PhD

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 be 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 bitches were estimated.

Data on breeding revealed that 92.93 per cent of bitches 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 bitches (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 be 10.87 ± 1.24 days. Most of the bitches (51.97 %) were bred twice 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 bitches 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 bitches 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 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 µg/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 I (bromocriptine @ 50 μg/kg. body weight), nine (90%) in Group II (cabergoline @ 5 μg/kg. body weight), eight (80%) in Group III (thyroxine @10 μg/kg. body weight) and seven (70%) in Group IV (thyroxine @ 5 μg/kg. body weight) evinced proestrual bleeding. The mean treatment onset to proestrus in Groups I, 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 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 control 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 control groups, whereas on the day of first breeding the mean thyroxine level recorded statistically significant difference between the treatment and control groups, the lowest being 1.56 ± 0.18 μg/dl in Group I and the highest being 2.10 ± 0.13 μg/dl in Group IV. Animals treated with levothyroxine (Group III & 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 count were found to be increased on the first day of proestrus and on the day of first breeding in animals of Group III 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 continue at low levels as in the anoestrous stage. The mean serum copper level on the first day of proestrus exhibited statistically significant difference between the treatment and control groups. The mean serum level of calcium, iron, cobalt, zinc and manganese during anoestrus, on the first day of proestrus and on the day of first breeding did not reveal statistically significant difference between groups.

The overall conception rate in the treatment groups were 40, 70, 50 and 40 per cent 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 control groups.