SEMEN FREEZING
Please take a minute to read through the following, in order to better understand our semen freezing process.
· Kindly confirm your booking for semen freezing by phone/e-mail to Johanita Smuts, cell: 074 332 4484, email: johanita@vetfertility.co.za.
· If you wish to freeze semen for export purposes, you need to inform us prior to your appointment as different countries have different rules and regulations on diseases they wish the stud to be tested for prior to the semen freezing process. Costs for the required tests are additional to the semen freezing costs. If you are in doubt whether you want to export or not, blood serum can be stored on day of semen collection and required tests performed later.
· Your stud should be sexually mature (at least 1 year old - most breeds).
Peak fertility is routinely reached between 3-5 years and best results are obtained before the age of 8 years.
· The following documentation will be required on day of semen collection:
1. Full identification details / KUSA registration form for your stud,
2. If you are not the owner, a letter from the legal owner authorizing us to collect semen for freezing purposes,
3. Please note that KUSA require microchip confirmation of the stud's ID.
· At the initial consultation, a breeding soundness examination and/or semen evaluation will be performed by a registered veterinarian if written proof of a recent (within the last four months) examination cannot be presented by the owner. Clients will be notified on the day of semen collection whether the sample is of adequate quality for freezing purposes.
· We routinely collect one semen sample followed by a second collection approximately one hour later. This is to maximize the quantity of frozen semen obtained. Please allow sufficient time for the semen collection procedures.
· Collection and freezing procedures may be repeated every second day should you wish to freeze larger batches of your stud’s semen.
· Although we will do our best to provide a bitch in season to act as a teaser, this may be a challenge from time to time. We do have success collecting semen with oestrus swabs taken from bitches on heat, alternatively you can always bring a bitch on heat with to act as a teaser. Please note that the success rate of using said oestrus swabs differs between individual studs.
· Following the semen freezing, a comprehensive report will be issued detailing the post-thaw quality of the semen, number of doses obtained and recommended thawing instructions. No reports are issued if client accounts are not fully settled.
IMPORTANT:
Please note that although some dogs’ semen are of excellent quality prior to freezing, in rare cases it could result in a poor quality frozen sample. Poor quality semen will always be worse off after freezing and thus not worth pursuing preservation of such samples. Freezability can neither be predicted, assumed or guaranteed and should rather be confirmed.
NOTES ON SEMEN FREEZING:
Once a semen sample is considered suitable for freezing, the sample is extended (diluted) with cryoprotectants (protects sperm cells from damage), slowly cooled to -196 degrees Celsius where it is stored indefinitely in liquid nitrogen. Semen may be packed in straws, pellets, or vials. VFT routinely collects two samples per stud on the same day with approximately 1-2 hour intervals between collections. Following the freezing process, the total percentage progressively motile sperm per straw is calculated by sacrificing one straw from the batch for a post freeze evaluation.
Semen is mostly frozen to preserve genetic material from a genetically superior stud for future use, insurance and sentimental purposes and to transport semen over long distances for use at a convenient time.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
1. What is the success rate of using frozen semen for artificial insemination?
Results using frozen semen vary, but given that good quality frozen thawed semen is used, the bitch is fertile and that good timing methods have been used, a 65% conception rate is plausible. Frozen semen artificial insemination should preferably be performed by experienced reproduction veterinarians.
2. How many straws can be frozen from one semen freezing attempt?
The number of straws/doses obtained from each semen freezing procedure will depend on the quantity and quality of sperm ejaculated by the dog on the day of freezing, and the semen’s post-thaw quality.
3. How many inseminations can we do with the frozen batch of semen?
Bitches ideally have to be inseminated daily for two consecutive days of their heat. Veterinarians routinely inseminate with 50-100 million progressively motile thawed sperm on each of these days, meaning a dose of 100-200 million motile sperm (in some countries only one insemination is performed with a total dose of 200 million sperm per insemination). Breeders should liaise with their veterinarian to discuss the frozen semen report and number of breeding units (straws or pellets) to be used per breeding.
The number of straws needed per insemination from the batch obtained can only be determined following the freezing process and post-thaw evaluation.
It is strongly recommended by veterinarians that stud owners should consider freezing at least 2 ejaculates in order to have sufficient frozen semen to use in more than one heat cycle to maximize the statistical likelihood of offspring and to ensure enough semen is available for acceptable conception rates.
4. How often can a stud's semen be collected for freezing purposes?
Collection and freezing procedures may be repeated every second day should you wish to freeze larger batches of your stud’s semen.