In some cases, euthanasia is the only option to spare a horse further suffering. If this happens to a (breeding) stallion, owners who have frozen semen options can consider themselves lucky in their misfortune. For everyone else, it is not too late yet. Even now, some semen options can still be saved.
Collection and Preservation
© Klinik für Pferde
The collection and preservation of sperm from the epididymis may offer the last chance to preserve valuable breeding genes in stud horses that have suffered an accident. This technique can be used not only in the event of an accident requiring the medically necessary euthanasia of the stallion, but also in the context of planned castrations.
To collect epididymal sperm, the epididymal tails, along with as long a section of the vas deferens as possible, are dissected free from the removed testicles and cleaned of any adherent tissue. A sterile catheter is then inserted into the vas deferens, and the vas deferens and epididymal tail are flushed retrograde with a special diluent. The highly concentrated semen obtained in this way is processed and frozen. The number of doses obtained can range from 10 to 40, depending on the size of the testicles and the quality of the semen.
Quality of the Collected Semen
In stallions that have suffered from chronic illness over an extended period and/or have received medication, the quality of the collected semen may naturally be reduced. In general, it should be noted that the quality of preserved epididymal semen is generally considered to be lower than that of conventionally produced forzen semen.
With regard to the potential trade of insemination straws produced in this manner, it should be noted that epididymal semen will generally be subject to restricted trade due to animal health regulations. If the stallion is not enrolled in a testing program at the time of testicle removal, the resulting semen reserve does not receive marketable status and may neither be sold nor stored in an EU-approved semen storage facility. Therefore, blood samples for testing for EIA and EVA, as well as swab samples for testing for CEM, should be collected no later than at the time of testicle removal in order to obtain at least a disease status for the produced frozen semen that is recognized throughout Germany.
Are you interested?
If you are interested in the cryopreservation of epididymal sperm, you can place the testicle - removed with as long a piece of spermatic cord as possible and cleaned with saline solution - in a plastic bag and send it to us within 24 hours at approximately 4 °C in a Styrofoam box with an ice pack (or an Equitainer).
Contact
Please contact us immediately if you plan to use this service so that we can arrange for appropriate biosafety-compliant sample collection tailored to your specific case.
Tel: +49 89 2180 2627
Mobile: +49 173 2465627
Email: pferdeklinik@lmu.de