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Doppler ultrasound is a useful method for assessing development of the placental and fetal circulation during normal and abnormal canine pregnancy. Further studies are still necessary to widely use this technique in clinical practice.

Tamoxifen is a synthetic, nonsteroidal Type I antiestrogenic compound that competitively blocks estrogen receptors with a mixed antagonist-agonist effect. The manifestation of these different actions depends on each species, organ, tissue and cell type considered. Very little is known about the effect of antiestrogens in dogs. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of tamoxifen citrate on some testis, prostate, hormone, and semen parameters in seven Beagle dogs with uncomplicated spontaneous benign prostatic hyperplasia. Two dogs were normospermic, four were oligozoospermic, and one was azoospermic. The dogs were allocated to a control pre-treatment period, followed by a treatment period, and five post-treatment periods (the duration of each period was 4 weeks). During the treatment period, 2.5mg tamoxifen citrate was given p.o. daily for 28 days to all the dogs. Maximum scrotal width, testicular consistency, libido semen parameters, prostatic volume, serum testosterone concentrations, and side effects were assessed. Tamoxifen negatively affected testis size and libido (P<0.01), and decreased prostatic volume (P<0.01) and testosterone concentrations during treatment. Semen quality deteriorated to nadir values (P<0.01) approximately one spermatic cycle after treatment and returned to pre-treatment values on the second cycle after treatment in all the dogs, except one young oligoazoospermic dog, in which the sperm count was higher ( P<0.01 ) at that time. No side effects were observed and fertility was conserved at the end of the study. Tamoxifen acted more like an agonist than antagonist on the gonadal axis and, therefore, upon both the prostate and testis. Therefore, tamoxifen may have therapeutic applications in dogs.

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The aim of this study was to describe the changes in the resistance index (RI) and systolic/diastolic ratio (S/D) of the uterine arteries during mid-pregnancy abortion induction in the dog. Sixteen 30-35 day pregnant bitches were randomly assigned to either a pharmacological protocol to interrupt gestation (n = 8) or were used as untreated control group (n = 8). Doppler assessments of uterine arteries blood flow were carried out before the initiation of the protocol and then every other day up to abortion (treated group) or parturition (control group). All treated bitches aborted 6 +/- 1.2 days after initiation of the treatment (while none of the non-treated bitches aborted). Pre-treatment RI and S/D did not differ between groups (p > 0.2) while average post-treatment indexes were (mean +/- SD): 0.62 +/- 0.1 vs 0.53 +/- 0.1 (p < 0.01) and 2.96 +/- 0.9 vs 2.23 +/- 0.3 (p = 0.01), for the treated and non-treated group respectively. Correlations between days to abortion and RI or S/D were 0.75 (p < 0.01) and 0.79 (p < 0.01) and, -0.78 (p < 0.01) and -0.73 (p < 0.01) for the treated and non-treated groups respectively. In the treated group, correlations between serum progesterone (P(4)) concentrations and RI and S/D were -0.76 (p < 0.01) and -0.59 (p < 0.01) respectively. It is concluded that, during induction of abortion, RI and S/D of uterine arteries progressively increased while P(4) decreased.

The aim of this study was to describe the canine electrocardiographic changes in the course of normal and abnormal pregnancy. Twenty-three Brucellosis-negative pregnant bitches were retrospectively classified as normal (n = 12) or abnormal (n = 11). A control group of non-pregnant dioestrous bitches (n = 10) was also included. Normal pregnant females delivered healthy puppies at term while abnormal animals interrupted their pregnancy between days 52-60 (from estimated luteinizing hormone peak) or presented perinatal litter death higher than 60%. All the bitches were electrocardiographically evaluated every 10 days from day 0 to day 65 of the oestrous cycle, to parturition or abortion. Percentage heart rate change increased 31.3% from day 40 to 60 in normal gestation while it decreased -1.8% in dioestrous bitches, although it did not change in the abnormal group (p < 0.01). In the abnormal pregnant group but not in the others, percentage QRSa change fell to -34% on day 60 (p < 0.01). At the same time point, percentage QRSd change was 6.2% vs -4.9% in normal gestations and dioestrous animals, respectively (p < 0.05). Corrected QT interval augmented from day 40 onwards up to 9.9% and 4.3% in the normal pregnant and dioestrous groups, respectively, while it remained unchanged in abnormal gestations (p < 0.05). It is concluded that during normal canine pregnancy, some electrocardiographic parameters begin changing from day 40 onwards, and that pathological gestations differ from normality from day 30. The use of electrocardiography in canine obstetrics might contribute to identify abnormal outcomes before they become clinically evident.