Colostrum ~ Pawprints and Purrs, Inc.

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Colostrum

What is colostrum?

A kitten’s immune system doesn’t work properly until he is several weeks old. For the first few weeks of life a kitten can be at risk from infection. Nature helps to temporarily protect the young by transferring antibodies from the queen to her offspring through the colostrum. Colostrum is the "first milk" produced at the beginning of lactation. Antibodies are transported from the queen’s bloodstream into her milk glands. When her kittens suckle they absorb these antibodies through the gut, an event which is only possible in the first 16 hours of life. These maternal antibodies provide a passive resistance to infectious disease until the kitten’s immune system starts working for itself. In addition to containing antibodies, the colostrum is also very nutritious, helping to support the kittens through the vital early stages of life.

Are these antibodies always beneficial?

Not always. Under certain circumstances the maternal antibodies may inadvertently recognize the offspring’s red blood cells as foreign and will attack and destroy them. This causes a potentially fatal reaction known as hemolysis of the new-born or neonatal isoerythrolysis. This is probably one of the major causes of fading kitten syndrome.

How do I know if a reaction has occurred?

Kittens are born healthy because they haven’t yet been exposed to the antibodies. Once they have suckled, the kittens become ill and may suddenly die or develop brown urine and jaundice. The discolouration is caused by the breakdown of red blood cells. Other kittens at risk may not show obvious signs or may lose the tip of the tail when they are one or two weeks old. The difference may be due to the amount of colostrum/antibodies ingested.

Why do these reactions occur?

Cats have three known blood types: type A, type B or type AB. Type A is the most common in the domestic shorthair and pedigree cats. The frequency of type A and type B varies between geographic areas and breeds. Type A is dominant over type B. Type AB occurs very rarely but is separately inherited. Matings between two type B will always produce type B kittens. Depending on whether a type A cat carries the B gene, matings between type A or type B cats may result in type A offspring or type B offspring. Cats develop antibodies against the blood type they don’t possess. All type B cats produce very strong antibodies against type A red blood cells. These are known as naturally occurring anti-A isoantibodies. In contrast, type A cats only have weak anti-B isoantibodies and type AB have none. Only the strong anti-A isoantibodies of type B queens are important in cats. When these are passed on to type A or type AB kittens, they are absorbed from the colostrum and cause an acute incompatibility reaction.

How can I prevent the problem?

Laboratory testing is available through your veterinarian to establish the blood type of cats. Ideally, we should ensure that all type A queens are mated to type A toms, type B mated to B, and so. As long as indiscriminatory breeding is permitted, this will never be practical. Type B or AB new-born kittens can be removed from the queen at birth for the first 16 hours. During this period the kittens can be fostered by a lactating type A queen or they can be nursed with a commercial milk or colostrum replacer for the first 16 hours. Kittens deprived of colostrum should be reared in as hygienic an environment as possible and can be vaccinated from just a few weeks of age.

Page URL: http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/colostrum.html

Resource References:
Much, much appreciation to Dr. Raymond Van Lienden, DVM of Clifton, VA USA for his extensive research in locating the material found on this page. Thank you, dear Doctor!