The relationship between the feline coronavirus antibody titre and the age, breed, gender and health status of Australian cats

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between Feline Coronavirus (FCoV) antibody titres and age, breed, gender and health status of Australian cats

Design: Retrospective study

Procedure: Results from two serological tests that measure FCoV antibody levels, the Coronase test and the 7B Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) test, were recorded over a 2-year period, with patient signalment, history, presenting complaint and the reason for ordering the test (as available). Results from each antibody test were related to four explanatory variables (breed, age, gender and health status at the time of blood collection) using univariate ordinal logistic regression analyses, Mann Whitney U tests, one-sample sign tests or Kruskal-Wallis analyses, as appropriate.

Results: Results from 637 Coronase and 191 7B FIP antibody tests were recorded. There were significant differences in median Coronase antibody titres between breeds of cats (P < 0.0005). Specifically, the median Coronase antibody titres of Siamese, Persians, Domestic Shorthairs and Bengal cats (100) were significantly lower than that of British Shorthairs, Cornish Rex and Burmese cats (400, P < 0.0005). There was no statistical relationship between the Coronase or 7B FIP antibody titres and age, gender or overall health status, even when considering only those cats in which clinical signs suggestive of FIP were present.

Conclusion: This study reinforces the complexity of interpreting serological tests for FCoV in both healthy cats and patients with signs compatible with FIR Unique to this study is the detection of a significant relationship between breed and median FCoV antibody titre. This supports the theory that breed related differences exist in response to FCoV infection. The distribution of median Coronase antibody titres by breed was very similar to the pattern of breed predisposition to FIP recently reported in Sydney.