Diamond Jim's Greatest Gift

May 08, 2012

In animal rescue, there are miracles every day. Dogs and cats getting a chance at a new life with fosters and adoption counselors advocating for them, severe injuries healing at the hands of APA! vet staff, babies being bottle fed by countless volunteers. But sometimes, the animals themselves help each other out. Sometimes it's with a nursing mom taking on a kitten. Or one dog helping to socialize another. But in one recent case, it was an adult male cat named Diamond Jim whose blood saved the life of little kitten named Vuitton.

Diamond Jim is a 5 year old tuxedo boy that is all class. He is calm, cool and collected, and enjoys the company of the humans that visit him. But he's also a lover of other cats, which makes this little story even more awesome.

Vuitton is a little 4 week old longhaired tuxedo boy. He came to APA! so pale and weak that we weren't sure he would make it. And in fact, he almost didn't. Vuitton was suffering from extreme anemia and was covered in fleas. He didn't want to eat, so he was force fed and kept warm. But his gums and tongue remained pale and his energy just wasn't where it should be for a young kitten.

So the vet staff decided that a blood transfusion for Vuitton would be necessary to increase his red blood cell count and give him a fighting chance. A healthy adult male cat was needed to be the donor for little Vuitton, and... you guessed it: they chose Diamond Jim. Of course Diamond Jim didn't volunteer for this act of kindness and generosity. But he did not protest when the vet staff drew some blood to help the little kitten. In fact, some say he even purred.

Within just a few minutes of the procedure, Vuitton was already feeling better. He ate more readily and had a bit more energy. He will continue to improve.  And he owes his little life to his look-alike donor, Diamond Jim.

Diamond Jim is available for adoption today. You can read up on his personality and learn more about adopting him here http://www.austinpetsalive.org/adopt/available-cat-details/?ID=15475490. Vuitton still has a few more weeks to grow big and strong before he's adoption-ready.

If you are interested in volunteering to help out with daily care of our adoption-ready cats like Diamond Jim, or in the Neonatal Ward with kittens like Vuitton, we would love to have you! Completing the volunteer application is the first step.