Determination of the prevalence of feline blood types in the UK

The efficacy and diagnostic accuracy of a new desk-top feline blood typing kit was evaluated by comparing the results of the kit with traditional bloo d typing methods on 35 feline blood samples. The kit was then used to blood type 139 non-pedigree cats from Scotland and the north of England and 207 pedigree cats from throughout the Ok, Of the non-pedigree cats, 87.1 per ce nt were type A, 7.9 per cent were type B and 5.0 per cent were type BE, whi le of the pedigree cats, 54.6 per cent were type A, 40.1 per cent were type B and 5.3 per cent were type AB, The majority (121 out of 207) of these pe digree cats were British shorthaired, of which 39.7 per cent were type A, 5 8.7 per cent were type B and 1.6 per cent were type AB, No cats were identi fied that failed to express the type A and/or type B antigens, The prevalen ce of type AB cats appears to be higher in this study than previously repor ted. The prevalence of blood types within specific pedigree breeds in the U h appears to vary from that reported elsewhere.