In a rare and unusual procedure a seven-year-old moggie cat has been revived from death's door using blood from a friend's labrador dog.

Tauranga cat lover Kim Edwards knew her cat Rory was a in a bad state when he began howling 'a horrible, guttural cry” on Thursday night.

A visit to Tauranga Vets the next morning confirmed things were looking grim when it was discovered Rory had ingested rat poison.

Vet Kate Heller knew the only solution was a blood transfusion, but time was running out to have his blood type confirmed - something that is vital for with all cat blood transfusions.

'If you give a cat just one milligram of the wrong type of cat blood it will kill it, but they don't have pre-formed antibodies to dog blood so that was our only option.

'We didn't have any option but to watch him die or try something and hope it worked.”

Kim thought of her friend Michelle Whitmore who has a pet labrador Macie. After a quick call Macie was rushed down to the vets where blood was taken from her and injected into Rory.

Within an hour and a half Rory was up and purring, wanting food, in what Kate describes as an 'amazing” recovery.

It was the first time the procedure had been done at the practice and while she says everyone will advise you not to do it she would not hesitate.

Kim's already heard all the jokes from friends, who tell her Rory will start barking or fetching the paper, but she's just happy to have him back.

'We didn't have any nagging doubts about this weird cat coming home.”