Results of a single transcervical endoscopic insemination using frozen semen in the bitch

The aims of the present work were to evaluate the whelping rate and the litter size of bitches undergoing a single insemination with frozen semen using intrauterine transcervical endoscopic catheterisation and to establish a protocol for the correct timing of semen deposition based on quantitative plasma progesterone determinations.14 bitches of different breeds and weigths, received a single insemination dose of frozen semen using a transcervical endoscopic technique. Vaginal smears (Shorr’s modified stain) and progesterone levels (quantitative ELFA, enzyme linked fluorescent assay-Mini Vidas Biomerieux) were monitored for each bitch starting from the fifth day of proestrus.The transcervical endoscopic insemination has proved to be a relatively easy, quick and non-invasive method (Wilson, 2001). It allowed achievement of a high rate of pregnancy (71 %) and litter size (mean of 5.5 puppies) using a single insemination with frozen semen. Progesterone measurement from the 5th day of proestrus and then at planned times, depending on the pattern of the rise in P4, was useful to carefully predict the ovulation time in order to perform the insemination at the proper time.