Original Articles

A Survey of Feline Ab Group Blood Types in Israel (2007 to 2009)
Merbl, Y.,1 Hason, A.,1 Sethon, E.D.2 and Aroch, I.1
Koret School of Veterinary Medicine and Hebrew University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
P.O. box 12, Rehovot, 76100, Israel.
Israeli Companion Animal Blood Bank, Hebrew University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, P.O. Box 12, Rehovot, 76100, Israel
Corresponding author: Prof. Itamar Aroch, Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12,
Rehovot, 76100, Israel. Tel - 972-3-9688556, Fax - 972-3-9604079, E-mail: aroch@agri.huji.ac.il

ABSTRACTThe feline AB blood group system is the predominant feline blood group system. Feline blood typing is clinically important for prevention of neonatal isoerythrolysis and acute hemolytic transfusion
reactions. The distribution of feline blood types varies significantly in different districts and between
different cat breeds and is unknown in Israel. This retrospective study was designed to determine theprevalence of feline AB blood group types in cats presented to the Hebrew University Veterinary
Teaching Hospital and to the Israeli Animal Blood Bank. The study included 242 cats consisting of
100 ill-cat recipients of blood components and 142 blood donors. The frequency of blood types A, B
and AB in the present study was 72.7%, 14.5% and 12.8%, respectively. The frequency of blood type
AB is higher than previously published studies. This is especially surprising since most cats in thissurvey were of mixed breed. This study is the first survey of feline blood types in Israeli cats. The findings warrant a wider survey that will better represent the Israeli cat population, using several typing
methods. Nevertheless the present results have important implications in regards to feline transfusion
medicine in Israel. Cross matching of donor and recipient blood is imperative because of the highchances of incompatibility.
Key words: transfusion medicine, blood typing, blood groups, blood donors, cross matching, cat

INTRODUCTION
Feline AB system blood types have three distinct phenotypes;
A, B, and AB (1). The A and B phenotypes are inherited
through simple autosomal Mendelian genetics with the ‘a’ allele being dominant over the ‘b’ allele (2, 3). Thus, all blood
type-B cats are homozygous for the ‘b’ allele (genotype b/b),
while type-A cats can be either homozygous (genotype a/a)or heterozygous (genotype a/b). Blood type AB is not a resultof co-dominance of alleles ‘a’ and ‘b’, (4) and despite extensive
breeding studies and pedigree analysis, its mode of inheritance is still unclear, although it appears to be recessive toallele ‘a’ and dominant to allele ‘b’ (4, 5). An additional blood
Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine  Vol. 66 (2)  June 2011group system, the MIK system, has been described, with two
phenotypes, MIK(+) and MIK(-) (6).
In the feline AB blood system, the group antigens are
determined by sialic acid composition in gnagliosides on
the erythrocyte’s outer membrane. Type-A cats present nglycoly-neuraminic acid (NGN), while type-B cats present n-acetyl-neuraminic acid (NAN) in their membranous
gangliosides (7, 8). The enzyme cytidine monophospho-Nacetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase (CMAH) determines thesugar bound to the red cell by converting NAN to NGN (9).
Mutations in type-B cats likely disrupt the gene function of
CMAH, leading to a predominance of NAN. The a and b
CMAH alleles described can distinguish type-A and type-B
Feline blood types in Israel

