Vet360 Vol 4 Issue 4 August 2017 Vet 360 | Page 14

CPD ACCREDITED ARTICLE
an equal chance of any of the possible genotypes, so it is
impossible to predict the genotype or phenotype of the
kittens by the parents’ phenotype.
of passive immunity by the injection of adult feline serum;
5ml at birth and 12 and 24 hours after birth. The injections
were given sub-cutaneously or intra-peritonealy. The re-
sult of this study showed that 150 ml/kg (15 ml / 100g)
will successfully correct IgG deficiency of colostrums de-
prived kittens producing serum concentrations compara-
ble to those in kittens which nursed from birth to 6 weeks
of age.
Breeders, however are often selecting for physical charac-
teristics such as coat colour and conformation and want
to breed with an incompatible pair regardless. In this situ-
ation nursing from the queen is not allowed in the first 24
hours. This obstacle can be overcome if another cat of
blood group A is in lactation at the time of partus. The new
born kittens can be placed with a foster mother for the first
24 hours of life to allow intake of antibody rich milk and
thus receive IgG and transfer of passive immunity. Once
the capacity for the GIT to absorb large molecules has
waned (16 hrs) the kittens can be returned to their mother.
Peak serum IgG levels in nursing kittens ranged between
1080 – 2400 mg/dl and from 910 – 2400 mg/dl in kittens
receiving serum. Serum IgG concentrations gradually de-
clined to a nadir between 3-5 weeks and did not differ
between colostrums fed and serum treated kittens. The
minimum serum IgG needed to confer protection in kit-
tens is unknown but current recommendations in large
animals suggest a value of 400 – 800 mg/dl.
If the breeder has stores of serum it is feasible to give
some serum per os, but the volume required in the first
16 hours (10 -15 ml) exceed the stomach capacity of a
neonatal kitten.
Colostrum is generally thought to have higher concentra-
tions of antibodies than milk, but in felines the levels of
antibodies in milk is almost as high as that of colostrums
or serum.
The half-life of maternal IgG is 4.4 ± 3.6 days. Thus IgG
titres in neonates peak in the fist day and steadily decline
whereas IgM titres steadily increase from the first week of
life.
REFERENCES
Büchler J 1999 Fading Kitten syndrome and neonatal iso-
erythrolysis. VCNA: SA Vol 29 (4) pg 853 - 870
Griot-Wenk ME, Giger U. 1995. Feline Transfusion Medi-
cine: blood types and their clinical importance. VCNA: SA
Vol 25 (6) pg1305 – 1322
Giger U, Casal ML .1997 Feline Colostrum-friend or foe:
maternal antibodies in queens and kittens. J Repro Fert
Vol 51 pg 313 – 316
Levy JK, Cawford CP, Collante WR, Papich MG. 2001 Use
of adult cat serum to correct failure of passive transfer in
kittens. JAVMA. Vol 219 (10) pg 1401 – 1405
In the absence of another queen to allow them to suckle
the kittens can be fed milk replacer and transfer of immu-
nity can be accomplished by the parenteral supplemental
of adult cat serum.
Serum donors should be blood typed to prevent inadvert-
ent administration of type B serum to type A kittens. A
study was conducted to establish the viability of transfer
RapidVet ® -H (Feline A, B & AB) Instructions
for Instrumentation,
Use
Veterinary
of Diluent into the
n well. Dispense 1
od into the same well.
onds using a stirrer.
Diagnostic Equipment, Farm Related Products.
Dispense 1 drop of Diluent into each
remaining well.
Dispense 1 drop of patient blood into
the well marked Type A and dispense
one drop of patient blood into