I imagine it’s a fairly common event – somebody has plans on breeding their dog at some point in the future, but before the arranged mating takes place, some mangy mutt manages to get there first.
So why no morning after pill for dogs? Seems like it would be easier to develop as there would be less concern over side effects than with humans.
Are you sure there isn’t something like that? We ended up with 23 cats, most of whom were kittens who were rehomed, when I was in eighth grade because our vet insisted he wanted to spay all five of our female outdoor cats at once and gave four of them (three of whom were adolescents that hadn’t yet gone into heat the first time) a shot that was supposed to keep them from going into heat before their mother who was already pregnant had her kittens…it didn’t work, obviously, but that was almost 20 years ago, so maybe the science of pet reproduction has advanced since then.
There sort of is. I know people who have, in the situation you (OP) describe, gone to the vet for an injection to stop implantation.
There were products like that. But keep in mind, the reproductive systems of dogs and cats don’t work the same way as human systems. They (and most animals) have estrual cycles instead of menstrual cycles, to begin with. The hormonal interactions may vary, and while they may seem small variations, they have significant changes/consequences.
Many of those shots and drugs were overdoses of similar drugs used in humans. While they would work (either prevent an impending heat or kill the corpus luteum needed to keep the pregnancy), they also had/have serious serious side effects in those animals. For example, they could cause something called pancytopenia, basically wiping out the bone marrow precursors, causing the animal to be anemic, prone to bleeding what little red blood cells it had (low platelets), and prone to infections from everywhere (low white blood cells).
Currently, believe it or not, contraceptives are/were used in zoos, for example, in wild felids (lions, tigers, cheetahs, etc.). And you know what? They’ve found the contraceptive used in them increased their likelihood of getting malignant mammary tumors.
To reiterate, there would be concerns over side effects, yes, for the reasons I mentioned above. And unlike humans, using those drugs would also put an end to any breeding occurring any time soon.
There’s also the fact that if a pregnancy does result, puppy fetuses can be aborted fairly easily, and the procedure is probably safer than those drugs. And there is no active pro-life movement for puppies, and nearly any veterinarian will perform the procedure.
Well, the procedure is usually “spay the bitch”, which is a no-no if someone is trying to keep said dog for breeding. Or doing a C-section in late-gestation knowing full well the puppies are likely not going to make it.
Some of the drugs are effective, but again, they could have side effects, or they would be needed a bit afterwards, where it works more as an abortive drug than as a contraceptive drug.
This last summer I was at our zoo admiring the cheetahs and the “zoo expert” for that area came over and eventually the subject got on animal birth control. She said for ours it wasn’t an issue because our two cheetahs were sisters, but that the zoo did use an injection in alot of the other animals to prevent inbreeding and overpopulation. I had never thought about the possible need for animal birth control and it blew my mind!
I know your specialty probably isn’t primates, but do you happen to know what contraceptive gorillas are put on in captivity? The sign at the Lincoln Park Zoo said something to the effect of “To better control the numbers of gorillas in zoos around the world, the breeding of captive gorillas is carefully controlled by an inter-facility group of scientists. The gorillas are on birth control, like many people.”
I wasn’t sure how to parse that last bit. Are they on Depo-Provera, like humans, or are they on some simian birth control, like humans are on human birth control? I’d assume gorilla fertility is probably closer to human fertility than canine fertility, but I just don’t know.
I thought I had replied, must’ve been eaten somewhere since I cannot see it…
Yes, they’re (IIRC) on human based birth control, most likely the shot or other long-term option. Non-human primates have menstrual cycles like humans, and it wouldn’t surprise me (although I do not know for sure) if some of those human drugs have been tested on research primates before giving them to women.
They even get endometriosis, although the predisposing factors may not be the same between species.
I vaguely remember a comment when I was doing an externship at a zoo… it seems, at least at the time, the OB/GYN that they occasionally brought to examine the simians was the same one most of the female staff went and recommended.
Thanks, KarlGrenze. That’s what I figured, but I figured since you were here, I might as well ask!
My dad used to work at one of the biggest children’s hospitals in Chicago. They have a back door where they bring in chimps who need tests or surgeries. Apparently the pediatric equipment is the right size, but they don’t want parents of human patients seeing the chimps on the premises!
They have given contraceptives to deer in the past. In this case it prevented them going into heat and I have no idea if there were other consequences. Since it was administered by the humane society I figure they overall think it is a good thing for the deer.
They also tried putting condoms on them, but they kept running out of staff.
Well, if the two cheetahs are sisters, then you needn’t worry much about overpopulation! 