Comparison of efficiency between two artificial insemination methods using frozen–thawed semen in domestic cat (Felis catus): Artificial insemination in domestic cats

The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of the intravaginal (IVAI) vs. intrauterine artificial insemination (IUAI) using frozen–thawed sperm in the domestic cat. Semen was collected from two tom cats using an artificial vagina and samples were assessed for motility (computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA)), sperm morphology and plasma membrane integrity. After dilution with TRIS/OEP/YOLK (4% of glycerol), sperm samples were loaded into 0.25 mL straws (25 × 106 motile sperm/straw), incubated at 5 °C for 20 min and cryopreserved over liquid nitrogen (LN2) vapor for 15 min and then immersed in LN2. For each AI, four straws from the same male were thawed (12 s at 46 °C) and centrifuged at 250 × g for 8 min to pellet the sperm. The supernatant was discarded and sperm pellet resuspended with the remaining liquid, approximately 100 μL, and analyzed as described above. Queens were treated with a single im injection of 100 IU eCG to induce ovarian follicular development. Final oocyte maturation and ovulation was induced with 100 IU hCG given im at 82–84 h after eCG administration. Thirty hours after hCG administration, females were inseminated either intrauterine (n = 8 queens) or intravaginally (n = 8 queens), using thawed sperm from a single male. Although a pronounced decrease in sperm motility, acrosome and plasma membrane integrity was observed in sperm samples from both cats, a pregnancy rate of 75% was achieved when using the intrauterine AI method compared with 0% pregnancy when inseminated intravaginally.