21Original Articles

cats without blood sample collections (9). Blood type-A and fers markedly between geographic locations (Table 1). In ad-B cats have naturally-occurring isoantibodies against eryth- dition, the proportion of feline blood types differs markedly
rocyte surface antigens that they are negative for. It is the among other breeds (1). Blood type-AB has been reported tosialic acid moieties, NGN and NAN in the gangliosides that occur only in breeds in which blood type-B is relatively comhave the antigenic properties in blood types A and B, respec- mon (1). It has been detected in domestic shorthair (DSH)
tively. These naturally occurring isoantibodies are responsible and longhair (DLH) cats as well as in Abyssinian, Birman,
for complement activation and acute hemolytic transfusion British shorthair, Norwegian forest, Persian, Scottish fold,reactions, as well as neonatal isoerythrolysis (NI), due to in- Cornish and Devon Rex, Maine Coon, Manx, Ragdoll,
travascular or extravascular hemolysis (1). Most (70%) blood Sphynx, Bengal, Egyptian mau, Siberian, European, andtype-A cats have low titers of anti–B-type hemagglutinins Somali purebred cats. (1,5)
Blood typing of domestic cats has an important role inof the IgM class, as well as hemolysins, consisting of equalamounts of IgG and IgM. A minority (30%) of blood type-A clinical practice in prevention of severe transfusion reactions
cats receiving blood type-B blood, will have severe hemolytic from whole blood, packed cells and plasma transfusions. In
reactions due to high hemolysins levels (10). In contrast, all addition, feline blood typing has an important role in breedblood type-B cats have high titers of both anti-A-type he- ing of cats, especially in breeds in which the prevalence ofmagglutinins and hemolysins, mostly of the IgM class, with blood type-B is relatively high. Typing is necessary to prevent
lesser IgG amounts (11, 12). Thus, transfusion of as little as neonatal isoerythrolysis (NI), which occurs when a blood
1 ml of type-A blood to a blood type-B cat can lead to an type-B queen is bred with a blood type-A male, resulting inacute, potentially fatal transfusion(10). Blood type-AB cats do not Table 1: Prevalence of feline AB blood types of non pedigree cats in different surveys
possess isoantibodies against eiBlood type prevalence
Country
Number ofReferencether A or B antigens, however, this(%)
Reference (year)ofsurveycats
included
numberblood should not be transfused toABABtype-A or –B cats, because it will
73.3 26.3
0.4
1895
Auer & Bell (1981)
4
Australia
induce an acute hemolytic trans62.0 36.0
1.6
355
Malik et al. (2005)
17
fusion. Type-AB cats should be97
30
Austria
101
Giger et al. (1992)
18
transfused with AB blood, or if
97.1
2.9
0
England477
Holmes (1950)
22
1
87.1
7.9
5.0
139
unavailable, washed A-type erythUK
Knottenbelt (1999)
24
54.6 40.1
5.3
2072
rocytes can be transfused, to avoid
100
00
Finland
61
Giger et al. (1992)18
as much as possible even a minor
94
6
0
600
Giger
et
al.
(1992)
18
reaction (1).
92.6
6.7
0.7 Germany
868
Blood type-A is the most comHaarer & Grunbaum (1993)
32
94.1
5.9
0.0
4041
mon blood type identified in stud95.8
3.1
1.1 Holland
95
Giger et al. (1992)18
ied cat populations worldwide.
88.8 11.2
0
Italy
401
Giger et al. (1992)
18
Blood type-B is less common and
89.3
4.4
6.3 Portugal
159
Silvestre-Ferreira et al. (2004)23
type-AB has been reported to78.3 20.3
1.4 Greece
207
Mylonakis et al. (2001)16
be even less common than type72.8 25.0
2.2 Turkey
312
Gurkan et al. (2005)
19
27
B blood and in some surveys it
89.3
1
9.7 Japan
299
Ejima et al. (1986)
was extremely rare (1). In all past
97.1
2.9
0
Scotland70
Giger et al. (1992)18
surveys, Siamese and related cat
87.6
8
4.4 Switzerland
1014
Hubler et al. (1993)31
85.1 14.9
0France350
Eyquem et al. (1962)20
breeds were found to have type99.7
0.3
0
1072
Giger et al. (1989)30
A blood, exclusively (1). The proUSA
98.1
1.7
0.1
3785
Giger
et
al.
(1991)
25
portion of blood types -A and -B
3
72.7
14.5
12.8
Israel
242
Merbl
et
al.
(2011)
in domestic shorthair (DSH) anddomestic longhair cats (DLH) dif- 1, non-pedigree cats only; 2, pedigree cats only; 3, this refers to the present survey

22

Merbl

Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine  Vol. 66 (2)  June 2011

Original Articles

acute hemolysis in the kittens, which often leads to considerable mortality. NI is an important factor, among others, inwhat is known as ‘fading kitten syndrome’ (13).
The cat population in Israel has changed considerably
in the last decades due to newly introduced cat breeds thatwere extremely rare in the country, by immigrants from theformer Soviet Union, as well as commercial importation ofcats (I. Aroch, personal communication). A survey of feline
blood types in Israel has never been reported. Knowledge ofthe prevalence of feline blood types is important for management and recruitment of donor cats in veterinary bloodbanks in the country. Knowledge of the prevalence of feline
blood types in the cat population might reduce the chancesof transfusion reactions if blood typing and cross matching
cannot be made. For example, because all Siamese and related cat-breeds worldwide have only blood type-A, there isno need to determine their blood type if both the donor andthe recipient are Siamese-related.
The purpose of this retrospective survey was to determine the prevalence of feline blood types in ill cats presented to the Hebrew University Veterinary Teaching Hospital(HUVTH) and blood donor cats from the Israeli Animal
Blood Bank (IABB), and to assess their prevalence in several
districts in Israel.

