Special Issue "New Approaches to Non-Surgical Sterilization for Dogs and Cats"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Companion Animals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Giovanni M. Lacalandra
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine (DiMeV), Section of Obstetric Clinic, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", via per Casamassima km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy
Interests: endocrine and hormonal and reproductive conditioning of birds and wild animals; pregnancy physiology; fetal development; interaction between thyroid function and reproduction; embryo recovery of sheep; in vitro maturation and fertilization of oocytes in animals; interaction between endogenous opioids and reproduction studies
Dr. Raffaella Leoci
E-Mail
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Section of Obstetric Clinic, University of Bari Aldo Moro, sp per Casamassima km 3, Valenzano, 70010 Bari, Italy
Interests: non-surgical sterilization of companion animals; ultrasound; mechanical castration; intratesticular injection of chemicals; chemical castration; non-conventional therapies; treatment of andrological diseases; remote identification of stray dogs subjected to sterilization treatment
Prof. Dr. Giulio G. Aiudi
E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Section of Obstetric Clinic, University of Bari Aldo Moro, sp per Casamassima km 3, Valenzano, 70010 Bari, Italy
Interests: male and female genital pathologies in animals and non-conventional species; reproductive conditioning in dogs and cats; biotechnology studies and improvement of reproductive performance; veterinary andrology; non-surgical contraception; chemical sterilization methods in dogs and cats

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As it is well known, the attempts to control the reproduction of companion animals have a long history. More recently the most commonly used methods have been spaying and neutering. Surgical sterilization has had an important role in reducing the number of stray or euthanized pet in shelters, but it requires infrastructure and resources that make it unsuitable to reduce the population of unwanted dogs and cats worldwide. Unfortunately has been estimated that there are more than 200 million stray dogs worldwide that means that new strategies have to be found. Since the mid-1970s, researchers have been investigating alternatives to using surgery to sterilize dogs and cats. Pharmacological techniques, ultrasounds, intra-testicular injections of chemicals etc. have been studied. Early research investigated the novel idea that animals could be induced to mount an immune response to antigens that are important in reproduction, such as gonadotropins or zona pellucida proteins or the use of a cytotoxin conjugate that could directly target a subset of cells critical for reproduction.

The aim of this Special Issue is therefore to gather the most recent scientific findings on the topic of non-surgical sterilization. Original manuscripts that address different aspects of this topic are invited.

Prof. Giovanni M. Lacalandra
Dr. Raffaella Leoci
Prof. Giulio G. Aiudi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dog
  • cat
  • reproduction
  • non-surgical sterilization

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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Article
Interval between Removal of a 4.7 mg Deslorelin Implant after a 3-, 6-, and 9-Month Treatment and Restoration of Testicular Function in Tomcats
Animals 2020, 10(9), 1559; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10091559 - 02 Sep 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 736
Abstract
Deslorelin implants have been used to produce a reversible sterilization in several species. In cats, the prolonged duration (12–15 months in tomcats and 18–22 months in queen) is often too much for cat breeders who request early implant removal. The interval between implant [...] Read more.
Deslorelin implants have been used to produce a reversible sterilization in several species. In cats, the prolonged duration (12–15 months in tomcats and 18–22 months in queen) is often too much for cat breeders who request early implant removal. The interval between implant removal and resumption of reproductive function in cats has never been investigated. Eighteen tomcats received a 4.7 mg deslorelin implant placed in the periumbilical area and surgically removed during all seasons of the year after 3, 6, or 9 months (n = 6, 6, and 6 cats, respectively). Following implant removal, all cats received a clinical exam every two weeks, including testicular ultrasonographic measurement, observation of penile spikes, and blood collection for serum testosterone assay. Restoration of serum testosterone secretion occurred after 23 ± 6, 23 ± 6, and 22 ± 7 days in the 3-, 6-, and 9-month groups, respectively. Restoration of testicular function was confirmed by histology in 13/15 cats undergoing orchiectomy at the end of the study while the owners of the remaining two cats opted to maintain their animals intact. Removal of a 4.7 mg deslorelin implant after 3, 6, or 9 months is followed by resumption of serum testosterone secretion after about 3 weeks independent of age or season. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Approaches to Non-Surgical Sterilization for Dogs and Cats)
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Article
Reproductive and Behavioral Evaluation of a New Immunocastration Dog Vaccine
Animals 2020, 10(2), 226; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10020226 - 31 Jan 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1012
Abstract
Canine immunocastration development has been of interest for many years as a complementary strategy to surgical castration. The purpose of this paper was to verify the effect of a recombinant vaccine for dog immunocastration. Two tests were done, one under controlled conditions and [...] Read more.
Canine immunocastration development has been of interest for many years as a complementary strategy to surgical castration. The purpose of this paper was to verify the effect of a recombinant vaccine for dog immunocastration. Two tests were done, one under controlled conditions and a second under field conditions. Animals were injected with 1 mL of 500 µg GnRXG/Q recombinant protein; 500 µg of low molecular weight chitosan as adjuvant; 1 mL NaCl 0.9% q.s. In the first trial, eight Beagle male dogs between the ages of 1 and 3 comprised the sample, randomly divided into two groups: vaccinated group (n = 7) and control group (n = 2). The second trial had 32 dogs with owners. In the first controlled conditions trial, the vaccine produced specific antibodies that remained until the end of the trial (day 270), inducing reduced testosterone and spermiogram changes in the immunized animals. In a second trial, on the field, specific immunity was induced, which remained high up to day 150. The vaccine also reduced sexual agonistic and marking behaviors. This new vaccine proved to be safe, immunogenic, capable of reducing gonadal functionality, and had a positive effect on inducing reduced sexual, agonistic, and marking behavior of the animals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Approaches to Non-Surgical Sterilization for Dogs and Cats)
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Review

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Review
Possible Relationship between Long-Term Adverse Health Effects of Gonad-Removing Surgical Sterilization and Luteinizing Hormone in Dogs
Animals 2020, 10(4), 599; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10040599 - 01 Apr 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3214
Abstract
Spaying and neutering dogs is commonly used to prevent the birth of unwanted animals and eliminate the risk of reproductive diseases. However, removal of the gonads prevents the feedback of estrogen and testosterone on the pituitary and hypothalamus. As a result, luteinizing hormone [...] Read more.
Spaying and neutering dogs is commonly used to prevent the birth of unwanted animals and eliminate the risk of reproductive diseases. However, removal of the gonads prevents the feedback of estrogen and testosterone on the pituitary and hypothalamus. As a result, luteinizing hormone (LH) is continuously elevated at supraphysiologic concentrations. Although the main role of LH is for reproductive function (e.g., ovulation), there are LH receptors present in several normal tissues including the thyroid and adrenal glands, gastrointestinal tract, cranial cruciate ligament and round ligament, and lymphocytes. In addition, there are LH receptors present in several neoplastic tissues (e.g., lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma, mastocytoma, transitional cell carcinoma, and osteosarcoma). The role of LH receptors in non-reproductive normal and neoplastic tissues is not known but may stimulate nitric oxide release and induce cell division. The precise etiology of the increased incidence of several non-reproductive long-term health complications following spaying and neutering is not known but may be related to LH receptor activation in these non-reproductive target tissues. How these effects may be mediated is described in this review. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Approaches to Non-Surgical Sterilization for Dogs and Cats)
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