I think we could all do with a story of pure, unadulterated joy. Going against the epic ancient rivalry, a six-year-old dog donated his blood to a kitten suffering from flea anemia. Both animals were under the care of the Nebraska Humane Society, who performed the transfusion. The newly acquired kitten was failing quickly so the Society decided to use the husky’s blood, which had recently been tested, instead of waiting to test another cat and risk losing the kitten entirely. The transfusion was a success! Not only that, but the chivalrous husky, named Brett Michaels by the Society, has now been adopted… by Brett Michaels! People Magazine got exclusive comments from Brett Michaels-the-human:
“I could not have been more touched and more honored to adopt Bret Michaels the husky, knowing that he gave blood to save the life of a kitten,” the rocker — who is currently on his Parti-Gras tour — tells PEOPLE in an exclusive statement. “I could not work fast enough to adopt this husky and extend the awesome quality of little Bret Jr.’s life.”
In its social media post, the Nebraska Humane Society detailed that the kitten was brought in as a stray alongside two other felines.
Noting that they were “dirty, cold and covered in fleas,” the establishment wrote that they took care of the animals, but noticed one of the cats appeared “a little bit off” and was “wobbly, weak and lethargic.”
After diagnosing the kitten with flea anemia, the Nebraska Humane Society found that it needed to do a blood transfer fast, but they couldn’t wait for testing to be done to determine a suitable feline donor.
Instead, the organization knew that dog blood can be transfused into felines, and they remembered that the canine Bret Michaels had blood work done just days prior, making him a candidate to donate.
After the first round of transfusion, the kitten started showing signs of improvement, the Nebraska Humane Society said in its Facebook post.
Michaels’ decision to adopt the hero dog comes shortly after he lost his 14-year-old German shepherd Phoenix earlier this year.
“So this story brought a smile back into my family’s life,” the musician tells PEOPLE. “I work diligently with my family and many people to save and improve the lives of many pets.”
“We have always donated to incredible pet drives and charities, and will continue to [home] Bret Jr., who … has now found a loving family that also includes our two rescue shepherds, Nova and Draco,” he adds.
Checking out Brett Michaels-the-husky’s photo, he totally looks like a “hero dog” out of central casting. Ears up and alert, looking right at the human behind the camera, mouth open and ready to respond. Also it may just be the lighting, but it looks like Brett Jr. has one blue eye and one brown. He’s a gorgeous, good boy! My only note for the Nebraska Humane Society is, if you named him Brett Michaels, couldn’t you have thrown a red bandana across his forehead?
I never knew that dogs and cats could share blood. I can’t help but wonder, though, since it is the season of Frankenstein… will this little kitty start displaying some canine behavior? Whoever adopts him, would you please keep us updated on that? Like, “he’s very well adjusted, enjoys tuna dinners, but also likes gnawing at rawhide bones.”
