In Raleigh, North Carolina, it can be hard to get a progesterone test. While we like the idea of progesterone testing, we have to schedule an appointment with our veterinarian, come in, have blood drawn, spend $150, wait around 28hrs for results. And some dogs ovulation only lasts 24hrs!
The next time we have a dog in heat we will be doing our own vaginal cytology examinations, also known as a vaginal smear. We have seen these done and are comfortable doing them ourselves. We now own all of the necessary equipment to do so and the first time around a friend who is a veterinarian technician will be on site to observe just to be 100% certain we are doing everything correctly.
A fellow breeder offered us some great advice of using plastic swabs instead of wooden “just in case”. This is not recommended for every one and by no means are we veterinarians but it is going to be the cheapest and most accurate route for us to take.
We recently had a bad experience with a vet we’ve used for years who we were on great terms with. He was having a busy December and when Fina was in heat he refused to allow us to come in for a simple smear. We had contacted him the morning of Tuesday, December 27, 2011, right in the middle of Fina’s cycle and he said the best he could do was a progesterone test on Friday Dec. 30, 2011 and that we would not have results until Tuesday, January 2, 2012. Some people get a little loopy around the holidays and we’re not going to say who it was or badmouth them just for this reason, but at the same time, this was a real slap in the face from the vet and obviously the end of our relationship.
We purchased swabs, dye, slides and a microscopes the next morning.
Anuclear, superficial, intermediate & parabasal cell images will be posted here when they become available! We don’t have a camera just yet but we are going to order one shortly just to photograph these cells and post here on our blog. 🙂
