Arlt Sebastian
Clinic for Animal Reproduction, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Reprod Domest Anim. 2018 Nov;53 Suppl 3:53-62. doi: 10.1111/rda.13352.
Ovulation timing in bitches is a routine procedure in small animal practice around the world. It is most frequently used for supporting breeding management, high-risk pregnancy monitoring and determination of the time of parturition. To learn more about how and for what reasons veterinarians interested in small animal reproduction perform canine ovulation timing, an online survey was conducted in 2017. The link to the survey was distributed via the mailing list cafereprod-l@list.cornell.edu and the website, the Twitter account and the Facebook page of EVSSAR. All respondents recommended using quantitative progesterone measurement for ovulation timing alone or in combination with other diagnostic tests. Vaginal cytology was also a commonly used technique. The 63 respondents followed different protocols for sampling and staining vaginal epithelial cells. Interestingly, 50 respondents used vaginal cytology routinely, but only two consider it as a very reliable and another nine as a somewhat reliable test if used alone. In a second project, delegates attending the EVSSAR congress held in Vienna, Austria, in June 2017 had the opportunity to examine seven stained vaginal smear slides under optical microscopy in a blinded approach. The results showed a marked heterogeneity in the identification of vaginal cells and assessment of the time in relation to ovulation. This heterogeneity supports the opinion of survey participants that vaginal cytology alone is not a valid tool for determining the day of ovulation. Results of both projects suggest that there is no standard procedure for the examination of vaginal smears in dogs. It is not recommended to determine the optimal time for mating based on the examination of a single vaginal smear only. According to some comments of survey participants, it is more useful to assess vaginal samples repeatedly and to use the findings to determine when to start progesterone measurement.
母犬排卵时间的确定是全球小动物医学实践中的一项常规操作。它最常用于辅助繁殖管理、高危妊娠监测以及分娩时间的确定。为了更深入了解对小动物繁殖感兴趣的兽医如何以及为何进行犬类排卵时间的确定，2017年开展了一项在线调查。调查问卷的链接通过邮件列表cafereprod-l@list.cornell.edu以及EVSSAR的网站、推特账号和脸书页面进行分发。所有受访者都推荐单独使用定量孕酮检测或与其他诊断测试相结合来确定排卵时间。阴道细胞学检查也是一种常用技术。63名受访者对阴道上皮细胞的采样和染色遵循不同的方案。有趣的是，50名受访者经常使用阴道细胞学检查，但只有两人认为其非常可靠，另外九人认为单独使用时在某种程度上可靠。在第二个项目中，参加2017年6月在奥地利维也纳举行的EVSSAR大会的代表们有机会以盲法在光学显微镜下检查七张染色的阴道涂片玻片。结果显示，在阴道细胞的识别以及与排卵相关时间的评估方面存在明显的异质性。这种异质性支持了调查参与者的观点，即单独的阴道细胞学检查不是确定排卵日的有效工具。两个项目的结果均表明，犬类阴道涂片检查没有标准程序。不建议仅根据单一阴道涂片的检查来确定最佳交配时间。根据调查参与者的一些评论，反复评估阴道样本并利用这些结果来确定何时开始进行孕酮检测更为有用。
