If you have a female that you want to breed, progesterone testing is the first step in the breeding process. At Strafford Vet we use progesterone testing to track the heat cycle in females and then make a breeding plan. We also monitor progesterone throughout the pregnancy since it is the main hormone maintaining pregnancy.
We recommend to bring your female in for a progesterone test 5 to 7 days after the first signs of heat. When determining the first signs of heat you should look for a swollen vulva, any spotting or light bleeding, tail flagging, or any males showing interest in the female. You do not need an appointment for a progesterone test, but we do recommend being at the clinic before 10:30am.
Progesterone tests are ran on a sample collected from a blood draw. It takes 45 minutes to an hour to get results back. Once our reproductive teams receives and evaluates the results they will give you a call with the recommended next steps. With perfectly normal movement, usually only 3 to 5 progesterone tests are needed before breeding.