Labrador Retriever Forum
Assuming the bitch has a usual 18-25 day cycle, what day, after you see the first sign of spoting, do you draw blood for the first progesterone test? Do you do a vaginal exam and culture -- if so, when is this done? And what is the purpose?
Once i see a show of blood i count out 5 days and do my first progesterone on day 5-6.
I do my first test on day 10. my current breeding it was the only one I did, bred her the next day. you must know your bitch line , most of my girls ovulate on day 10 . So the test for me is to confirm ovulation, not looking for it.
If I am doing a side by side, I do the same thing. Not necessarily Day 10 but when the discharge changes and the boys are interested. But if I am shipping semen, I usually test earlier to be sure to give the stud dog owner heads up for shipment. I can typically watch the discharge color and consistency and do the first test and get results around 3.5ng/mL. I usually call for semen to be sent that day or the next day (with Chill10) and retest 2 days later to confirm ovulation. The most I've ever had to test is three when a long weekend was involved and I knew I was testing early but wanted to be sure she wasn't spiking faster than normal.
Every bitch is different, but I have never seen a bitch go from baseline (1.0) to ovulation (5.0) in less than 4 days. It amazes me that vets will tell breeders to come back the next day or even in 2 days when the bitch is still at baseline.
The answer has to do with several things:
A, Do you get same day results or is it the next day?
B, What kind of breeding are you going to do, AI, surgical, etc,
C, Are you going to ship semen or not?
D, How old is your girl?
E, Fresh or chilled?
F, Are you going to be dealing with a W/E or holiday?
To answer your specific question, we could get same day results, normal with an hour or so, that gave us a day. We always did surgicals so our timing had to be specific. If you ship semen, again you give up a day. We found, generally speaking, the older the girl is, the later they ovulate.
Using the above info we tested anywhere from day 7 to day 10 with 8-9 being average.
Keep in mind, from L/H peak (2.0) you have 5 days.
A, Do you get same day results or is it the next day?
B, What kind of breeding are you going to do, AI, surgical, etc,
C, Are you going to ship semen or not?
D, How old is your girl?
E, Fresh or chilled?
F, Are you going to be dealing with a W/E or holiday?
To answer your specific question, we could get same day results, normal with an hour or so, that gave us a day. We always did surgicals so our timing had to be specific. If you ship semen, again you give up a day. We found, generally speaking, the older the girl is, the later they ovulate.
Using the above info we tested anywhere from day 7 to day 10 with 8-9 being average.
Keep in mind, from L/H peak (2.0) you have 5 days.
A. Results are next day
B. C. & E. AI - shipped chilled semen
D. 3 1/2 yrs - maiden
F. Probably not
I saw first spotting Sunday. I get blood sample collected by local vet and Fed Ex to repro vet who gets it the next morning - sends to Idexx with results that afternoon. Repro vet wants to do a vaginal exam & culture but I don't see purpose of that NOW that she's about to be bred. What helpful results will it show? I was going to get first sample today (day 4) but now plan to do it Friday (day 6). Test results will be in Saturday afternoon. Thoughts?
Wait for results, then decide when to check next. Not getting same day results is a real disadvantage. JMO of course, I cannot imagine a REAL repro vet not having their own testing equipment!
Actually you are correct, no point in doing a culture or exam at this point. If you were going to do that it needed to be done 1st day or so of here season. You would never get the results back on time. The only purpose would be to help make the payroll at the vets.
Before we started doing implants, we would start antibiotics and do a culture on day one or two (any vet can get this done) Once we got the culture back, it would tell us if we were using the correct antibiotic. With a surgical, you are bypassing the vaginal tract so none of that is necessary.
I prepare vaginal smears every day or every other day for the first 5-7 days. I take these to my veterinarian, who stains and preps the slides. We review together to see the progression towards cornification of the cells. When we are 80% cornfied, THAT is when we would draw the first progesterone
I have bitches who ovulate late--day 17 or 19--so not the "usual" 10-13 day window at all.
I have never had a miss in over 20 years from natrual or surgical implantation.
MWK
I prepare vaginal smear slides from day 5-7 or so every day for several days. Veterinarian and I evaluate the slides for percent cornification. When we are approaching 80% cornified, THEN we draw progesterone.
When I start preparing the slides depends on whether I have a history on the female.
In over 20 years I have never missed a natural breeding or a surgical implant.
MWK
