Clinical evaluation of the use of aglepristone associated with oxytocin to induce parturition in bitch.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of aglepristone 15 mg kg(-1) for induction of parturition in bitches, 22 pregnant beagle bitches were injected subcutaneously on day 60 post-estimated LH surge, and again 24 h later with aglepristone and subsequently were given 0.15 IU kg(-1) oxytocin at hourly intervals until delivery of the last puppy. Six pregnant beagle bitches were used as a non-treated control group. In the control group, parturition occurred at 63.2 +/- 0.5 days, 29 pups were born and the average expulsion time per puppy was 1.0 +/- 0.6 h. In the treated group, parturition was obtained on average 29.7 +/- 5.6 h after aglepristone administration, 121 pups were born and average expulsion time per pup was 1.1 +/- 0.4 h. The percentage of live puppies, 7 weeks after birth, was 86.1% (25/29) and 86.8% (105/121) for the control and treated groups, respectively. No significant difference was observed between the control and treated groups for the average expulsion time per live puppy and for the percentage of live puppies at birth, 48 h, 7 days or 7 weeks after birth (p > 0.05). This study confirms previous results and demonstrates that the combination of aglépristone and oxytocin can be safely and reliably used to induce parturition in beagle bitches, at 60 days post-estimated LH surge.