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Home-style pregnancy test...Do Queens have a positive test?

post #1 of 8
2/7/01 at 4:15pm
Thread Starter 
Hello: I'm a new member and wanted to introduce myself. I breed Somalis.
In the past it was difficult to tell if some of the wanna-be mothers were truely bred at 3 weeks. It was not until ultra-sound imaging was done that pregnancy was confirmed.
I was wondering if the standard drug-store (human) urine pregnancy test would detect cat beta-HCG? BetaHCG is highly conserved (similar in many species). Does anyone have any experience with this?
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post #2 of 8
2/10/01 at 4:32am
Sorry Abi, I'm not that scientific. I use the good old fashioned 'pinking up' test. Somewhere around 3-4 gestation the queens nipples take on a rose colour. Couple that with a little morning sickness at the beginning and they are usually pregnant.
The 'pinking up' thing can be misleading at times as I once didn't notice my tom cat had crawled onto my lap and thought, " oh good, she's pregnant!"
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post #3 of 8
2/10/01 at 10:52am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Harriet:
I have two Queens who are sisters. I just bred one and am watching for the signs you mentioned, I guess I will obtain urine from each of them and perform the experiment. If the bred one doesn't go into heat, I'll take her for the usual U/S. Regardless of the result, I will post it on this forum.
Abi
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post #4 of 8
2/11/01 at 6:52am
Well, that would be interesting to know.
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post #5 of 8
2/14/01 at 9:26am
Thread Starter 
I put the question out to some of the vets at Yale (where I work)hopefully, I'll have an answer soon. I might also contact someone I know at VHUP who specializes in Aby and Mollie genetics.

My bred kitty has alittle morning sickness and hasn't gone into heat yet.
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post #6 of 8
2/19/01 at 8:05am
Thread Starter 
Thus far, a vet at Yale U told me that the human pregnancy test will not work on a pregnant queen because "the hormone spikes are different". I am still looking into this because I am not sure if it is a matter of timing when the test is done vs incompatibility. Abi
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post #7 of 8
2/19/01 at 4:56pm
I don't know, I asked the vet I work with the same question. He said if they came out with a pregnancy test that would test for another hormone it would work. He said for now, that the hormone human tests look for are not seen in felines. I wish I had written down the hormone he was talking about.
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post #8 of 8
2/20/01 at 7:33am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Sandie:
I wonder if it's feline choriogonadotrophin? I let you know when I find more info.
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