tion in the recipient’s own blood (Figure 1). In the event of
auto-agglutination in the control sample, a second test was
performed using donor’s erythrocytes, washed three times insaline. For erythrocytes washing, the recipient blood sample
was centrifuged, and the plasma separated. One milliliter ofsaline was added to the packed cells (making approximately a
5% suspension of erythrocytes), gently stirred, resuspended,incubated for five minutes and then the sample was centrifuged at 1000g for five minutes and the supernatant was separated. This procedure was repeated twice (15).

Statistical analysis
The association between blood type and other categoricalvariables (i.e., sex, breed and cat sub populations [i.e., donors
and recipients]) were determined using Pearson’s chi-squareor Fisher’s exact tests. For assessment of prevalence differences between different districts in Israel, cats were divided into
eight different districts. In all tests, P value ≤0.05 was considered significant. All analyses were performed using statistical

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Animals and study design
The medical records of cats presented to the HUVTH andof donor cats of the IABB from 2007 to 2009, were retrieved.
Ill cats were included in the present study if their medical
records were complete and their AB system blood type wasdefinitely determined. Data retrieved from the medical records included the geographic district location, blood type,sex, neutering status and breed.

Laboratory methods
Blood type was determined in the HUVTH Diagnostic
Laboratory from blood collected in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) tubes using a commercial kit (Gel test feline A+B Typing, DiaMed, Cressier, Switzerland) (14). The
test is based on monoclonal anti-A and anti-B antibodies agglutinating sera that are mixed with the tested blood sample
in separate test tubes. The kit also includes a negative control
containing no antibodies in order to detect auto-agglutinaIsrael Journal of Veterinary Medicine  Vol. 66 (2)  June 2011

Figure 1: The Gel test feline A+B typing kit (Diamed, Switzerland)
used for blood typing in this study.
The blood typing kit includes 6 test tubes used to classify
blood types of 2 cats. Note that both blood samples types inthis figure are blood type A. Strong agglutination is noted in
the test tubes containing anti-A antisera. Agglutination isseen as the marked red line on the gel surface. The test tube
containing anti-B antisera did not show agglutination andthus this marked red line is absent. The control test tube has
no antibodies and is used to rule out autoaggutination in
the recipient’s own blood. When agglutination is absent, theerythrocytes sink to the bottom of the test tube as seen in the B
and control (ctl) test tubes.
Feline blood types in Israel

23Original Articles

Table 3: Geographic distribution and proportions of blood types of 242 cats included in
the present survey

software (SPSS 17, SPSS Inc.,
Chicago, IL, USA).
RESULTSThis study included 242 cats,of which 100 (41.3% of all cats;
51 males and 49 females) wereill cats that were transfusedwith blood products, and 142
blood donors (58.7% of all cats;
94 males, 37 females and 11 inwhich the sex was not recorded). Of 231 cats in which sex
was recorded, there were 62.8%
males and 37.2% females.
Most cats were DSH,DLH or crosses of these withother breeds (e.g., Persian andSiamese). The remaining cat
breeds are presented in table
2. The percentage of DSH,DLH and their crosses (i.e.,
mixed breed) was significantly
higher (P = 0.0005) in the donors group [134 mixed breed
cats (94.4%) and 8 pure breed

Blood type n (%)
A
BAB

Cat population

Districtn (%)

Hospitalized bloodrecipientsTel Aviv
Rehovot
Jerusalem
Ramla
Ashkelon
Petah-Tikwa
HaderaHaifa
All cats

42 (42)21 (21)16 (16)
9 (9)
4 (4)
4 (4)
2 (2)
2 (2)
100 (100)75(75.0)

Rehovot
Petah-Tikwa
Ramla
Haifa
Tel Aviv
All cats

82 (60.3)
21 (15.4)
16 (11.8)
11 (8.1)
6 (4.4)136 (100)

101(71.1)

21(14.8)

20(14.1)

Rehovot
Tel Aviv
Ramla
Petah-Tikwa
Jerusalem
Haifa
Ashkelon
HaderaAll cats

103 (44)48 (20)25 (11)25 (11)16 (7)
13 (5)4 (2)2 (1)236 (100)

176(72.7)

35(14.5)

31(12.8)

Blood donors*

All cats

14(14.0)

