| BLOOD GROUPS
41 % of British shorthair cats have A - 59% B Until just a few years ago, the consequences of mating cats with different blood types were ignored and simply referred to as Fading Kitten Syndrome. Since then several studies as to the effect of different non-compatible blood types have been done. This has resulted in a new insight: Feline Neonatal Isoerythrolysis or in short F.N.I. What is F.N.I.? A new disease? Yes it is, but one you can not cure
with pills, potions, cremes or injections. What does it actually mean? F = Feline or cat N = Neonatal or newborn I = Isoerythrolysis the destruction of red blood corpuscles, which results in the death of the kitten. INTRODUCTION For example, how the different blood groups are divided over the human race: blood type A: 42 % We also know that with blood transfusions, only blood of the same type can be given, if not the red blood corpuscles dissolve and a life threatening situation arises. Besides the blood group (A,B,AB,O) another very important factor is what is called the Rhesus Factor. 85 % of the white human race has got this rhesus factor while 15 % does not. Not having this rhesus factor could have very significant consequences when e.g. the mother is Rh negative (has no rhesus factor) and the father is Rh positive. If the mother should get pregnant with a child having Rh positive blood and if somewhere during the pregnancy or childbirth some of the child's Rh positive blood gets into the bloodstream of the Rh negative mother, the mother's body will recognize the Rh factor as foreign and will form antibodies against it. During a following pregnancy of a Rh positive child, the mother's body will reject the child with a miscarriage or deformed child as a result. If the mother, however, is of a Rh positive blood type and the father a Rh negative, the problem does not arise. BLOODTYPES of CATS For the time being, this has lead to the following conclusions: - The passing on of blood types with
cats follows Mendel's laws of inheritance. Nb. the capital A does in no way refer to the A of Agouti and the capital B is not the B of black. | - The blood plasma of cats contains
natural antibodies against different blood types - With cats, so far, three blood types have been distinguished. Blood type A, which is formed through the following pair of genes: A/A or A/B where the A is dominant and suppresses the properties of B. Blood type AB is rare and little is known about it as yet. Note: AB is a totally different blood type than the combination A/B. Blood type B is formed through the B/B genes. When does incompatibility occur? 1.Blood transfusion after e.g an accident, operation etc. If the wrong blood type is used during the blood transfusion a fatal shock could occur (A donor / B receiver). Your vet will certainly have had previous experience with other animals. Most important, however is to remember that cats do not build up antibodies after first contact like most species (e.g. dogs), but have an inbuilt defence consisting of antibodies against the foreign blood type. 2.Pregnancy ?? Various opinions can be heard on the effects of incompatibility and what exactly happens during pregnancy. One publication states "that antibodies get into the fetus' or newborn's blood stream" while another proclaims "that when a mother cat with blood type B is pregnant with kittens type A, nothing will happen during pregnancy as the antibodies of the mother could never penetrate the placenta, which acts as a natural barrier. 3.Birth The first mother's milk (colostrum, foremilk) contains various antibodies to protect the kittens against infections and diseases, but it also contains, in case of incompatible blood types, antibodies against different blood types, which means that if mother and kittens have a different blood type, the kittens receive antibodies in the mother milk against their own blood type. We will only consider point 3 further, as that is our prime concern as breeders, and because that is the only situation we can actually do something about for the time being. How does it work this passing of
blood types?
