This is a non-book post. I’m rambling about my cat and her job;).

I have had Emma for about five months. She is a blood donor cat at the Toronto Veterinary Clinic. This means she has to go in on a regular basis and donate blood for other cats in need. The clinic goes to shelters and finds big cats that can cope with giving blood. Then they make sure the cats are healthy and find homes for them.

On Friday Emma went in for the second time since she came to live with me. I always worry a little as the procedure carries a risk and they have lost a cat before. But I got a call during the day telling me everything was fine. I picked Emma up very early Saturday morning because I don’t like her staying at the clinic any longer than she has to.

She was very quiet on the taxi ride home, which is very unlike her. Usually she complains all the way. When we got home Emma couldn’t settle down. In the end I bribed her onto my bed and petted her until she purred. We both fell asleep. In my defense, I took the first subway up to the clinic just before 6am, so it wasn’t exactly late in the day;). I got up a little later, but unlike the last time, Emma had a much harder time. She sleeps a lot any day, she is a cat;), but on Saturday she literally slept standing up and all of her usual attitude and energy was missing. She’s not a big cuddler, but she usually sticks close to me in the flat, so every time I get up she does, too, which meant she sometimes sat at the edge of the kitchen with her eyes closed, just waiting for me to sit back down.

In the end my little girl recovered just fine and is back up to her usual mischief.

They have to shave the fur at her neck and paw for the donation. It’ll grow back and her blood may save a life.

If you’re thinking about adopting a pet check with your local animal hospitals to see if any of them have a blood donor programme. You will know for sure that your pet is healthy and you can enrich their life while they do something amazing. I found out about the programme through a friend. Her cat received donated blood, so she saw the benefits of the programme close up.

Emma makes me smile every day. Yesterday and today she even slept on my lap…for all of five minutes, but she rarely does, so it was pretty amazing;).

Have a great week and if you have a pet give it an extra cuddle from me!;)