A cat and dog have become heroes as they are regular blood donors after their owner saw an appeal while waiting at the vet's.
Ginger moggie Weasley, who is five, has donated 10 times and English pointer Spock, who is six, has donated five times.
Owners Mandie Pannell, 35, and her partner Thomas Mills, 36, are so proud of her veteran donor Weasley that he's been entered for a special hero award.
The university nurse educator said: "Weasley is absolutely a hero. He’s so good with blood donations.
"He looks after the dog – especially when he’s scared – and he looks after our younger cat, who we are hoping will donate when he turns one.
“Weasley’s so comfortable donating and purrs so much they even find it difficult to hear his heartbeat.
“I entered him for the Petplan Pet Awards, in the Hero Pet of the Year category, as I also thought it would help spread the word about animal blood donors and he’s made it to the finals.
“Not enough people know about animal – and especially feline – donors.
“This is England – we’re a nation of animal lovers. We do things for each other. And it’s just a nice thing to be able to help someone else’s animal out.”
When Mandie and fuel delivery driver Thomas, near Potter’s Bar, Herts., met nine years ago, they already had his dog Spock.
In November 2016, Weasley joined the family as Mandie's "surprise birthday present" for her 31st.
She said: “He found him on the website Gumtree – you really can get anything on there.
“He’s named after the Weasley family in Harry Potter – as he’s ginger and he’s trouble!”
Weasley and Spock also have a very close bond.
Mandie said: “From the get-go, Weasley has veered between bullying and cuddling up to Spock.
“They’re like siblings – even if they sometimes hate each other. But they can also be really sweet together.”
Mandie signed the pets up as blood donors after she had to take Weasley to the vet when he limped home with a wound on his back leg in 2018.
Mandie said: “It really upset me. We sensed that he’d attacked something and lost. He had a laceration and a bit of flesh missing from his leg.”
She took Weasley to the nearby Royal Veterinary College.
Mandie said: "While we were waiting, I saw a sign that they were looking for animal blood donors. I’d never known this to be a thing before that.”
Once Weasley recovered she sought out more information.
She said: "They have to be clear of any medication for eight weeks, so about three months after the injury he gave his first lot of blood.
“He’s just given his 10th donation – as it’s every three to four months for cats. He’s a true hero.”
She says she gets contacted every 12 weeks to bring Weasley in for a donation.
Weasley gets a thorough health check by a vet, gets a patch of fur shaved off and then he's ready to donate.
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His owner added: "I drop him off and they phone when the donation is finished. Then he gets intravenous fluids just to help him, as cats don’t recover as much as dogs, as they’re quite small.
“The actual donation takes around 10 minutes and after three or four hours I go and pick him up.”
The service also assesses the animals beforehand to ensure they are suitable to be blood donors.
Mandie said: “One of the things I love about the donor service is that they are so good with animals. They assess them first and see if their temperament is suitable and they won’t be unduly stressed.
“Weasley has been so chilled – he’s an ideal candidate.
“We can often hear him purring from the next room and he gets so much attention there that I think he quite likes donating!”
The amount of blood donated also depends on the weight of the cat – who must weigh 4lb minimum.
For Spock, who became a donor around the same time, the process is quicker, as dogs do not need rehydration fluids afterwards.
Neither pet has ever required sedation.
And Mandie is proud her pets are contributing to a vital service.
She said: “The teams that do this are absolutely amazing at keeping the animals calm.
“They’re also excellent at dealing with the worries of an owner – as sometimes it’s like with children, when the parents are more worried than the child.
“But I know if something happened to one of my animals and they needed blood I’d want it to be there, so this really is important.
“The idea of another pet owner not having access to the blood that could save their beloved animal just breaks my heart.”
She added: “Not enough people know about cat blood donation and I saw this award as a really good way to try and bring a little bit more awareness to it.
“And, of course, Weasley is a true hero, so he deserves to win.
“They do have quite a few blood donor dogs, but they’re really short of cats, so maybe this will encourage more owners to put their cats forward.”
