Collection, assessment, preservation and use of tomcat semen.

摘要

With the increasing number of cats as companion animals, the interest in the collection, assessment and cryopreservation of tomcat semen arises. The use of an artificial vagina requires suitable tomcat training and the presence of a "teaser" queen, which is a female cat in oestrus. Unfortunately, only a few cats could be trained for this simple method. Obtaining semen by electroejaculation requires special equipment and general anaesthesia. The most common method to obtain semen is the postcastration procurement of gametes from the epididymides and testes. The skill in collecting and preservation of semen at low temperatures enables genetic diversity among cat breeds, provides the wide use of semen from highly valuable males and diminishes the risk of transmission of infectious diseases. A big obstacle in examination of cat sperm is the small amount of material, on average 0.04 ml. Morphological analysis of spermatozoa indicates a great diversity among different tomcats and among ejaculates in the same male.