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- Starting time, 11:24. Sedative shot is given to calm her nerves.
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- Frozen semen thaw instructions from the lab
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- Female wolfhound to be bred- progesterone tests indicate that she ovulated 3 days ago. At this point, the eggs should be in the fallopian tubes, ready to be fertilized.
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- The semen arrived yesterday in this nitrogen tank
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- Shipping container for the tank
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- Surgery room, complete with Sesame Street towel
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- Gas mask time!
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- Onto the stretcher
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- Bitch is under, and on the prep table
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- 11:35
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- Preparing the water bath for frozen semen. Ideal temp is between 94-98 degrees
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- Cleaning her up
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- Bitch intubated with O2 monitor
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- Prepping for surgery
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- Tools out, ready to thaw semen
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- All 130 pounds of bitch is carried into surgery
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- She’s on the surgery table, and it’s nearly time to get started.
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- Prepping for surgery- tying legs
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- On the table, positioned correctly, and tied up
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- Getting scrubbed up for surgery
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- Scrub is done, ready for surgery
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- Starting through the abdominal cavity
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- Cutting through the abdominal wall
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- 11:50
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- Finding the uterus before thawing sperm
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- Adjusting the water bath for the frozen semen to be thawed in
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- Nitrogen tank opened, vapors rolled out.
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- Here’s the foam lid to the nitrogen tank: apparently, since Sept 11th, liquid nitrogen is not able to be shipped cross-country. The solution is to use nitrogen vapor in a foam insulating material that lasts a few days.
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- First of 3 straws comes out of the vapor-filled tank
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- First straw goes into the water bath
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- Straw being warmed in 94-98 degree water bath
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- Straw coming out of nitrogen tank
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- Holding the now thawed straw over a tube in water bath
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- 2 straws of semen in tube
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- Noon
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- The inside of the tank, with nitrogen vapor
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- Using syringe to draw up semen
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- Change syringe to needle tip to prepare for injection into the uterus
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- Injecting semen into uterine horn
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- Injecting into the second horn
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- Uterus back inside, surgery complete
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- Suturing up the wound
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- All finished, less than 1 hour total time.
May 3, 2016 at 3:53 pm
I currently live in Southern Arizona. Where do you go to have frozen semen collected and processed? Thank you. Fun & Smiles, CC Heart Cindy 🙂