Has anyone heard of these test pads ?
Any comments on us or accuracy ?
Canine Ovulation Test Pads
-http://www.aleshaneeaustralianshepherds.com/LH_Surge_Strips_For_.html
Are these like the Novo Sticks I just bought from Nature's Farmacy? I plan to try these in addition to progesterone testing. Maybe I can reduce the # of progesterone tests!! I hope they work.
If they are anything like the strips sold in the Revival catalog, good luck. I tried those starting on about day 2 or 3 and did it every other day until my progesterone testing said she had ovulated. Could not tell any difference from one day to another. Complete waste in my experience.
This is from the Canine Cryobank, in San Marcos, CA:
The internet has myriad comments and advice on when to breed based on progesterone levels. It is very confusing. Unless the progesterone test kit has been verified with hundreds of actual breedings resulting in pups, the advice from the kit manufacturers or the the veterinary literature is not likely to be of help timing the breeding.
It seems some kit manufacturers use progesterone information from research sources as suggestions for interpreting their kits' results. These recommendations are not based on their kits use in the study. In other words, the test results from their kit may never have been tested in actual breedings.
A quick internet search reveals 31 different companies offering progesterone testing kits. Progesterone tests should be standardized but they are not. There are many types of progesterone tests and the sampling and handling techniques do make a big difference in reliability. Quality control of the progesterone test kits and machinery is necessary for reliable results.
During my search , I found a recall of one company's progesterone kits. How many inaccurate results were reported before someone noticed that the quality control failed ?
A potential problem lies with making the standards used to provide a curve from which the sample result is calculated. Standards are made by a series of dilutions. If dilutions are off due to mechanical or human error, your standards are compromised.
Another potential problem is verifying your standards....who do you check with? No wonder progesterone results vary so much.
We have compared progesterone test results recently and found differences ranging from 4ng to 10ng!
One bitch owner insisted on a surgical insemination with frozen semen based on their own vet's progesterone. We could not convince the owner to do another progesterone. To satisfy our curiosity, I paid for a progesterone test and blood was taken from catheter at time of surgery. Our kit read 10ng, the other test read 24ng. No surprise to us, the bitch did not get pregnant.
