Comparison of gel column agglutination with monoclonal antibodies and card agglutination methods for assessing the feline AB group system and a frequency study of feline blood types in northern Italy

A commercial gel column agglutination technique recently became available reported to have high sensitivity to detect type-AB cats. The objective of this study was to compare the gel column agglutination technique with a card agglutination method for feline blood typing, and to determine the frequency distribution of feline blood types in northern Italy. The findings confirm the card agglutination test has low sensitivity to identify AB-blood-type cats. When blood typing cats of breeds in which B and AB blood groups are frequent, it is advisable to use monoclonal antibody testing methods or confirm blood group B and AB test results with more sensitive supplementary methods. The blood type frequency distribution in this study was comparable to previous studies in Italy and worldwide demonstrating a predominance of blood type A in DSH cats.