Non-surgical intrauterine artificial insemination in bitches using frozen semen.

A total of 46 bitches were inseminated directly into the uterus using non-surgical insemination procedures; the technique used in six bitches involved specially designed metal catheters and abdominal fixation of the cervix, whereas the remainder were inseminated by passing a flexible plastic catheter through the cervix using direct endoscopic visualization to facilitate the process. Twenty-seven bitches were inseminated with semen frozen at the clinic; the remainder were inseminated with imported semen. Insemination timing was based on endoscopic assessment of the vaginal mucosa, vaginal cytology and blood progesterone concentration determined using a rapid, qualitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Each bitch received between 50 x 10(6) and 200 x 10(6) total spermatozoa per insemination; post-thaw motility varied from 10 to 80%. Two inseminations were performed 48 h apart in the majority of bitches. An overall pregnancy rate of 80% (37/46) was obtained with a mean litter size of 5 +/- 3.14. Subsequent pregnancy rates were comparable for both techniques and both were considered to be effective methods of inseminating frozen semen. Considerably fewer spermatozoa were inseminated in many of these bitches than have previously been reported. In a series of seven bitches using the semen from one dog, each bitch received two inseminations of 30-35 x 10(6) live normal spermatozoa per insemination. A pregnancy rate of 85% (6/7) and a mean litter size of 7.8 was achieved. Rapid ELISA progesterone kits were used to identify the optimum time for insemination.