Is my cat's blood really different from human blood? How so?

Question

Is a cat's blood different to human blood? If so, in what ways is it different? Pet's info: Cat | Munchkin Longhair | Female | spayed | 4 years and 1 month old | 4.5 lbs

Catherine Stecyk · Accepted Answer

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Yes, cat blood is very different from human blood. There are different blood types - cats can have either A, B, or AB (rare). There is no such thing has type O in cats, as there is in humans. Humans and animals have a different PCV (packed cell volume, hematocrit) – humans: 37-50%, cat: 24-45%, that means that the number of red blood cells differs a lot between the species. There is also a huge variation between the size of the red blood cells between the species causing a different distribution of glucose in plasma. For example in humans the percentage of glucose in the red blood cells is 42%, whereas 58% of the glucose is situated in plasma. In cats (less and smaller red blood cells) there is only 7% of the glucose in the red blood cells and the majority of about 93% of the glucose is located in plasma. These are just a few of the ways that cat and human blood are different. I hope this is helpful!

Is my cat's blood really different from human blood? How so?

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