Blood types in the non-pedigree cat population of Gran Canaria.

Abstract

(Auer and Bell 1981). All type B animals have naturally occurring high titres of anti-A alloantibodies, andapproximately one third of type A cats have naturally occur-ring low titres of anti-B alloantibodies (Auer and Bell 1980,Bucheler and Giger 1993). These alloantibodies are respon-sible for post-transfusional problems (Auer and Bell 1983,Giger and Bucheler 1991) and neonatal isoerythrolysis (Cainand Suzuki 1985, Bucheler 1999). Blood types vary geo-graphically and within breeds (Giger and others 1991a); vari-ation within breeds has been studied by different authors(Giger and others 1991a, Knottenbelt and others 1999a) butthe most significant differences might be found in local non-pedigree populations. The frequencies of different felineblood types in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain, areunknown. This short communication describes the preva-lence of different feline blood types in the non-pedigree pop-ulation of Gran Canaria,as well as the titres of alloantibodiesin cats of the different blood types,to enable prediction of therisks of unmatched transfusions.Samples were collected from the cephalic vein of 97 non-pedigree cats into 1 ml