Ivf With Embryo Implantation In Dogs

[Simply Grand]

I was just chatting to my temporary housemate about dog husbandry, she has been wanting to get a dog for a while and now that the family all seem to be enjoying having my dogs around she is asking heaps of questions and wanting to learn as much as she can ( )

A breeder she has made initial contact with posted on FB tonight that she has just had a litter born (9 babies from a Cav x Toy Poodle ) so we were talking about how dogs conceive and she said she had a friend who had bred their racing Greyhound a while back and they had surgically implanted the embryo, leaving a scar on the bitch's abdomen. I asked if it was from a Cesarean as the puppy ended up being a singleton, but she said she'd seen the scar and discussed it with the owners while the bitch was pregnant, not after the puppy was born.

So I knew about AI but assumed it was a case of "squirting it up there" at the right time. Do people do actual IVF with surgical implantation on dogs though? (incidentally they don't use an incision to implant the embryo in human IVF so I'm confused about the whole thing...)

[DeltaCharlie]

I personally haven't heard of it, but I am of the opinion that if you need that degree of intervention just to get the dog pregnant, perhaps she isn't the best dog to be breeding from. AI because a natural mating cannot take place due to location, injury, etc is a different story. Those dogs would otherwise have managed it naturally.

[Kirislin]

yes, but it's not IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) it's just AI. I've got friends who had their racing greyhound impregnated like that. I think it's fairly common in the greyhound industry. They got 10 puppies from it.

Edited November 16, 2015 by Kirislin

[trifecta]

SG what your friend is asking about is embryo transfer not artificial insemination. It is quite commonplace in equine reproduction particularly in valuable competition horses, however I cannot comment about dog breeding. However such a procedure does not leave a scar as there is no external surgery to implant the embryo, it is done via guidance with ultrasound.

Edited November 16, 2015 by trifecta

[Rebanne]

sounds like she is talking about surgical implant of frozen semen and it does leave a scar. You can have a TCI (trans cervical implant) which is inserted throught the cervix. Advantage of TCI is no general anesthetic is needed.

[Kirislin]

SG what your friend is asking about is embryo transfer not artificial insemination. It is quite commonplace in equine reproduction particularly in valuable competition horses, however I cannot comment about dog breeding. However such a procedure does not leave a scar as there is no external surgery to implant the embryo, it is done via guidance with ultrasound.

it does leave a scar

sounds like she is talking about surgical implant of frozen semen and it does leave a scar. You can have a TCI (trans cervical implant) which is inserted throught the cervix. Advantage of TCI is no general anesthetic is needed.

Yep, I think this is what my friends got done on their bitch. Was very successful, lots of puppies.

[Podengo]

I vaguely remember my vet having a discussion about this (we do a lot of repro stuff at work) and the reason they don't really do embryo transplants in dogs is, I believe, because of the weird reproductive cycles that dogs have and the timing of ovulation and implantation. We also can't induce estrus in dogs like we can in other species. I did find this interesting paper though > Cryopreservation of Canine Embryos

Surgical AI is really common, the bitch is anesthetized, an incision is made in her abdomen and defrosted semen is injected into both horns of the uterus so they will end up with a scar on their tummy.

Transcervical AI uses a scope and a long metal thing on an awake bitch to squirt semen up as far as possible. The bitch needs to be able to stand nice and still for a TCI as the equipment used is VERY expensive and you don't want it bent by a wiggly bitch!

Fresh AI uses freshly collected semen and basically a rubber tube lol

Edited November 17, 2015 by Podengo

[Rebanne]

Surgical AI is really common, the bitch is anesthetized, an incision is made in her abdomen and defrosted semen is injected into both horns of the uterus so they will end up with a scar on their tummy.

Transcervical AI uses a scope and a long metal thing on an awake bitch to squirt semen up as far as possible. The bitch needs to be able to stand nice and still for a TCI as the equipment used is VERY expensive and you don't want it bent by a wiggly bitch!

Fresh AI uses freshly collected semen and basically a rubber tube lol

With TCI the semen is deposited into the uterus directly, the tube passes through the cervix. Bitches can be sedated but yes still need to be accepting of the whole thing. You can use surgical or TCI with fresh semen as well but not that common. I doubt I would ever do a surgical on a bitch with fresh but I would do a TCI.

There is also an option for chilled semen. Again I would do a TCI if using chilled semen. Chilling semen allows you to get semen from Perth to Melb for example without the expense of freezing, it has a longer life inside the bitch then frozen.

[Simply Grand]

Wow, thanks everyone, how interesting! Yes it must have been the surgical AI, my friend thought the egg ha already been fertilized but wasn't sure.

They were apparently very disappointed with only the one pup (understandably after all the effort) and they didn't keep it so it mustn't have turned out to be what they were looking for.

[trifecta]

Thanks for bringing this topic up, SG, I have certainly increased my knowledge of canine reproduction!

