A vaginal cytology is an evaluation commonly done.
For many years, this was our only practical tool with which to time breedings.
The cells seen at the ideal time for breeding are a high percentage of cornified epithelial cells, with few red blood cells (RBC's), white blood cells (WBC's) or debris..
Breeding with fresh semen, by either natural breeding or vaginal AI with fresh semen, can be done on the day of ovulation, when the progesterone level reaches 5 ng/ml.
Although the eggs are not mature yet, most fresh semen is viable enough to survive in the bitch's reproductive tract until the eggs are ready..
Cytology is often used to diagnose growths or masses (tumors) found on the surface of the body, but can also be used to assess bodily fluids, internal organs (e.g., liver, lung, lymph nodes, kidney), and abnormal fluids that may accumulate, especially in the chest and abdomen..
To get a deeper insight into the use of cytology in practice, an online survey was distributed to veterinarians interested in small animal reproduction
Participants were asked to define eight cells and answer questions
The agreement of the sixteen participants, working in eight different countries, determining the cells was poor (κ= 0
412)Vaginal cytology samples in the queen should be acquired by saline lavage of the vagina as described above for semen harvest, not using a swab as in female dogs, to avoid stimulating ovulation inadvertently
The interestrous interval is normally 4–13 months, with 7 months the average
Cytology is the examination of tissue samples under a microscope
Typically there are two variations of cytology used for dogs; skin cytology and vaginal cytology
In this blog, we will be discussing vaginal cytology for dogs, and how it measures up against other canine ovulation testing methods