Only the kittens marked ** will show signs of intolerance, that is when the mother cat has blood type B (= B/B) and her babies are of type A (A/A or A/B).or type AB (AB/AB or AB/B) As the above outline shows the stud plays no direct role in the reaction, except for fathering blood type A kittens. - What does this incompatibility reaction consist of? Because of the presence of anti-A-anitbodies in the colostrum of a type B cat during the first couple of days after birth, kittens receive through the colostrum antibodies against their own blood type. As a result the red corpuscles of these type A kittens are destroyed. This process is called F.N.I. How is F.N.I. diagnosed? The birth will, provided there are no other problems, just go as normal. The kittens suffering from F.N.I. will - die almost immediately after birth without outward sign of illness - will be very weak, showing no desire to drink - will drink less and less as days go by - will develop jaundice - will become anaemic etc.- some of these kittens survive but after a couple of weeks the tip of their tail might die off - some of these kittens drink and
grow up and will, sometimes, only develop a slight form of anaemia. Yes there is, at least if you know the tricks of the trade. 1. When breeding type A with type A, it would still be necessary to have the blood type of the offspring determined as a cat with type A could be pure A/A but also A/B. The latter type could cause problems with the offspring. B type kittens should be selected as for A type kittens it could be almost impossible to eliminate the recessive B (when of A/B type) out of the bloodline, it could be passed on for generations to come. Blood type B could be compared to, for example, a long hair factor . If we were living in the U.S.A., things would be so much simpler. A vet would simply order a RapidVet HF#105 at DMS by phone, fax or e-mail and this would enable him to determine the cat's blood group in just 2 to 3 minutes. However, In Europe, the knowledge on the different blood groups of cats is extremely limited and most vets do not know what to do. "Oh no, not again" is the reaction of my vet every time I bring up the subject. At least they now know it is possible to have your cat's blood type determined at E.V.L. in Woerden, and that is as far as their knowledge goes. *Note: addresses can be found at the end of the article. What European vets and universities seem to ignore is how wide spread the problem is and the rate it is spreading. American statistics and discussions on the BSH-list on Internet show the following percentage for blood type B cats (in the U.S.A.): 20% Abessynian 16% Burmese 59% British shorthair ( in the U.K. - 58,7%) 43% Devon Rex 20% Persian Colorpoints 24% Persian 15% Scottish Fold 22% Somalian To state the obvious, F.N.I. is not a contagious disease, so please do not panic and do not rush your blood type B stud to the vet for castration. He takes no part whatsoever in the ensuing effects, namely F.N.I. However, should a stud be imported from France to the Netherlands and afterward exported to the U.S.A. and provided he is in large demand, then you can imagine that the blood type B would be passed on to a large number of offspring, spread over three different countries. In England, the idea to eliminate the problem by putting all B type studs on the inactive register took hold. The underlying idea being, that if breeding with them was no longer be allowed, the problem would disappear in time. But what if, as in the U.S.A. 59% of cats are of type B and only 41% of A? Put all A's in the inactive register? 2. A BSH-breeder was once told by her vet when confronted with this problem: "it occasionally happens with pigs too and the only solution is to remove the piglets from the mother.." It may sound cruel to deprive your cat of her newborn babies, but remember it would be much and much worse if one kitten after another would die and she would be left with nothing to "mother". However she would only have to miss her kittens for a few days. After diagnosing the problem, in theory you could have - your cat's urine tested - the mother cat's blood type determined - the blood types of the kittens determined through the afterbirths. These are however still very much theoretical solutions as most vets are completely ignorant of the problem. And those who are not, where do they live? Can they do the tests themselves or do they have to send it to the university for analysis? How long does that take? And most important of all, how long do you have before the kittens die? The most effective and easy way to address the problem is to remove the kittens from the mother and keep them in a warm room, tucked in with a warm water bottle. Removing the kittens from the mother does have certain consequences. If and when the mother can, or better said, may not feed herself, you will have to find an alternative way of feeding them. - Maybe another nursing cat? That is not a very commendable solution as long as you do not know the blood type of the foster mother. It could be possible that this cat is also a type B cat with only type B kittens. It would only make the problem worse! (see also end of page;(** ) So,you will just have to do it yourself. For about 18 - 24 hours you will have to feed them every 2 hours, day and night. This may prove not to be as simple as it sounds, although using Lactol, K.M.R. could prove to be a help. Still, there are risks involved besides the burden of having to prepare the milk every two hours without lumps in it, to avoid the teat clogging up. If the hole in the teat is too big the kitten could choke and could get fluid in the lungs with all the subsequent problems . Previously another magazine suggested in an article about blood groups problems a very interesting solution: " artificial feeding, administered by your vet, using a feeding tube. Although "in theory" this would be a very good alternative, there are quite a few practical problems that arise. In the best case your vet at least has some knowledge of how to go about it, has the right kind of feeding-tubes at hand and is able to show you how to do it and mostly what to look out for. In any case, your vet should be able to tell you the maximum amount per feeding, which would limit the feeding visits to every 4 hours, up to six times a day. With a bit of luck, you could even stay at home in the middle of the night, but that all depends on your vet's experience with these matters. My vet lacks any experience whatsoever and regularly refers his clients to me when confronted with this problem (one time a doctor with a litter of 8 pups). The only sensible solution is to learn how to use the tube yourself, as is set out in the article on FEEDING TUBES. Please, do not panic. From
experience, I know (the first few days with my heart in my mouth)
that once you've learnt the ins and outs and you know how it works
it's really not too bad, although some "experienced"
breeders may accuse you of torturing your pets etc. If and when you
are able to feed the kittens with the tube yourself it might even
be possible to leave the kittens with the mother. By force-feeding
them with enough food, their little system is "rinsed"
and the antibodies contained in the mother milk have no change to
start their destructive work.
Tjerk Huisman ©1998 The rules for inheritance of blood types are probably more complex than those set out in this article. More information on this topic is unfortunately not available at this time.
Dr. Susan Little DVM, DABVP
(Feline), Addresses: European Veterinary Laboratories, AROVET A.G. |
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