I vaguely remember my vet having a discussion about this (we do a lot of repro stuff at work) and the reason they don't really do embryo transplants in dogs is, I believe, because of the weird reproductive cycles that dogs have and the timing of ovulation and implantation. We also can't induce estrus in dogs like we can in other species. I did find this interesting paper though > Cryopreservation of Canine Embryos

Thanks for this information, Podengo, no wonder as an equine vet nurse I was never allowed in the other half of the practice, on the dark side of small animal medicine :laugh:

Edited November 17, 2015 by trifecta

[benshiva]

To the best of my knowledge no. They do not extract the eggs and fertilise them before inseminating them. They do surgical AI's (injecting semen directly into the ovaries). I do believe there will come a day when they DO IVF though

[Simply Grand]

Now that we're on the topic I have a couple more questions if people don't mind!

What is the main reason for doing the surgical AI? I assume it's because it is more likely to succeed by getting the sperm all the way up into the uterus directly, rather than trans cervical insemination?

Also, are bitches, like human females, born with all their eggs (I assume they are)? And, do they release multiple eggs each season? Again, flat mate and I were talking about this and assumed they must do in order to have multiple babies that aren't identical. And of course to allow different fathers within the same litter.

[LisaCC]

I vaguely remember my vet having a discussion about this (we do a lot of repro stuff at work) and the reason they don't really do embryo transplants in dogs is, I believe, because of the weird reproductive cycles that dogs have and the timing of ovulation and implantation. We also can't induce estrus in dogs like we can in other species. I did find this interesting paper though > Cryopreservation of Canine Embryos

Surgical AI is really common, the bitch is anesthetized, an incision is made in her abdomen and defrosted semen is injected into both horns of the uterus so they will end up with a scar on their tummy.

Transcervical AI uses a scope and a long metal thing on an awake bitch to squirt semen up as far as possible. The bitch needs to be able to stand nice and still for a TCI as the equipment used is VERY expensive and you don't want it bent by a wiggly bitch!

Fresh AI uses freshly collected semen and basically a rubber tube lol

My old housemate and lecturer are working on that. ANKC have funded them too.

[Rebanne]

Now that we're on the topic I have a couple more questions if people don't mind!

What is the main reason for doing the surgical AI? I assume it's because it is more likely to succeed by getting the sperm all the way up into the uterus directly, rather than trans cervical insemination?

Also, are bitches, like human females, born with all their eggs (I assume they are)? And, do they release multiple eggs each season? Again, flat mate and I were talking about this and assumed they must do in order to have multiple babies that aren't identical. And of course to allow different fathers within the same litter.

TCI is a lot newer then Surgical. I think you will find a lot of people who have done surgical in the past are now doing TCI. TCI does get it to the same spot, the rod/tube goes through the cervix so the semen is deposited into the uterus directly. Frozen semen, once thawed, has a "life" of approx an hour so must be put right into the uterus. It has no time to swim from the vaginal tract into the uterus.

Last I read, Monash Vets, one of the leading repo vets, says there is no difference in the success rate of either method but of course your bitch doesn't have the risk of a general if you use TCI.

And for your last question, yes and yes.

[espinay2]

Reason for surgical is that till recently (and still to a large extent) it is the most successful way of ensuring success with frozen semen. Frozen semen only lasts for a very short time once thawed (around 5 to 7 hours absolute maximum and generally less - in comparison, fresh semen can last up to seven days or more in the bitch with fresh chilled lasting several days on average ).

The window of opportunity for fertilisation is very narrow - once a bitch ovulates and releases eggs, it is still around another 62 to 68 hours before they are ready for fertilisation (they are still immature at ovulation) and you then have only a few hours window in which the eggs can be fertilised. Sperm that got there ahead of time just has to hang around waiting for the eggs to be ready. This means timing has to be perfect for frozen semen in particular to get the sperm in position at exactly the right moment. Surgical insemination allows for positioning of the semen virtually on top of the eggs - so they don't have to swim very far to be where they need to be (with TCI, the eggs are placed just inside the cervix and still have to swim the length of the uterus all the way to the top of both uterine horns). Surgical also allows the vet to examine the uterus for issues, which is particularly useful with an older bitch. They can check the uterus for cysts etc which may inhibit a successful pregnancy (and can even pop endometrial cysts to make them less of an issue). TCI is becoming more popular and in some situations it is a good option, particularly as there is virtually nil recovery time and no surgery required. But surgical still has its place, particularly with older bitches where you want to check uterine health and in cases where the quality of the semen is low and you want to give it the very best chance of being where it needs to be.

Yes, a bitch releases multiple eggs per season. The eggs are all ready and fertilised at the same time (pups that are smaller are not the result of different matings but of placental placement and attachment - some are in a better position than others/are better attached so get better nutrients, so simply grow better). if she is mated several times (and potentially by several dogs), it just depends which little swimmer is there, ready and waiting and strong enough to penetrate the egg first at the right moment. Thus there is potential for different eggs to be fertilised by the semen of different dogs. Eggs btw, float around freely for about a week after fertilisation, before spacing themselves along the uterine horns and attaching to the uterine wall.

Edited November 18, 2015 by espinay2