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Q. What is
artificial insemination?
A. There are 2 methods of
insemination performed at Sandy Animal Clinic. They are vaginal
insemination and surgical insemination. Vaginal insemination is
performed using either fresh semen or fresh chilled semen and involves
depositing the semen into the vagina in the area of the cervix.
Surgical insemination involves fresh semen, chilled or frozen semen.
With surgical insemination your pet is anesthetized and the semen is
put directly into the uterus. This is where the eggs are located and
increases the chance of a successful breeding.
Q. What is
the benefit of artificial insemination?
A. Statistically, artificial
surgical insemination has 90% chance of yielding a litter of puppies,
vaginal insemination in 77% effective, and natural breeding produces a
litter 70% of the time. Also, when effective surgical insemination is
more likely to yield at least 1 more pup as compared to natural breeding
since the semen is inserted directly into the uterus where the eggs are
located. However, prior to performing a surgical insemination analyzing
vaginal smears and testing progesterone levels are essential to
determine when ovulation is achieved.
Also, artificial
insemination may be necessary depending conformation breed the bitch, if
a vaginal stricture is present or the male is unable to penetrate.
Bulldogs have been bred to the point that the male is physically unable
to penetrate the female and artificial insemination is always required.
With some breeding pairs the female may not be receptive of the male or
the size discrepancy between the two may make it impossible for male to
mate with the female. Another complication involves a male with a lower
than normal sperm count that greatly reduces the success of a natural
mating.
Feel free to discuss with
our staff the different methods of insemination to determine what will
be best for your pet.
Q. How is
the semen from the stud prepared?
A. The most common ways semen
is prepared for artificial inseminations are fresh semen, chilled, or
frozen semen. When using fresh semen both the male and the female need
to be on site for this procedure to be performed. If semen is being
shipped to a different location then either chilled or frozen semen is
used.
With any of the methods
described above when the semen is collected it is evaluated immediately
after collection. Depending on the quality of semen then a buffer is
added to protect the sperm for the artificial insemination. Fresh semen
is typically viable for 4-7 days. Fresh chilled semen is viable for
48-72 hours and frozen semen the lifespan is only 12-24 hours. Viewing
the times of viability makes the optimal timing all the more important.
With the different methods the window of opportunity becomes smaller.
Q. How do
I know when to bring my female in for the artificial insemination?
Due to the unpredictable
nature of breeding, timing for the procedure may seem complex and
confusing. We typically like to see the bitch five to seven days after
she starts bleeding to perform the first vaginal smear. After this
sample is collected, the Doctor will advise you on what needs to be done
next in timing your female’s ovulation. This typically involves bringing
your dog in for subsequent vaginal smears and progesterone tests. It is
essential that you are as prepared as possible once at this stage of
preparation. Having a proven male lined up or having semen prepared
correctly to be shipped to us is very important.
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This client information sheet is based
on material written by Ernest E. Ward Jr., DVM
© Copyright 2002 Lifelearn Inc.
Used with permission under license.
TIME \@ "MMMM d, yyyy" March 3, 2010.
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