Reprod Dom Anim 50, 13–16 (2015); doi: 10.1111/rda.12442 ISSN 0936–6768

Endoscopic Transcervical Catheterization in the Domestic Cat D Zambelli, C Bini and M Cunto Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Ozzano dell’Emilia (Bo), Italy

Contents Feline-assisted reproduction is still not routinely performed in veterinary practice, although there is an increasing interest on the subject by cat breeders. In recent years, many techniques for artificial insemination in the domestic cat have been developed with regard to the intrauterine deposition of sperm through the catheterization of the cervix. Transcervical catheterization has been described also for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This article provides the first description of a new method for cervical catheterization, under the direct visualization of the cervix, using a rigid endoscope and a new specially designed transcervical catheter. The procedure was performed on 14 queens with a success rate of 85.71%.

Introduction Artificial insemination in the cat was first described in 1970s (Sojka et al. 1970) and, during the following four decades, substantial advances in feline-assisted reproduction have been reported. Transcervical catheterization has been described for non-surgical embryo collection (Hurlbut et al. 1988) and embryo transfer (Swanson and Godke 1994) as a useful tool for diagnosis and therapy of uterine pathologies (Chatdarong et al. 2001) and for artificial insemination (Zambelli and Castagnetti 2001). The cervix of the queen cannot be directly visualized due to a narrow and undistensible cranial vagina. For this reason, the examination and catheterization of the cervix are difficult and not routinely performed. It has been reported that the cranial vagina is

Endoscopic transcervical catheterization in the domestic cat.

Feline-assisted reproduction is still not routinely performed in veterinary practice, although there is an increasing interest on the subject by cat b...
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