Transcervical artificial insemination in the domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo)
โ Scribed by J. D. Kidder; R. H. Foote; M. E. Richmond
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 136 KB
- Volume
- 17
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0733-3188
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โฆ Synopsis
The research was undertaken to develop a successful nonsurgical procedure for artificially inseminating ferrets. A fiberoptic endoscope used in conjunction with a specially designed speculum and catheter permitted cervical catheterization and intrauterine insemination. Sperm were collected from the cauda epididymides of 10 discarded breeder males; the number of sperm in diluted samples used for insemination ranged from 4.4-13.6 ร 10 6 /100 ยตl with progressive motility of sperm ranging from 40 to 60%. Sperm collected from each male were diluted with an egg-yolk extender (TEST) and used to inseminate 8-12 females, with deposition of sperm intravaginally or transcervically into the uterine body 0 or 24 hr after an ovulatory injection of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The vaginal inseminations were used as a control, and no pregnancies resulted after insemination of 26 females. Intrauterine inseminations resulted in 4/24 (17%) of the ferrets pregnant when hCG administration was coincident with insemination, and 19/24 (79%) of the ferrets were pregnant when inseminations were done 24 hr after hCG administration. All inseminated females were euthanized on day 20 after insemination to count fetuses. The mean number of fetuses was 3.1 (range, 1-8). The number (millions) of motile sperm inseminated (X) had a significant effect on the percentage of fetuses (Y). Regression analysis indicated a linear relationship between the two variables, with an R 2 value of 0.99 and a line of best fit described by the equation Y = 0.029 + 0.034 X. This paper is the first report of transcervical artificial insemination in the domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo). The method can serve as a model for application to ferrets and other mammals, particularly endangered species.
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