Pseudopregnancy in Goats Diagnosed by Ultrasonography and Treated by PGF 2α in Khartoum State

Abstract

The present study was conducted to diagnose and treat pseudopregnancy in goats, follow the treated animals as well as to report the prevalence and associated risk factors of pseudopregnancy in goats in Khartoum State, Sudan. A Cross-sectional study was carried out from March 2015 to February 2016 on 378 female goats that presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, College of Veterinary Medicine, Sudan University of Science and Technology, for routine sonographic pregnancy diagnosis. Ultrasound scanning was performed using a real-time scanner (Pie Medical, Easote, The Netherlands) equipped with dual frequency (3.5-5) MHz transabdominal curvilinear transducer while the animal was in a dorsal docubitus in especial designed table. The results showed that out of 378 examined goats, 40 were pseudopregnant. Pseudopregnant goats showed compartmentalized fluid-filled uterus without fetal parts and placentomes. The overall prevalence of pseudopregnancy in goats in Khartoum State was 10.6%. Risk factors such as breed (P-value = 0.082), general body condition (P-value = 0.05), age (P-value = 0.019), type of estrus (P-value = 0.000), milk yield (P- value = 0.114), previous history of reproductive performance (P-value = 0.020) and type of feeding (P-value = 0.190) showed significant association (P-value ≤ 0.25) with the occurrence of pseudopregnancy in the univariate analysis. However, season (P-value = 0.264), locality (P-value = 0.264), parity number (P-value = 0.767) and rearing system (P-value = 0.451) were not significantly associated with pseudopregnancy. One risk factor (type of insemination) was not subjected to statistical analysis due to the fact that all animals in the present study were naturally mated. Results also revealed that breed (P-value = 0.018) and type of estrus (P-value = 0.019) had statistical significant association with pseudopregnancy (p-value ≤ 0.05) in the multivariate analysis. All positive cases were successfully treated using 125 μg intramuscular injection of Cloprostenol. Out of 40 treated animals, 4 (10%) of them showed recurrent pseudopregnancy. 2 out of 4 goats with recurrent pseudopregnancy responded to additional dose of Cloprostenol and conceived as confirmed by ultrasound. The other two goats were diagnosed again as pseudopregnant. In conclusion, this study showed for the first time that pseudopregnancy is a real- reproductive problem in goats in Khartoum State and ultrasonography is an accurate, rapid, reliable and non-invasive technique for diagnosis of this condition as well as Cloprostenol proved an efficient treatment.