COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF BROMOCRIPTINE, CABERGOLINE AND THYROXINE IN INDUCING OESTRUS IN BITCHES
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Date
2008-05-30
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College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy.
Abstract
Detailed survey on breeding, feeding and management of 1721 dogs
belonging to 817 owners was conducted in different parts of Kerala State. Among
the dogs surveyed, 518 (30.10%) were male and 1203 (69.90%) were female.
Breed-wise details of dogs maintained by individual owners revealed German
shepherd dog (20.74%) as the most popular breed of dog followed by Labrador
retriever (18.13%), Dachshund (11.39%), Rottweiler (9.12%) and Spitz (5.52%).
The percentage of local non-descript dogs was found to he 14.64 only. The
prevalence, nature and magnitude of anoestrus among the female dogs were
evaluated based on breeding details. Haematological, hormonal, mineral and
cholesterol profile of anoestrous hitches were estimated.
Data on breeding revealed that 92.93 per cent of hitches were allowed to
breed and the remaining 7.07 per cent were kept as virgin throughout their
lifetime. The age at first breeding in majority of the hitehes (57.85%) was
between 1 to 2 years with an average of 16.30 months. The average number of
oestrus periods and the number of breeding per year were 2.14 ± 0.24 and 1.47 ±
0.32 respectively. The average duration of proestrual bleeding was found to he
10.87 ± 1.24 days. Most of the hitches (51.97 %) were bred twiee in one oestrus
and the period of acceptance varied from 4 to 22 days with an average of 8.94 ±
2.18 days. The incidence of failure of conception, abortion, stillbirth and
pseudopregnancy were 18.87, 5.72, 15.56 and 13.69 per cent respectively. The
neonatal problems encountered in 13.88 per cent of hitches included agalactia /
hypogalactia / mammitis (5.29%), cannibalism (2.65%), puppy fading syndrome
(2.09%), puerperal tetany (1.98%) and rejection of young one by dam / poor
mothering ability (1.87%).
Among the hitches surveyed, 134 (11.14%) were identified as in the stage
of anoestrus, 65.67 per cent in primary and 34.33 per cent in secondary anoestrus
and the average age was 22.68 and 34.34 months respectively. The average
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duration of secondary anoestrus was 11.71 months. Analysis of breed-wise
prevalence revealed that it was high in breeds such as Dachshund (18.18%),
Labrador retriever (16.74%), Great Dane (16.67%), Dalmatian (15.38%) and
Doberman pinscher (14.00%) and was lowest (2.44%) among local non-descript
bitches. Data on body condition revealed that 42 per cent of the anoestrous
bitches were with the ideal body score of five, 46 per cent with body score more
than five (obese) and 12 per cent with body score less than five (lean).
Analysis of haematological profile of anoestrous bitches revealed
normochromic normocytic anaemia. The mean serum progesterone, prolactin and
thyroxine levels in anoestrous bitches were of 0.57 ± 0.03 ng/ml, 0.75 ± 0.05
ng/ml and 1.80 ± 0.06 pg/dl respectively. The mean serum calcium and
phosphorus levels in anoestrous bitches were 8.94 ± 0.24 and 3.48 ± 0.12 mg per
cent respectively. The mean serum iron, copper, cobalt, zinc, manganese and
cholesterol levels were found to be within the normal range.
Oestrus induction trials were carried out in forty anoestrous bitches and
the data obtained were compared with that of control bitches. Out of 10 animals
treated in each group, five (50%) in Group 1 (bromocriptine @ 50 pg/kg. body
weight), nine (90%) in Group 11 (cabergoline @ 5 pg/kg. body weight), eight
(80%) in Group III (thyroxine @10 pg/kg. body weight) and seven (70%) in
Group IV (thyroxine @ 5 pg/kg. body weight) evinced proestrual bleeding. The
mean treatment onset to proestrus in Groups 1, II, III and IV was 28 ± 3.39, 13.44
± 3.12, 24.50 ± 3.18 and 33 ± 2.21 days respectively. The average duration of
proestrus in the treatment groups was 9.80 ± 0.86, 10.11 ± 0.68, 11.25 ± 0.88 and
10.71 ± 0.68 days respectively as against 9.70 ± 0.42 days in the control group.
The average duration of oestrus in the four treatment groups and the control
group was 7.60 ± 0.24, 8 ± 0.29, 8.5 ± 0.63, 7.85 ± 0.46 and 8 ± 0.39 days
respectively. Fifty per cent of the animals treated with bromocriptine and 10 per
cent of the animals treated with cabergoline exhibited nausea and vomiting as
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side effects, whereas none of the animals treated with thyroxine exhibited side
effects.
The mean serum progesterone and prolactin levels during anoestrus, on
the first day of proestrus and on the day of first breeding did not differ
significantly within and between the treatment groups and the eontrol group. The
mean serum thyroxine level during anoestrus and on the first day of proestrus did
not differ significantly within and between the treatment and the eontrol groups,
whereas on the day of first breeding the mean thyroxine level reeorded
statistieally significant difference between the treatment and eontrol groups, the
lowest being 1.56 ± 0.18 pg/dl in Group I and the highest being 2.10 ± 0.13 pg/dl
in Group IV. Animals treated with levothyroxine (Group 111 & IV) exhibited a
slight increase in the mean level of serum thyroxine on the first day of bleeding
as well as on the day of first breeding, but the values were found to be within the
normal limits. The haemoglobin level and total erythrocyte eount were found to
be increased on the first day of proestrus and on the day of first breeding in
animals of Group 111 and IV.
The mean serum phosphorus level on the first day of proestrus and on the
day of first breeding in the treatment groups were found to eontinue at low levels
as in the anoestrous stage. The mean serum copper level on the first day of
proestrus exhibited statistieally significant difference between the treatment and
eontrol groups. The mean serum level of ealeium, iron, cobalt, zinc and
manganese during anoestrus, on the first day of proestrus and on the day of first
breeding did not reveal statistieally significant difference between groups.
The overall eoneeption rate in the treatment groups were 40, 70, 50 and
40 per eent respectively as against 70 per cent in the control group. The average
gestation length and litter size did not differ significantly between the treatment
and eontrol groups.
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