Revolutionary test determines female reproductive status in both dogs and cats… without surgery!!!
J. Hunter, DVM
Veterinarians and veterinary staff members, rescue groups and animal shelter
employees have long struggled to answer the following question when evaluating a female stray: “Is she spayed?” 
Most of us can tell an intact male dog or cat from a neutered one as they typically will proudly display and broadcast their reproductive status far and wide. With the females of these species it is very different.
Why? No definitively accurate blood test for determining spayed or unspayed status has been available. Advanced imaging has been a non-starter because a normal, involuted uterus does not readily show up radiographically or on ultrasound. In some instances a scar is palpable; however, dogs and cats are like people and not all spayed females have a visible or palpable abdominal scar following surgery. To combat overwhelming, unwanted pet over-population issues, shelter veterinarians are safely and successfully spaying animals at younger and younger ages. It is hardly unusual for individuals spayed at a very young age to have zero hint of a scar just a few short months following surgery. Some rescue groups will tattoo or ear notch animals following spaying, but this practice is typically limited to feral cat populations, and most veterinary staff members readily look for this sort of evidence. Even animals having borne multiple litters prior to surgery do not always show evidence of previous surgery, i.e., no visible or palpable scar is present. So what does that mean for our newly adopted female patients?
Why? No definitively accurate blood test for determining spayed or unspayed status has been available. Advanced imaging has been a non-starter because a normal, involuted uterus does not readily show up radiographically or on ultrasound. In some instances a scar is palpable; however, dogs and cats are like people and not all spayed females have a visible or palpable abdominal scar following surgery. To combat overwhelming, unwanted pet over-population issues, shelter veterinarians are safely and successfully spaying animals at younger and younger ages. It is hardly unusual for individuals spayed at a very young age to have zero hint of a scar just a few short months following surgery. Some rescue groups will tattoo or ear notch animals following spaying, but this practice is typically limited to feral cat populations, and most veterinary staff members readily look for this sort of evidence. Even animals having borne multiple litters prior to surgery do not always show evidence of previous surgery, i.e., no visible or palpable scar is present. So what does that mean for our newly adopted female patients?
Prior to 10 July 2013, this meant clients had three main options:
a. Wait for the patient to display signs of heat.
b. Serially monitor vaginal cytologies for evidence of reproductive cycling.
c. Perform an abdominal exploratory surgery or laparoscopy with the intent of performing surgical sterilization if the patient is reproductively intact, or verifying that this procedure has previously been performed.
Many clients not wanting to risk their pet coming into heat will elect the third option which, in instances where the patient has already been spayed, results in needless patient discomfort and unnecessary client expense.
Thanks to a recent advance in veterinary science, Cornell University’s Animal Health Diagnostic Center has successfully developed a non-invasive hormone assay which effectively determines whether or not a dog or a cat has been spayed. The anti- Müllerian Hormone, or AMH, assay
is used to verify the presence of absence of AMH in a small serum sample and because ovaries are the sole source of AMH in these species, a negative test indicates that the ovaries have indeed been removed. This new test is cost effective, convenient and best of all, is relatively pain free for the patient.
You only want the best for your pet. So do we.
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