Can detomidine replace medetomidine for pharmacological semen collection in domestic cats?
Maitê Cardoso Coelho da Silva, Karitha Marques Ullony, Gediendson Ribeiro de Araújo, Pedro Nacib Jorge-Neto, Verônica Batista Albuquerque, Simone Marques Caramalac, Alice Rodrigues de Oliveira, Ricardo Zanella, Mariana Groke Marques, Antonio Carlos Csemark, Thiago Cavalheri Luczinski, Fabrício de Oliveira Frazílio, Eliane Vianna da Costa E Silva, Thyara de Deco-Souza
Author Information
Maitê Cardoso Coelho da Silva: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Karitha Marques Ullony: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Gediendson Ribeiro de Araújo: Instituto Reprocon, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Pedro Nacib Jorge-Neto: Instituto Reprocon, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Verônica Batista Albuquerque: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Simone Marques Caramalac: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Alice Rodrigues de Oliveira: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Ricardo Zanella: Faculdade de Agronomia e Medicina Veterinária, Curso de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brasil. ORCID
Mariana Groke Marques: Embrapa Suínos e Aves, Concórdia, SC, Brasil. ORCID
Antonio Carlos Csemark: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Thiago Cavalheri Luczinski: Instituto Reprocon, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Fabrício de Oliveira Frazílio: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Eliane Vianna da Costa E Silva: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Thyara de Deco-Souza: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. ORCID
Among the different methods used for semen collection from domestic cats, the pharmacological collection by urethral catheterization becomes disruptive. Medetomidine is the elected α-adrenoceptor agonist for that, but in several countries, it is not commercially available. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of detomidine compared to medetomidine in collecting semen by urethral catheterization in domestic cats. Urethral catheterization was performed on 13 mongrel cats using a disposable semi-rigid tomcat urinary catheter. Of the 19 semen collections performed with medetomidine induction, 94.7% were successful, while with detomidine induction, only 56.3% of 16 were successful. The values semen samples variables were as follows for volume - 10.56 ± 0.4 vs 8.88 ± 0.5 mL, motility - 171.67 ± 0.79 vs 49.77 ± 3.45%, vigor - 4.1 ± 0.03 vs 3.10 ± 0.1 and concentration - 3.24 ± 0.19 vs 2.15 ± 0.13 ×10 sperm/mL respectively for medetomidine and detomidine group. The failure in semen collections with detomidine was mainly due to azoospermic samples, poor urethral relaxation, insufficient volume, or contamination of urine. The sperm concentration was also lower in the detomidine group (P <0.05) when compared to medetomidine. However, when the volume of semen collected was compared, we found no statistical differences. Despite its low performance in collecting semen from cats, detomidine may be an alternative when medetomidine is not accessible.
