At Orchard House Vets, we have the latest in-house laboratory equipment and can run a multitude of different tests on blood and urine. Progesterone assays is one of these – we see many owners and breeders (and even our own team) perform it and are experienced in interpreting the results to advise on the best time to breed your bitch.

If you are planning on breeding from your bitch, then measuring progesterone levels is an easy and reliable way of gauging the optimum time to mate. It will also give you a more accurate assessment of when your dog is likely to whelp than mating date because we have a good idea of when ovulation has occurred.

Once you have mated your bitch, you may want to take advantage of our pregnancy ultrasound scanning service to confirm that the mating is successful and other useful information.

The ideal time to mate is 48hrs after ovulation after progesterone levels rise to around 20 mmol/L which we can accurately measure to the same standard as an external veterinary laboratory. The test involves taking a small blood sample and we recommend starting this on around day 7 after the start of the season (vulval swelling and bleeding). We can obtain the results within 30 minutes and they will indicate what steps are required over the next 2-4 days depending on the result (when to retest or when to mate).

One of our own pet’s who had a progesterone

The cost of the test is only £56.10 and includes an appointment with a nurse to take the blood, the test itself and interpretation of the results by a veterinary surgeon to advise you on the next steps required. Please be aware that at the moment we only offer this test at our Stocksfield surgery.

If you would like to book an appointment for a progesterone blood test, you can do so by contacting our Stocksfield practice directly on 01661 843259.