One evening in January, a passerby rushed into iVet Petcare Clinic in Sentul with a severely injured stray. The cat had been hit by a car and needed emergency surgery.
“It was a horrible night. It was just the two of us – the vet technician and me,” she recalled. “We carried out the blood transfusion. There was blood everywhere.”
Help came from an unlikely hero: Fluffy, the clinic’s five-year-old resident cat, stepped in as a blood donor.
A half-Persian, half-Maine Coon mix weighing over 6kg, he is healthy, vaccinated, and unusually calm. Described as a “gentle giant”, he stayed relaxed throughout the procedure.
“The stray would have surely died that night if Fluffy hadn’t been there,” said Shafiqah.
Blood transfusions are routine in veterinary care, but finding donors can be difficult. Cats and dogs can donate only once every three months, and Malaysia has no dedicated pet blood banks.
As such, owners often turn to other pets or networks of friends. Some groups now connect donors through websites and apps.
In urgent cases, however, time is critical. That is why many clinics keep resident cats like Fluffy – not just as emergency donors, but also as companions for stressed animals and worried owners.
At iVet, Fluffy is rarely alone. On a typical evening, he pads across the clinic floor seeking attention. Close behind is Ahmad Tabby, a two-year-old white-and-striped tabby with a funny tail, followed by his sister Princess Coco, the smallest of the three.
“She bullies Fluffy a bit,” vet technician Muhammad Nazim Adil Sobri said affectionately, as Coco swatted playfully at the much larger cat.
All three are blood donors, though Coco only donates to kittens owing to her size. Beyond that, they provide comfort to abandoned animals and anxious humans alike.
Fluffy – full name Fluffy Kassim – is a favourite among visitors. People often drop by just to see him, offering treats and affection.
It is a far cry from his past. In late 2023, Fluffy was boarded at the clinic by his owner, who kept extending the stay before eventually becoming unreachable.
“He kept saying he was outstation and so on,” Shafiqah recalled.
Fluffy had also been suffering from a severe bacterial infection that required a month of intravenous antibiotics, along with bouts of diarrhoea. Suspecting he had been abandoned to avoid medical costs, the clinic chose to take him in.
Over time, Fluffy recovered. His fur grew back, he gained weight, and his personality blossomed. He began playing with children and other cats.
Around the same time, Tabby, Coco and their siblings were dumped outside the clinic. The staff kept the pair and rehomed the others.
By last year, the trio had become official blood donors. Together, they have helped save more than 15 cats.
Not all abandoned animals are as fortunate: vet clinics, shelters and even restaurants have become common dumping grounds. Vets say it is not unusual to find kittens or puppies left outside overnight, sometimes too late to save them.
Boarding services face similar issues, with pets left behind by owners who never return.
A veterinarian in Gombak, who asked to remain anonymous, told Bernama that such cases often spike during festive periods or relocations.
She is currently caring for Petri, a one-year-old domestic shorthair left behind after the recent Raya holidays. When his owners failed to return, she reached out repeatedly.
Eventually, the wife responded. “She said, ‘Just give it to someone. Or let it go outside’,” the vet revealed. “Those words really upset me.”
Petri’s story has struck a chord with a university research assistant known as Adam, who has been trying to find the cat a home. He describes Petri as having “sad puppy eyes, as if hoping someone would stop to pet him”.
A cat owner himself, Adam believes many people adopt pets without fully committing. “Just because they are plain Janes, it doesn’t mean they don’t deserve the same love as a British Shorthair cat,” he said.
Animal advocates point to irresponsible ownership as a key cause of abandonment, particularly the failure to spay or neuter pets.
Soberingly, shelters across the Klang Valley are already full. “It’s always like this, it never improves,” said Kim Yeoh, president of Second Chance Animal Society. “The numbers keep growing.”
Her shelter holds weekly adoption drives, but demand remains low. She believes spaying and neutering must be a condition of adoption to break the cycle.
Rising living costs are also a factor, though advocates say this should be considered before taking on a pet.
“Pets are fully dependent on us,” Shafiqah stressed. “They need proper nutrition, regular veterinary care, grooming, and daily attention.”
“Some animals can live 10 to 15 years, so this is not a short-term commitment. Responsible ownership means committing to them through every stage of their lives.”
These days, Fluffy is no longer the clinic’s frontline donor, as he has developed mild anaemia and may not be able to give blood again.
The cat he saved, however, is thriving and has since been adopted.
Fluffy’s role has simply changed. “We’re not letting anyone adopt him,” Shafiqah concluded with a smile. “He’s just too adorable and so well-behaved.”