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This study investigated the prediction of parturition in queens, as well as the effects of the queens' age and weight and the litter size on the accuracy of the prediction. A prospective study was performed in 24 purebred queens of 11 different breeds, all in normal body condition, using radiographic and ultrasonographic measurements of foetal femoral length (FL) and biparietal diameter (BPD) of fœtal skull that apply to different breeds. Pregnant queens with aborted or malformed foetuses were excluded. The examinations were performed up to three times during the second half of pregnancy; litter size was obtained with radiography, and FL and BPD measurements were taken of each foetus using both radiography and ultrasonography. The maximal FL and the transversal BPD were recorded for each foetus. Radiography showed the number of foetuses accurately but did not allow accurate prediction of time of parturition. However, ultrasonography did establish the best predictive model according to the data with the FL. This model corresponded to the formula Y = 37.864 - 0.193 × FL + 1.227 × W - 0.615 × LS - 0.832 × A using the FL (10(-1)  mm), litter size (LS, number of foetuses per queen) and maternal parameters (weight (W, kg) and age (A, years)). Time to parturition correlated positively with the queen's weight and negatively with her age (P < 0.01). The ultrasonographic FL associated with pregnancy and maternal factors appeared to be an accurate model to predict parturition.

A prospective study was performed in 34 fasted healthy cats to describe the normal ultrasonographic anatomy of the cardia and pylorus. Measurements were obtained for the caudal esophageal wall thickness (Ew), cardia wall thickness (Cw), pyloric wall thickness (Pw), thickness of the pyloric muscularis (Mp), length of the thicker part of the proximal duodenal submucosa (Dl). Among the 34 cats, 24 were examined using a linear transducer, and 10 with a microconvex transducer. Ew and Cw could be measured in 70% of the cats when a linear transducer was used, in 100% of the cats when a microconvex probe was used, Pw and Mp could be measured in 100% of the cats whatever probe was used. The submucosa of the most proximal part of the duodenum was thicker in half of the cats in longitudinal section. The muscularis layer of the pylorus was triangular in longitudinal section and thicker than the muscularis of the proximal duodenum. The mean for Ew, Cw, Pw, Mp, and DI was 4.9 mm (SD = 1.1), 5 mm (SD = 0.6), 4.4 mm (SD = 0.6), 2.5 mm (SD = 0.5), and 4.7 mm (SD = 2.38), respectively. Three cats with abnormalities of the cardia and pylorus are also described to illustrate clinical implications.

The ovaries and uterine horns in queens are accessible ultrasonographically at any stage of their cycle, and can be measured with low intra- and inter-observer variabilities.