Frozen Semen – storage, insemination and world-wide shipping available working in collaboration with Dinu Catilina DVM Cert AVP MRCVS at Prime Vets, Chesterfield.
Price from £300
A very exciting new addition to our services in 2021! We now work collaboratively with one of the UK’s most prestige vets in canine reproduction. We have worked closely with Dinu for many years, but this new collaboration on frozen semen practices means we can now offer such services across the whole North of the UK. With semen drawn and frozen here with us, shipping will be arranged for your collection to be permanently stored at our collective facility at Prime Veterinary Practice Chesterfield. Your collection is then a phone call away should you wish to ship to your clients worldwide. Both Dinu’s success rate and reputation in the repro-world speak for themselves, so to be offering this collaborative service with such a leading vet is very exciting!
Why use frozen semen?
· Frozen semen is very important to owners of special male dogs. By storing frozen semen, multiple matings can be accomplished from a single collection.
· The fertility of each mating can be maximised as the exact timing of the insemination within the females cycle is possible and it is also possible to mate more than one female at once, a major limitation with natural breeding’s.
· Shipping of semen around the world means neither male nor female need travel and means storage with the receiver has no life span as there is with chilled semen.
· Preservation of semen from young, healthy males assures a reproductive future before old age, illness etc makes reproduction impossible.
By progesterone testing with us in advance of TCI (transcervical insemination) mating with Dinu at Prime, the optimum fertility rates can be achieved.
Frozen Semen Appointments, how do they work?
Your dog is physically examined prior to collection. The semen is then collected and evaluated. Semen is then evaluated for morphology and concentration. Our findings are discussed with you and reported on certificate. Once we have these findings we can advise whether the semen is adequate quality to be frozen. If these examinations are satisfactory and the semen is good to excellent quality, we can freeze and then ship to store the semen at the time of the initial evaluation. A teaser female in season is not required but is most helpful in stimulating young, inexperienced males.
Semen is frozen in pellets the size of small peas which are stored within vials in liquid nitrogen. After the freezing procedure is completed, a single pellet is thawed and evaluated for motility. Once the post-thaw motility is determined the actual number of effective doses is known. We can then advise the owner on an estimate to the number of breedings possible from the collection. Typically 1-5 breeding’s should be expected but more than 10 are possible. Once the semen is collected and frozen it is stored in liquid nitrogen for long term preservation at Prime Vets in Chesterfield. Current storage fee’s are invoiced via Pr1me Vets and are around £50 per annum per dog chargeable the April after the collection takes place. Semen can be stored indefinitely and will usually maintain the same post-thaw characteristics as the sample pellet which is examined during the procedure. Discounts are available for more than one collection on the same dog. Contact us for fee or more information.
A percentage of the semen will inevitably not survive the process. Hence why we evaluate semen quality prior to freezing, and again in a post-thaw check to monitor how the semen has survived. Semen tested prior to freeze or that is too low quality post freeze rendering it too low quality to store will only be charged a semen analysis fee of £50 or a further collection appointment will be offered.
That decision comes down to what you plan to use the semen for, is it for your own personal use in your own breeding programme or do you intend to sell some to the public? A minimum amount for most clients seems to be between 5-10 breeding value. Some clients have a budgeted amount they wish to collect as much as theycan for a said amount. We can work with you to help you decide when the quantity you have stored is one you’re happy with.
The simple answer is no, there are a number of methods by which frozen semen can be inseminated however TCI with a knowledgeable reproduction vet such as Dinu Catilina gives your chance of success a much higher statistic than attempting to inseminate via a lesser method.
Our desire is to work within a world where our expertise makes a difference.
