Effect of deslorelin implants on domestic queens puberty: A preliminary report

A RISSO; Y CORRADA; P.E. DE LA SOTA; M ABEYA; P GARCÍA; C GOBELLO

Congreso; Annual Conference of the Society for Theriogenoloy; 2011

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of deslorelin acetate implants on domestic queen puberty postponement. Thirty, 90 to 180 days old, 1.3 to 1.6 kg prepubertal crossbred female cats were included in this study. The animals were kept under a positive photoperiod (14L:10D) and randomly assigned to: deslorelin acetate 5 mg SC implants (n=15) or to a non treated control group (n=15). The queens were followed up daily and weighed weekly until puberty. Vaginal cytology was also carried out three times a week. Puberty was diagnosed by the presence of the typical estrous behavior in the presence of a tom cat and vaginal cytology. Puberty was achieved at the age of 180-428 and 134-286 days in the deslorelin and control groups, respectively. Age (281.2±21.6 vs. 177.8±10.8; P<0.01) but not weight (2.6±0.1 vs. 2.5±0.1; P>0.1) at puberty differed between the same groups. One deslorelin treated female did not achieve puberty during the period of the study. Another queen of the same group presented post implant estrous response and a third one a pyometra 13 and 92 days after implantation, respectively.