# BLOOD GROUPS in British Shortairs...again!



## Dozymoo (Feb 26, 2009)

Hi All,

The whole feline blood grouping thing is starting to confuse me a little bit. I was under the impression that mating a B female to an A or Ab male would result in neonatal isoerythrolysis in some or all of the kittens. However, a couple of breeders I have spoken to have said that they have NEVER had any problems putting a B girl to an Ab boy.

I have also found the below quote on one website referring to feline blood groups (the poor phrasing is not mine ) which has foxed me a bit.


> If one of the parents is A (Ab) and the other B (bb), the kittens will be statistically in 25% Ab (A blood group thus) and in 75% bb (B blood group). This is not that important for the kittens health if its the father who is Ab  if its the mother however, the Ab kittens will probably not survive.


Yet Dr. Addies sight states the following:


> (From an B queen and Ab stud mating) Half of the kittens are blood type A, and half are blood group B. Since the queen is blood type B, the type A kittens are at risk of neonatal isoerythrolysis. The blood group B kittens are safe.


So, can someone please explain this all of me? Is it safe to put a B girl to an Ab boy or not? 
If not then why are there such a surprising number of successful Ab stud boys around? Who uses them? 

This is so annoying. Just when you think youve got your head around something, it all becomes horribly confusing again! :

xx


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## Inge (Nov 27, 2008)

I can try..

A girl - you mate her with any bloodtype
B girl - B boys - A boys will be a risky combination, but if you do it, you have to feed the babies the first hours to prevent them from dying. 
you can use an ab boy to an A girl and it's safe.


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## messyhearts (Feb 6, 2009)

I think it is better to be safe than sorry. Breeders whom I have spoken to keep to just one blood group. Many may be okay but it may be luck!


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## Dozymoo (Feb 26, 2009)

Inge said:


> I can try..
> 
> A girl - you mate her with any bloodtype
> B girl - B boys - A boys will be a risky combination, but if you do it, you have to feed the babies the first hours to prevent them from dying.
> you can use an ab boy to an A girl and it's safe.


Thanks.  That's what I thought but this new info and the breeders have flumoxed me a bit. Particularly one person who has followed this prancipal for years with no problems. Out of interest, why are there so many Ab studs out there then if breeders should stay within their 'own' blood group? xx


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## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

I really don't know - but personally I wouldn't risk it. Do these breeders hand feed for the first 16 hours? If I had a B girl I would only put her to a B stud as I wouldn't want the risk of losing 1/2 the kittens.


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## Dozymoo (Feb 26, 2009)

spid said:


> I really don't know - but personally I wouldn't risk it. Do these breeders hand feed for the first 16 hours? If I had a B girl I would only put her to a B stud as I wouldn't want the risk of losing 1/2 the kittens.


No they don't hand feed. That's what confused me!
Like you say, I'm definately not going to risk it.  I wouldn't be able to live with it if anything went wrong. 
I was just wondering if anyone else had encountered this? 

Thanks for the advice guys. xx


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## Cerridwen (Jul 26, 2008)

First of all we have to be clear over the fact that there are 3 feline blood types: A, Ab and b.

Cats with blood type Ab actuarally have a blend of A-blood and b-blood and thus they don't produce any antibodies against either blood type (if they did they would destroy their own red blood cells). An Ab-female may therefor safely be bred with any stud.

However, it's possible that Ab-kittens with a b-mother will be affected by the antibodies she produce.

If we're talking about A/b-studs, A-studs carrying blood type b that is, you definately shouldn't breed him with a b-female unless you have the intention to hand feed the kittens for 24 hours. I know that some breeders have no problems breeding some b-queens with A-studs. A few b-queens actuarally only produce low antibody titres and therefor no problems with neonatal isoerythrolysis occur. However, this is very rare. It's far more likely that an A-kitten with a b-mother will suffer neonatal isoerythrolysis than that it won't. There's also the possibility that a b-female bred with an A/b-male only produce b-kittens and naturally there will be no problems with neonatal isoerythrolysis.

As for breeding an A/b-queen with an A/b-stud, there's absolutely no problems! A-cats only produce very low antibody titres against b-blood so b-kittens with an A-mother ARE NOT AT RISK. I know even Dr. Addie states that these kittens might be at risk but that's false. According to Dr. Urs Giger who's an expert on feline blood types these kittens are safe.

The only time hand feeding the kittens for 24 hours are required is when you've bred a b-female with a stud who isn't b. That's a very simple rule to remember. Remember: b-females are bred with b-studs and if not you hand feed.


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## Dozymoo (Feb 26, 2009)

Cerridwen said:


> First of all we have to be clear over the fact that there are 3 feline blood types: A, Ab and b.
> 
> Cats with blood type Ab actuarally have a blend of A-blood and b-blood and thus they don't produce any antibodies against either blood type (if they did they would destroy their own red blood cells). An Ab-female may therefor safely be bred with any stud.
> 
> ...


Now that's very interesting. I'll have to have a look into Dr. Giger's work more closely. Thank you very much for the breakdown too. Very informative. 

For now, we've found a lovely B stud boy for my girl. I'm getting very excited now. She's booked in for her snap test next week, and then she's off to her new boyfriends! 

xx


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