P value

11(11.0)
0.75* Geographic origin was determined in 136 of 142 donor cats

Table 2: Proportions of breeds of 242 Israeli cats includedin the present survey
Cat breed
DSH1, DLH2 and mixed
PersianRussian blue
Himalayan
Siberian
Scottish fold
AngoraBrandon exotic
Siamese
Total

Number of cats

Proportion (%)

213
15
5
3
2
1
1
1
1
242

88
6.2
2.1
1.2
0.8
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.4
100

1, domestic shorthair; 2 domestic longhair

24

Merbl

(0.06%) vs. 79 (79%) and 21 (21%), respectively] comparedto the ill cats group.
Most cats in the present study (n = 176, 72.7%) had
blood type-A. Blood types -B and -AB were recorded in 35(14.5%) and 31 (12.8%) cats, respectively. There was no difference (P = 0.75) in the proportion of blood types between
blood donors and recipients (Table 3) or between males andfemales (P = 0.2, data not shown). No acute hemolytic transfusion reactions or other reactions were recorded throughout
the study period, although donor and recipient blood werecross-matched only in a small number of cases.
The present study included a small population of pure
breed cats. The small numbers precluded a comparative analysis of breed distribution except in the Persian and Russian
blue cats. All other purebred animals were considered a single group. There was a significant (P = 0.01) difference inIsrael Journal of Veterinary Medicine  Vol. 66 (2)  June 2011

Original Articles

the proportions of blood types between all pure-breed catscombined compared to mixed-breed cats. Blood type-A wasrecorded in 69% and 96.6% of the mixed-breed (i.e., DSH,DLH and crosses) cats and pure-breed cats, respectively. Blood type-B was recorded in 16% and 3.4% of mixedbreed and pure-breed cats, respectively. Blood type-AB wasrecorded in 14.5% and 0% of mixed-breed and pure-breedcats, respectively. (Table 4) Persians and Russian blue cats
all had blood type-A in this study. Persian cats had a significantly (P=0.0114) higher proportion of blood type-A compared to the DSH/DLH/mixed breed group (15/15, 100%
vs. 148/213, 69%, respectively). There was no association
between gender and blood type distribution.
The geographic location was recorded in 236 of 242 cats.
Most cats were from the Rehovot and Tel Aviv districts (44%and 20%, respectively, Table 4). There were significant (P =0.02) differences in the proportions of feline AB system blood
types in different districts in Israel (Table 5). The proportion of blood type-B was significantly higher in Petah-Tikwa(32%) than in the Tel Aviv and Rehovot districts (8.3% and9.7%, respectively). However, blood type-A was the most frequent in all the districts represented in this study.

DISCUSSION

The study included two different populations, donors, andill cat recipients. Mixed breeds (i.e., DSH and DLH) which
could be considered as ‘local’ breeds were significantly morecommon in the donor population compared to the transfused cat population. Because most donors originated froma small area in Rehovot, this might have had an influence on
the prevalence of blood types in the study, as this population
was probably genetically related. In contrast, a genetic linkamong the recipient cats is highly unlikely. The latter weremainly from Tel Aviv and Rehovot due to the HUVTH location, in proximity to these cities.
Previous surveys conducted in several countries, and thisstudy detected a prevalence to blood type-A (1, 3, 16-23).
The proportion of type-A blood is relatively low in Israel
and those of blood types-B and -AB are relatively high ascompared to the other population studies. If these results are
representative of blood type prevalence in the Israeli cat population they are remarkably different from other cat populations studied as the proportion of blood type-AB is the highest described to date in the literature (Table 1). In a UnitedStates report of 1072 mixed breed (i.e., DSH and DLH cats)
99.7% had blood type-A, while the prevalence of blood typeB was only 0.03%, and none of these cats had blood type-AB
Table 4: Feline AB-group blood types prevalence in mixed- (3). Studies conducted in England (n = 139), Greece (n =and pure- breed cats in Israel207) and Australia (n = 187) described a lower prevalence ofPure breeds
Mixed breeds1
blood type-A, and higher prevalence of blood type-B (7.9%,
Blood type
Number%Number
%20.3% and 26.3%, respectively) as well as a blood type-AB (5of catsof catsof catsof cats%, 1.4% and 0.4%, respectively) (16, 17, 21). The prevalence
A
148
69.5
28
96.6
of blood type-AB has been reported to be higher in breeds in
AB
31
14.5
0
0
which the prevalence of blood type-B is relatively high, which
B
34
16
1
3. 4
are mainly certain pure breed cats (e.g., Cornish and Devon
Total
213
100
29
100
Rex, Persian and British shorthair) (24).
When the blood types distribution in mixed breed cats
1, Domestic shorthair and longhair and their crosses(i.e., DSH, DLH and their crosses)
Table 5: Distribution of feline AB blood types in different districts of Israeli cats
was compared to that of the pure
breed cats (Persian and Russian blue
Blood type
A
B
AB
Total
District
n (%)
n (%)
n (%)
n (%)
P value1
cats excluded), the mixed breeds had
a lower proportion of blood typeRehovot77 (74.8)
10 (9.7)
16 (15.5)
103 (100)A, and higher proportion of blood
Tel-Aviv
35 (72.9)
4 (8.3)9 (18.8)
48 (100)
Ramla
20 (80.0)
3 (12.0)
2 (8.0)25 (100)
types -B and -AB. These results dif0.02
Petah-Tikwa
15 (60.0)
8 (32.0)
2 (8.0)25 (100)
fer from previous studies (15, 16,
Other regions
23 (65.7)
10 (28.6)
2 (5.7)35 (100)
20). Moreover, in the pure breed cats
All cats
170 (72.0)
35 (14.8)
31 (13.1)
236 (100)no blood type-AB cats were identified. It should be noted though, that
1, Analysis showed that there are significant differences in AB blood types proportions between districts
Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine  Vol. 66 (2)  June 2011

