Causes of pregnancy arrest in the canine species

Alain Fontbonne

In the canine species, early pregnancy arrest before 30 to 40 days of pregnancy will induce intra-uterine embryonic or fœtal resorption, with very few clinical signs. If no genital examination by ultrasound is performed at that time, it will often remain unnoticed and the bitch will be qualified as infertile. It is only when pregnancy stops at a later stage, mostly after 40 days, that clinical signs will be seen. Expulsion of aborted foetuses or placentas may be observed, although the dam frequently eats the expelled tissues. Intra-uterine mummification may also occur. This article reviews the causes of pregnancy termination in the bitch, both at the embryonic and the foetal stages, reported in the literature. Canine brucellosis is by far the most important disease concerned in this aspect. There is an important current concern about this disease, due to the fact that several outbreaks have been observed recently in Europe, and that it is a very contagious disease ; it may be an underestimated zoonosis. Other bacterial causes of pregnancy arrest are sporadic. There is however a growing attention towards the microbiological content of raw food diets which are more and more popular among dog breeders and may - if badly prepared - contain abortifacient bacteria such as Campylobacter jejuni or Listeria monocytogenes. The abortifacient role of endogenous vaginal bacteria and mycoplasms is unclear and may be related to an imbalanced vaginal flora with subsequent ascending bacterial contamination of the uterus. The role of Canine Herpesvirus on abortion is controversial and probably not frequent. Other viruses have been shown experimentally to induce abortion but their natural occurrence in this respect is unknown. The same applies to the parasite Neospora caninum which is suspected, but not proven, potentially to induce pregnancy arrest in bitches. Among non-infectious causes, uterine pathology such as Cystic Endometrial Hyperplasia (CEH) or sub-clinical post-mating endometritis which can cause infertility and may also induce embryonic resorption. The role of luteal insufficiency in pregnancy arrest is probably overestimated. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.