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There are two main blood groups in cats - A and B.
Most breeds of cats are of the A blood group but there are a few breeds
that have a 50/50 distribution of both groups.
These are British Shorthairs, Devon Rex and Exotics.
There has been further study and it has now been discovered
that 59% of British have the B Blood Group.
Group A has a dominant inheritance over B. However Group B cats possess very
effective antibodies against the red corpuscles of Group A.
Therefore when a B queen is mated to an A stud, the litter will be group A - they
will be born healthy but when they take and ingest the first milk (colostrum) and
therefore the antibodies of their mother, this will destroy their red corpuscles,
which leads to death.
BGI may have gone unnoticed by many breeders:
1.
Have you ever had queens that never seem to get into kitten, no matter how
many matings they have had ?
2. Queens that you are convinced are in kitten and then come into call again at
5-6 weeks.
3. A litter of kittens that have been a bit sickly since birth and, at 1-2 weeks old, the tips of their tails die and fall off.
4.
Whole litters die for no apparent reason ("Fading Kittens Syndrome")
Any of these circumstances could be attributable to BGI. What can we do to
prevent it ?
Essentially, avoid mating the wrong groups together and have all breeding stock
grouped. Owners of stud cats at public stud are providing a chargeable service,
therefore to prevent any unnecessary anguish and expense which could accrue, I
feel that these people have a moral obligation to have their stud blood grouped.
Once the blood groups of two cats have been identified, the following
circumstances should be followed for a successful mating:
1. Group B males can be bred to Group A and B females, without exception
2. Group A males can only be mated to Group A females.
3. Group B females can only be mated to Group B males.
4. Group A females can be mated, without exception to Group A and B males.
Obviously, when A/B matings of 1 and 4 above have taken place the resultant
kittens will be Group A but carrying B as recessive.
Therefore cats that are Ab, when mated together, can produce B kittens, hence
the reason why kittens kept for breeding programmes should always be blood
grouped.
Test kits are now available in the UK from a Company called Lab Pak Limited
(Tel No 01676 540022), although these can only be obtained via your veterinary
surgeon.
