Not checking semen before AI... Again!

AndyPandy

AndyPandy

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It's a bit late in the season now for this to have any effect on pregnancy outcomes this year... However:

I've just had a semen assessment form back from a vet we delivered semen to earlier this week. This vet has stamped the form with their Royal Veterinary College stamp, but in the box marked "Progressive motility on arrival, after 1 min at 37 degrees C", they have written "N/A". They have then signed the bottom of the form, to confirm that the semen was of adequate quality for insemination, despite having not checked to see if the stuff was still viable!

Now, luckily, I know the semen was fine because we check samples that are kept back after shipping, and this particular stallion has outstanding chilled-viability... but this is an inadequate service that the vet is providing, as far as I'm concerned.

I wonder how many mares didn't get in foal this year (for one or more cycles) because poor quality, unchecked semen was inseminated!? I can imagine bills getting higher and higher, owners scratching their heads - "Why isn't poor Bessie in foal!?", vets spending more and more of the owner's money with washouts, anitbiotics etc. on more and more attempts/cycles, when all that's gone wrong was poor semen quality.
(It does happen, studs and stallion owners often send out semen without first checking how well the semen chills, or which extender best suits the particular stallion that season).

There is absolutely no excuse for it, even when vets come out to a yard or field where no "lab" facilities are available. Portable "pocket" microscopes are available costing between £40-£110, and you can make a slide warmer with a bowl of water and some clingfilm, or, if you're really stuck, by putting the slide in your pocket for a few minutes! Please be vigilant everyone! If you're having your mare AI'd, make sure the vet is checking the semen before it goes in (they should be checking for progressive motility at the very least, and hopefully checking velocity and concentration as well!). If they don't, and the mare doesn't get in foal, I wonder if there is a case there for negligence?

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Thanks AndyPandy, this is a really useful reminder. We were lucky enough this year to have superb and expert care for our mare, and a stud vet who made a point of checking on and reporting the quality of semen received from the stud before AI-ing. I guess that this echoes some of the comments that Ken was making on a previous thread about the quality of service and experience that the mare owner gets from some vets in the UK ..... Caveat emptor!
 
They have then signed the bottom of the form, to confirm that the semen was of adequate quality for insemination, despite having not checked to see if the stuff was still viable! @#%$ me!!!!!!

but this is an inadequate service that the vet is providing, as far as I'm concerned. if the first is true.....If they don't, and the mare doesn't get in foal, I wonder if there is a case there for negligence? ..........then the second should be also.

Thanks Gilly, I got my ass chewed off a couple of weeks ago about exactly this kind of thing, hilarious bearing in mind that I was fighting for the rights of mare owners. Since that thread I have had DAILY examples of how right I was/am but have not had the energy to post everyday about them. It's incredible.

I had lunch with Arnaud Evain and a number of other important actors in the UK market on Tuesday. When Arnaud explained the prices charged in France for fresh and frozen inseminations, there was quite a shock. The amount of money that you guys pay, means that should be getting the very best service, and I believe that in a majority of cases mare owners in the UK are not. There are some superb vets, but they are a minority.

What kills me Jamie, is the amount of crap you've received from various quarters, and all I can see from you is a desire to improve/upgrade/develop/progress and educate.
 
Very poor service if they don't check the semen first. Last year, when I was trying to get my mare in-foal again, I went to the stallion's stud, waited (and watched) while they collected the semen, had a look down their microscope at a sample (very exciting!) and then drove back with the semen to the stud where my mare was. That stud checked a sample before putting it into her and that was only something like an hour after it had been collected! She didn't get in foal but we were having all sorts of problems with her ovulating but I definitely know that the problem was not with the stallion.
 
I didn't even get paperwork with it!! vet wasn't impressed with that but didn't check the semen either...

I found out tomorrow if she is in foal...
 
What!? No paperwork!? Oh my goodness. We really should have a place to name and shame places that don't do an adequate job.

