Is there a pregnancy test for dogs?
There is no equivalent home urine pregnancy test similar to the one that can be used for a woman in a bitch.
In women, the urine pregnancy test is based on detecting the presence of the hormone chorionic gonadotropin or HCG in the urine. In humans, this hormone is specific to pregnancy: it is secreted by the placenta during the implantation of the egg in the uterus. Detectable in the urine of pregnant women, HCG makes it possible to detect pregnancy very early, as early as 7 days after fertilization using a urine test.This urine test consists of a strip impregnated with a reagent containing antibodies which react to the presence of the HCG hormone when soaked in urine by displaying a color, a + sign or the word "pregnant" . if the test is positive.
In bitches, the only specific pregnancy hormone is relaxin. It is a hormone secreted by the placenta from the 3thweek of the bitch's gestation and is only found in the bitch's blood. Therefore, there are no urine pregnancy tests in bitches but only blood tests that can detect the presence of this hormone in the blood. There are, however, rapid pregnancy test kits that are based on the same principle as human urine tests. These kits use antibodies directed against relaxin to allow rapid identification of the presence of the molecule in a blood sample taken from the female dog.Using the bitch's blood and not the urine, these kits cannot therefore be used at home by the owner of the animal to confirm pregnancy but can only be used by a veterinarian or a person trained to take samples sanguine, like a breeder. It should also be noted that this test does not allow very early detection of the pregnancy of a bitch because this test can only be used from the 25th day following the 'coupling. This is relatively late considering that the female dog's gestation is about 63 days from the time of ovulation.
What are other ways to detect pregnancy in bitches?
In addition to the dosage or detection of relaxin in the bitch's blood, it is possible to make the diagnosis of pregnancy in the bitch at a veterinarian who can use an ultrasound or X-ray . The first method can theoretically be practiced 21 days after the bitch ovulates (but in practice, we wait until the 25thday after mating) and the second can only be practiced 'from day 45 to 50th of gestation.
Also read: How do I know if my dog is pregnant?