RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS OF THE 28th ECVIM-CA CONGRESS

In domestic cats, the AB blood group system consists of the three types A, B and C (also called AB), which vary in frequency among breeds and geographic regions. Mismatches cause acute hemolytic transfusion reactions and neonatal isoerythrolysis. The cytidine monophosphate‐N‐acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase (CMAH) is converting the N‐acetylneuraminic acid (type B) to N‐glycolylneuraminic acid (type A), and type C erythrocytes express both antigens. Sixteen variants in the CMAH gene were described to be associated with type B in different breeds, but in some breeds such as Ragdoll, Siberian and Turkish Angora, those variants did not correlate well with the phenotype.