EFFECT OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN MINERALS AND VITAMINS ON THE SPERM MOTILITY AND MEMBRANE INTEGRITY IN DOGS
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Date
2022
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KARNATAKA VETERINARY, ANIMAL AND FISHERIES SCIENCES UNIVERSITY, BIDAR
Abstract
The present study was conducted on six clinically healthy male dogs presented to
small animal clinics of the Department of Veterinary Gynaecology and Obstetrics,
Veterinary College, Hebbal, Bengaluru, with a history of failure to impregnate even after
mating with three or more female dogs. The study was designed to analyze the
therapeutic efficacy of certain minerals (calcium, zinc and iron) and vitamins (vitamin-E
and folic acid) in augmenting fertility and serum mineral and vitamin profile estimation
in infertile male dogs. All the dogs were supplemented with tablets containing minerals
and vitamins for 90 days. Semen evaluation was performed before and after
supplementation on days 30, day 60 and day 90. Significant difference was not observed
in mean semen volume and pH before and after supplementation. However, significant
improvement was observed in the semen parameters viz. sperm concentration, motility
parameters, percentage of live sperm, morphologically normal sperm, plasma membrane
and acrosome membrane intact sperm from day 60 post supplementation which
corresponds to the normal physiological length of total duration of spermatogenesis in
dogs. Mineral and vitamin profile before supplementation was below the lower threshold
range, which could be the reason for poor fertility status of the study dogs, after
completing 90 days of supplementation period, serum mineral and vitamin profile was
within the physiological range. Dietary supplementation of minerals and vitamins besides
a balanced diet can be considered as cheap and safe alternative within an innovative
multimodal approach to improve reproductive performances in healthy dogs.
Keywords: Male dogs, impregnate, supplementation, reproductive performances