Feline blood types in Israel

25Original Articles

this group included Siamese cats that have been shown to be
blood type-A in all previous studies (25, 26).
There are several possible explanations for the unexpectedly high proportion of blood type-AB in Israeli cats. Most
Israeli cats, whether indoor or outdoor cats, are DSH andDLH and their crosses with other breeds. Many are actuallystray cats, adopted by their owners. Israel is a relatively small
country and is separated from its neighboring countries either by natural geographic barriers (i.e., the Negev desert in
the south, the Jordan River in the east and the Mediterranean
Sea in the west) or man-built barriers (i.e., fences and minefields in the northern borders with Lebanon and Syria).
These barriers prevent movement of stray cats into and outof Israel. In a sense, the Israeli cat population is isolated fromother domestic cats in the neighboring countries. These circumstances have been present for decades and may have led
to inbreeding in Israeli cats over the years, especially since thenorthern borders were fortified. Israel’s situation is somewhat
similar to that of an island, such as Japan, in which a surveyof cats also revealed a high prevalence of blood type-AB (27).
Genetic drift of both these two rather isolated populations,combined with inbreeding, potentially might explain thesesimilar results. In addition, most cats in the present study
originated from Central Israel, a fact that might have evenincreased this effect. Third, introduction of pure breed catsin Israel over the last decade probably had little effect on thelocal stray cat population, because pure breed cats, especiallypedigree cats, are mostly indoor cats and are not bred withlocal DSH/DLH cats.
Another possible explanation for these results is a highrate of false results due to consistently erroneous interpretation of blood typing results in the HUVTH laboratory, leading to over representation of blood type-AB in our results.
We believe that this is extremely unlikely for several reasons.
Firstly, typing was only done by two experienced laboratory technicians, who are familiar with the typing procedure.
Secondly, this particular commercial kit has been previously
used and evaluated and has been reported to be reliable ina study comparing several different typing methods in cats(14). Thirdly, ill cats included in the present study were transfused with blood products, based on the present typing results, while cross-matching was performed in a limited number of cases. No acute transfusion reactions or other reactions
were observed in any of these cats following blood component therapy. Typing errors would have led to some acute

