobile            (517) 367-6050 office

Fax: (517) 367-6052               http://www.catbloodbank.com/                                   Or Google: feline blood bank + the name of your state