By Peggy Sturdivant

Gayle and Jerry witnessed a lot of drama during six months of visits to an emergency veterinary clinic. One comment in particular has stayed with them for years. It was the middle of the night and a young man was there with his dog. “I never thought I’d be one of those guys,” he said. “But he looks at me with those eyes, and I want to say, ‘just take my credit card.’”

Jerry Casson probably never thought he would be one of those guys either, at least not for a feline. Until he met his future wife, Gayle Tate-Casson, he was on record as having only one previous relationship with a cat. Plus he was horribly allergic. His wife Gayle jokes they wouldn’t be together if they hadn’t met in person. On-line she would have mentioned her cat.

Gayle Tate-Casson didn’t have just any cat. She had a Maine Coon cat named Bacachan. Since her job required back and forth between Portland and Seattle, “Baca was a traveling cat.” As she spent more time with Jerry in Seattle the cat started staying with him, feasting on Jerry’s leftovers such as smoked salmon. “When Jerry started discussing which litter to use, I knew Baca had become his cat.” Their courtship even survived Jerry’s threat of sending Baca to Portland by Amtrak, a response to one unfortunate incident.

When Jerry found himself driving over to Lake City Way in the middle of the night to pick up donor cat blood, he too had become that guy. He just didn’t know it yet.

It started when Baca became seriously ill, very suddenly. In the middle of the night the Cassons had a crash course in the fact that very few veterinary hospitals have cat blood on hand, but the transfusion need is immediate. Hence the blood run to ACCES Blood Bank at Critical Care Vets at 3 a.m.

For the next six months the mystery of Baca’s ailment kept them working with the team at Critical Care Vets, if only to determine the cause of his ups and downs. They witnessed medical emergencies of other cats and dogs, which gave them appreciation for the caregivers, and a window on the need for animal blood donation. Baca didn’t survive but their eyes had been opened.

In the meantime Jerry and Gayle had acquired a second Maine Coon, Oshaberi. She became a regular feline blood donor, meeting the criteria as a healthy in-door cat, over a year old and weighing over ten pounds. She was even featured in the annual ACCES calendar for October 2011, not that the photo shoot went well.

Although Osha, and their latest addition, Yuki, have both retired as donors the Cassons still pass out flyers and encourage people to learn about the ACCES Blood Bank. When cats or dogs ingest poison or need emergency surgery, they often need blood. Each donation (two ounces for a cat) provides two transfusions; ACCES estimates they provide blood for up to 300 cat transfusions per year. Unlike humans there are only three types of cat blood; 94% of it is Type A.

Each potential cat receives a full blood screening and then annual physicals. Cats can donate every four months, for a total of 12 times. Cats need to be sedated for 20-25 minutes while donating; dogs don’t need sedation. The Cassons’ cats were absolute pushovers for some of the other benefits, namely a treat and a toy. Osha still drags her favorite donation toy upstairs every night about midnight, like a security blanket. Their humans are also pleased because their donations have earned their pets a free future transfusion if needed.

Not every cat can be a donor and until someone’s pets need a transfusion most owners don’t even know about the demand for feline blood. Gayle and Jerry know it all too well. But they sleep better knowing their cats have helped fill the need for others on those desperate nights. As for Jerry Casson, he’s not even allergic anymore.