Practical use of a combination of a dopamine agonist and a synthetic prostaglandin analogue to terminate unwanted pregnancy in dogs

The combination of a dopamine agonist, caber-goline, and a synthetic analogue of prostaglandin F_2a, cloprostenol, was used to induce termination of pregnancy from day 25 after the estimated luteinising hormone surge (day 27 ± 4 after the first mating) in five mature beagle bitches. Caber-goline was administered orally at 5 μg/kg daily and cloprostenol was injected subcutaneously at 1 μg/kg every other day. Treatment efficacy, in terms of pregnancy termination, was 100 per cent. Termination always took place by resorption of the fetuses. No side effects were observed. A mean of three injections of cloprostenol and nine days of cabergoline treatment was necessary to eliminate all signs of gestation. Termination was in each case accompanied by a decline in plasma progesterone (to less than 1 ng/ml) within 72 hours of initiation of treatment. In a control group of five, untreated bitches, plasma progesterone remained elevated throughout a corre-