26

Merbl

transfusion reactions. If type-B blood or plasma is erroneously transfused to a blood type-A cat, both an acute minor
reaction (i.e. anti-A type isoantibodies lead to hemolysis ofrecipient erythrocytes) and a major reaction (i.e. anti-B typeisoantibodies lead to hemolysis of the donor erythrocytes)
occur. The same is true if type-A blood is erroneously transfused to a blood type-B cat (15, 28, 29). There is every reason
to believe that type-AB blood transfused to a type-B cat willlead to an acute major reaction and hemolysis, because typeAB erythrocytes agglutinate with both type-A and type-B
sera (15), although the severity of such a reaction will depend on the antibody titer in the type-B cat and the percentage of the erythrocytes in the donor that present NGN on
their surface. A previous study in Turkey has estimated thatthe transfusion of type-A or type-AB blood to type-B catscarries a potential risk of transfusion reactions that are acuteand severe in 6.4% and mild clinical reactions in 85.9% of recipients (19). In such a case, the major reaction is severe andpotentially fatal. Even in cases when type-A blood is transfused to a blood type-AB cat, although type-AB cats have nonaturally occurring isoantibodies, a significant minor reaction
might occur, because such antibodies adhere to the surfaceof the donor's erythrocytes. Thus, since no acute transfusion
reactions were presently recorded, we conclude that no major
typing errors had occurred, although the possibility that minor reactions did occur that have led to decreased life span ofthe donated erythrocytes later on should not be overlooked,
because follow-up of the recipients was limited to their hospitalization period. The possibility that the same blood typing error has consistently occurred in all cases, both for therecipient and its donor cat, is highly unlikely. However, thepresent surprising and unprecedented results warrant a future wider survey with representation of different geographic
regions in Israel, using several blood typing methods and a
genetic molecular study of Israeli blood type-AB cats.
A previous study in U.S. that included Persian cats (3)reported a blood type-B prevalence of 25% in this breed,
whereas all Persian cats had blood type-A in this study. The
origin of the Persian cat population in Israel is uncertain andcats that are considered as Persians might actually include
crosses of Persians with DLH cats. This is in contrast to the
U.S. where cats that were classified as Persians in similar surveys were likely to be pedigree cats of pure ancestry. This difference between the present results and previous findings
warrants further studies. The number of Russian blue cats in
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Original Articles

this study was limited, however, in agreement with previous
studies, all had blood type-A (25, 26).
The present study has shown that there is significant
blood type distribution difference between cats from different districts within Israel, even when districts are near to eachother. For example, in Petah-Tikwa, the proportion of blood
type-B was 32% and was significantly higher than in the Tel
Aviv and Rehovot populations, with proportions of 8.3% and9.7%, respectively. These districts are within a 50 km radius
and the results suggest that one cannot extrapolate the distribution of feline blood types of cats between districts.
The present results highlight the need to type cats prior
to transfusion of blood components and since these results
differ substantially from the literature, extrapolation fromother studies would be unwise. When blood typing is impossible, cross matching should be done before transfusion.
If typing or cross matching is not done, our results show thatthe risk of an acute, potentially life-threatening transfusion
reaction should be seriously considered against the potential
benefit of the transfusion. Based on the present findings, theprobability of transfusing a wrong blood type in Israel, whenboth the donor’s and recipient’s blood types are unknown, is43.4%, which is extremely high. Based on our study, the riskof erroneously transfusing type-A blood to a type-B recipient cat in Israel is 14.5%. This means that there is a 14.5%
chance of inducing an acute severe, potentially fatal hemolytic
reaction. If a blood type-AB cat receives type-A blood, theminor reaction should also be considered, although such latter reactions have never been reported previously in the veterinary literature. In Israel, our results suggest that the probability of erroneously transfusing type-A blood to a blood
type-AB cat is 12.8%. Nevertheless, one should bear in mind
that transfusion of the wrong blood type, even if it results ina minor adverse transfusion reaction, might prove to be withserious deleterious consequences when administered to an ill,anemic cat. It might complicate the recipient’s condition andadversely affect morbidity and mortality.
Since routine blood typing of donor and recipient cats atthe HUVTH has begun only from mid 2007, the numberof cats in in this study is limited. The majority of the present
donor cats is from a specific area in Rehovot, and comprised
mainly of DSH and DLH cats. Since there were no significant blood type prevalence differences between donor andrecipient cats, and these two populations are genetically un-

Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine  Vol. 66 (2)  June 2011

related, the present AB-blood group prevalence cannot be asole result of inbreeding within the donor population.
Nonetheless, due to the limited number of cats, the present study should be regarded as a preliminary survey of blood
types in Israeli cats. The results need to be verified by larger
numbers of cats, different methodologies (i.e. different commercial reagents, back-typing, especially of type-AB cats andgenetic analysis) and additional as well as a larger number ofgeographic regions within Israel.
In conclusion, this is the first survey of feline blood types
in Israel. The present results particularly show an unexpectedly high proportion of blood type-AB, which is the highest
ever recorded in any previous survey worldwide. This is surprising, especially because most cats presently included were
DSH, DLH and mixed breed, in which the proportion ofblood types-B and -AB is usually low. There were variationsin the blood type distribution among different districts. The
present results warrant performing a future wider survey, thatshould include cats from all parts of Israel, and blood typing
should be done using several different methods.
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Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine  Vol. 66 (2)  June 2011