Vet Helps Pets Conceive With Artificial Insemination

Tiffani Tucker

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) -- Some couples turn to doctors to help them conceive. Now, some pet owners are doing the same. They're coming to northeast Ohio to use artificial insemination to breed their animals.

"We store the semen samples in these liquid nitrogen tanks. The samples are good forever. At least for hundreds of years," said Dr. Robert Hutchison.

He's one of the first veterinarians in the world to offer artificial insemination for dogs. Hutchison is considered one of the best of the best, helping pet owners breed their animals. The well-respected vet has been doing AI's for more than 35 years. People from all over the world come to the Animal Clinic Northview in North Ridgeville, where the doctor performs more than 700 procedures every year.

"It gives us a chance to increase the people's odds. To help them breed the better individuals, the healthiest individuals, and to us, I say help people achieve their dreams. So many of the times, the father and the mother of the puppies have never met," explained Hutchison.

Hutchison takes the semen from living and deceased dogs to continue their gene breeding process. He also artificially inseminates cats.

Kathy Seider has been a breeder for 20 years. She has brought her dogs to the clinic for the procedure and just recently one of her pets had a litter. Now, her 18-month-old Labrador Retriever named Violet is going to be artificially inseminated.

"I'm fortunate that I'm only 45 minutes away from one of the world renown repro guys. So I come here," said Seider.

Hutchison's already tested Violet's blood and monitored her hormone level, so doctors know the best time for her to get pregnant. She is artificially inseminated with a "donation" from Violet's boyfriend, Luke.

"I'm actually going to put the catheter through into the uterus, which I'm doing right there. Then we're going to take the sample and inject it through the catheter. This is actually the semen sample that we collected from the dog earlier and you can see it's going right through this little catheter. I'll just be filling the uterus," explained Hutchison.

The five-minute, minimally-invasive procedure called "transcervical insemination" has no pain and no sedation. Hutchison says it's more economical than the surgery route.

"This way, we go home without having to worry about anesthesia recovery, the risk of anesthesia," Hutchison said.

Violet was sent home Tuesday. In less than a month, Violet will be checked out to see if she'll be a new mom. If things go well, Violet could have her litter in May. If not, they'll try again in August.

"It's relatively not that expensive. Certainly not as cheap if they were out in the backyard doing their thing," laughed Seider.
The cost for the procedure is about $350.

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