I have been progesterone testing my bitch and was told by my vet after the last test on thursday that it should be ok to test again today and she should be Ok. I have just got the results back and she has gone from 7.5nmols thursday to 85nmols today and the lab says she is probably too late to mate. Anyone have any experience of mating very late in a season? or exactly what the levels mean? thanks

I would at least give it a go - leave now!!  If the dog doesn't want to know, well you can't do much but I do believe people do have litters from a late mating

There's no harm in trying, but if she doesn't want to know and won't let him, don't push things - it's too late.  I've had something similar to this happen to me, using Idexx and Larry as well.  Luckily for us, we decided to try anyway before having gotten a result back - and just as well we did.  It's also why I will never rely entirely on progesterone testing in future and will always build in other insurance policies - like cytology, and good old 'just get there early and keep trying occasionally' or 'stay with the stud' ideas. 

As for what the levels mean:

0-2 Nmol or 0- 0.6ng   Baseline  

3 - 6 Nmol or 0.9 - 1.8ng minimum two days to ovulation but could persist for up to a week. Minimum estimated breeding 4-6 days

7 -12 Nmol or 2.2 - 3.7ng minimum one day to ovulation. estimated breeding window 3 -5 days

13 - 18 Nmol or 4 - 5.6ng ovulation impending or just occurred. Estimated breeding window 2-4days

19 - 31 Nmol or 5.9 - 9.7ng ovulation recently occurred. Estimated breeding window 1-3 days

32 - 64 Nmol or 10.6 - 20.2ng Ova mature Optimum fertility. Estimated breeding window 0 - 2 days

65 - 90 Nmol or 20.4 - 28.3ng ova mature but ageing, decreased fertility. Breed at once

90Nmol plus or 28.3ng plus - too late

So at 85, you might just have been ok - but will need to act fast if that was today's result... You might also get a small litter...

I have got a 85 result from bloods taken day before and rushed to stud. She stood for mate and had pups. I think the only time you really know for sure is if you can pinpoint ovulation......I think how quickly levels rise can vary from bitch to bitch.

> 65 - 90 Nmol or 20.4 - 28.3ng ova mature but ageing, decreased fertility. Breed at once <br /><br />90Nmol plus or 28.3ng plus - too late

Thanks . We did go. Stud keen, bitch not so much. Will see what happens. I dont mind a small litter. One (bitch) will be fine :)
As to whether it will be too late blood taken at 8:40 am was 85nmols. Got to the stud at about 9pm. dont now how much more the levels would have risen over those 12 hours so could well be too late but bitch getting on and this is pretty much the last time I will be able to try so fingers crossed.

Let us know, I'd be very interested to hear what happens :)

You know that she hadn't yet ovulated on Thursday morning. So when you take into account the eggs need to mature over 48hrs and then can stay fertile for a couple more days I would say you have a good chance. Good luck!!

will let you know