Bret Michaels Adopts Blood-Donor Dog Named After Him

Bret Michaels is a hero. So is Bret Michaels.

Allow me to explain.

Bret Michaels is the name of a 6-year-old homeless Husky whose donated blood saved the life of a kitten dying from flea anemia. The staff at the Nebraska Humane Society (NHS) named the Husky after the lead singer of the rock band Poison.

Last week, three stray kittens who were only a month old were brought to the NHS in really bad shape. They were “dirty, cold and covered in fleas,” and one of them was “wobbly, weak and lethargic,” according to a post on the NHS Facebook page. Those signs indicate flea anemia, which could be fatal for a young kitten. “He needed blood—and he needed it now.”

Fortunately, dog blood can be transfused to cats. Bret Michaels had just had bloodwork completed the day before, so he was the perfect donor. After just one round of the transfusion, the kitten was doing better.

“A round of ap-paws for Bret Michaels for being such a calm and brave boy, and to our vet team for their quick thinking,” the NHS wrote. “Little man is now on the road to recovery, and Bret Michaels is waiting patiently for his forever family!”

It was a very short wait. When Bret Michaels the human heard about his hero dog namesake, he decided to give the Husky a forever home. 

Michaels “loved the story and wanted to chat with us,” the NHS wrote in a happy update on Facebook. “One phone call later and guess who’s gonna be living the rock star life from here on out? That’s right! … We can’t wait to see how he thrives in his new home—we just hope it doesn’t get too confusing when someone tells Bret Michaels to fetch!”

Michaels (the human) told PEOPLE, “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. I could not work fast enough to adopt this Husky and extend the awesome quality of little Bret Jr.’s life.”

Michaels and his family have been mourning the loss of their beloved 14-year-old German Shepherd, Phoenix, who died earlier this year. “So this story brought a smile back into my family’s life,” he told PEOPLE.

Bret Jr. will be joining Michaels’ two rescue shepherds, Nova and Draco. Here’s hoping they all enjoy “Nothin’ But a Good Time” together and they find one another to be “All I Ever Needed.”

To help the Nebraska Humane Society save more pets, visit their website. To cheer on Bret Michaels the human, go see him on his Parti-Gras tour.

Photo: Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons