Department of Biomolecular Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht, 3584 CL Utrecht, The Netherlands
Tadeusz Frymus
Department of Small Animal Diseases with Clinic, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Katrin Hartmann
Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany
Karin Möstl
Institute of Virology, Department for Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
Diane D. Addie
Maison Zabal, 64470 Etchebar, France
Sándor Belák
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health (BVF), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), P.O. Box 7036, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Corine Boucraut-Baralon
Scanelis Laboratory, 31770 Colomiers, France
Regina Hofmann-Lehmann
Clinical Laboratory, Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Maria Grazia Pennisi
Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Università di Messina, 98168 Messina, Italy
Séverine Tasker
Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
Etienne Thiry
Veterinary Virology and Animal Viral Diseases, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, FARAH Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Liège University, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
Uwe Truyen
Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Margaret J. Hosie
MRC—University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK
Vaccines protect cats from serious diseases by inducing antibodies and cellular immune responses. Primary vaccinations and boosters are given according to vaccination guidelines provided by industry and veterinary organizations, based on minimal duration of immunity (DOI). For certain diseases, particularly feline panleukopenia, antibody titres correlate with protection. For feline calicivirus and feline herpesvirus, a similar correlation is absent, or less clear. In this review, the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD) presents current knowledge and expert opinion on the use of antibody testing in different situations. Antibody testing can be performed either in diagnostic laboratories, or in veterinary practice using point of care (POC) tests, and can be applied for several purposes, such as to provide evidence that a successful immune response was induced following vaccination. In adult cats, antibody test results can inform the appropriate re-vaccination interval. In shelters, antibody testing can support the control of FPV outbreaks by identifying potentially unprotected cats. Antibody testing has also been proposed to support decisions on optimal vaccination schedules for the individual kitten. However, such testing is still expensive and it is considered impractical to monitor the decline of maternally derived antibodies.