We receive a surprising amount of semen with no/inadequate paperwork... semen which is not extended adequately, or even not extended at all in some cases, occasionally it's all dead, has all sorts of gunk in it, one batch last year was extended with tap water (and all dead as a result)!... it's terrifying really!

Ken - thanks for your kind words, much appreciated.
 
Portable microscopes available from:

http://equitainer.com/Sperm_Analysis/Handycope.htm

http://www.sherwoods-photo.com/meade_field_microscope/meade_fieldmicroscope_fs.htm

The Meade scope is the one I use when I'm in a field with no electricity... the total magnification is only 160x, but it's enough to give a judgment of total motility, and possibly some idea of progressive motility... The HT Handyscope has a total magnification of 200x, but is twice the price. You may be able to get these from elsewhere in the UK, I'm not sure. Shop around. What I do know, is that Meade have discontinued their portable microscope, so if you find one, snap it up!
 
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We really should have a place to name and shame places that don't do an adequate job.

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It's a pity in a way that we have the "defamatory post" injunction. Some of the posts I've read have really made me realise what an excellent service I have received from the two studs I have had dealings with.
 
AP - what in your opinion is a good motility rate for chilled semen (particularly after 24hrs transit)? And at what rate does the motility decrease say after a further 24hrs?
 
TBH I've never used AI. Reading all these posts I'm quite worried about how on earth I would find a good vet or stud that would take my mare to AI if I were to use it in future.

For future referance in the East Midlands area (further is possible, but might as well start close to home) where would you reccomend to send pony mares (under 14h)? We currently use Chine House vets.
 
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AP is there any legallity that it should come with paperwork or tested? or is just just up to Stud/VET discression?

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As far as I know, there's no legal requirement for domestic semen shipments, which seems ridiculous really... I guess it's one of the reasons why we have these sort of problems
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Ken - what in your opinion is a good motility rate for chilled semen (particularly after 24hrs transit)? And at what rate does the motility decrease say after a further 24hrs?

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I'm sure Ken won't mind me jumping in here, but I wanted to add a couple of things:

1)A worrying number of studs/vets don't know the difference between total motility (percentage of sperm which are moving) and progressive motility (percentage of sperm which are moving in a relatively straight line across the microscopic field).

2)The vast majority of vets and studs massively OVERESTIMATE motility... I hear of semen samples with 95% progressive motility... realistically, the absolute maximums you will ever see are 90% total, and 75-80% progressive (and on average fresh semen will have about 80% motility, 65% progressive), which is part of the problem with a subjective measure made by people who use an inadequate technique to make that measure.

3)Although progressive motility is a useful indicator of how viable the semen is on arrival (yes, we'd all like to see 70% progressive on arrival), the total number of sperm that you are sent is VITAL. You need to know the extended concentration, the insemination volume, and the progressive motility.

The total number of progressively motile sperm should be no lower than 200 million. To work it out, you need to multiply the three measures together... so...

50M/ml concentration x 40ml insemination volume x 50% progressive = 1 billion progressively motile sperm

50M/ml concentration x 40ml insemination volume x 20% progressive = 400 million progressively motile sperm

50M/ml concentration x 80ml insemination volume x 5% progressive = 200 million progressively motile sperm

What I'm trying to illustrate here is that motility isn't necessarily an indicator of a bad semen shipment, which is why these things should be carefully assessed! Equally, you could have a sample which was 70% prog. motile on arrival, and if the total number of sperm was too low, could be an inadequate insemination dose!

Anyway, after all that rambling, my point is that there is no "ideal" motility for chilled semen after a certain number of hours
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Liddle were selling microscopes for 40 that hook up to a laptop with softwear included. You can record mpegs of the semen too for reference, ideal for start ups
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Crazymare - we are East Midlands (south Lincs) and use Gibson & Lee. Our vet specialises in repro work.

As we dont have lad facilities at home he brings his portable scope and warms the slide on the warm engine of the car. Not ideal but allows him to have an idea of how the semen is looking. We used one stallion this year that had lowish progressive motility, but both mares got in foal so it did the job!
 
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