ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Who says dogs and cats can’t be friends? A tiny kitty is regaining her eyesight and she has a dog to thank for it!
One month old Bridget the kitty has come a long way since she was brought into the Friends of Strays Animal Shelter in St. Petersburg with an ulcer on her cornea.
“She had almost a hole starting to form in the outer surface of her eye,” explained Friends of Strays Medical Director Katie Emerson. Emerson said the condition is common in cats but Bridget’s case was so severe that if left untreated, she would have lost her eye.
“Her whole eye was cloudy when we first got her so she didn’t have any vision in that eye when we first got her,” she added.
The vet team at Friends of Strays knew they needed to act fast, and they said the best treatment is using blood from another animal to create a serum.
That’s where 5-year old dog Blanche came in, who was also staying at the shelter.
“We decided to see if she would be willing to donate her blood because not all dogs are happy to participate in the process but she was very generous, so calm. She got lots of love and treats,” Emerson said.
Emerson says the blood can come from different types of animals of all blood types to make the serum, but not all animals are cooperative donors.
“Blanche was the best. She is just the sweetest dog,” she added.
Bridget the kitty’s foster mom applied the serum in the form of eye drops every two hours for several weeks alongside an antibiotic eye drop….and it worked!
“She may have a little scar on her cornea so you may always be able to tell that she went through this but she’s going to keep both eyes and be able to see just fine,” Emerson explained.
Just days after Blanche the dog’s blood donation, she was adopted.
Bridget has since regained her eyesight and she and her siblings (two brothers named Digit and Fidget) will be up for adoption in about a month.
Those are two happy tales worth wagging your tail over.
“Blanche really did save Bridget’s eye. I don’t think the two have ever met (since Bridget was being homed at a foster home) and they will likely never meet and be actual friends, but it’s a really cool story,” Emerson added with a smile.
For more information on Friends of Strays, click here.
