Have just got an email advertising Ovuilation Pads

Just wondered if any one had used them

http://www.ovulationpads.info/

I used them for my litter and they were great- Low cost, easy to use and can't mistake when bitch has ovulated.
I will deff use again

Thanks. Anyone else had any experiences ?

I'm not convinced of the Science, if any of this or the ferning microscope matetel thing either.  Aren't these pads to do with glucose detection in diabetics?  Or for testing for sugar in urine?

After all the majority of bitches will mate and conceive, with canine conception rates being around 90%.

If there was really such a simple method as these then there would be no need for blood tests.

I would doubt very much that these particular strips are testing for sugar, I would think they are to detect a hormone (oestrogen Or the likes) although there are strips very simiar to detect glucose and ketosis and other things like protein, blood and Specific gravity ETC in urine samples. I am sceptical to the accuracey of these strips and that is why I asked.

Thanks for your input.

CC

I am using them now,my girl being on day 8 so probably not ready but being a toy breed she hasn't got much discharge anyway and the bit that is there is blood so the pink bit on the stick looks darker because its got red blood on it !! Hope that makes sense , I suppose what I'm saying is , how easy is it to tell the difference in the colour? I'ts the first time I've had them so have not as yet seen any change and a pink square with red blood on it obviously looks darker...lol It tells you to look for a burgundy colour which it is when it gets blood on it !!!

Hi my girl is a toy breed too and I thought the same as you. The sticks turn purple at ovulation - very easy to see.
I am guessing they measuer progesterone/ oestrogen ratio but Karen who sells them will tell you if you give her a call.

Oh , well I will keep on with them , I have just been using them for 3 days now so hopefully should see something in a few days....thanks!

I tried them out on my girl last month just to get the hang of using them.The sticks were pink upto her 13th day then they turned purple over the next couple of days so I presume this is when she ovulated.Will definately try them again on my other girl who I will be mating this time.

Forgot to say my other girl missed last time so hopefully the sticks will help me with her timing.

I ordered some recently, so am wondering the same myself!  I have a visiting bitch arriving on Monday, being dropped off and leaving her until I phone them to say pick her up!  So, I am going to give them a whirl.  Tried Matel a long while back, and it wasn't any good for my toy breeds.  I did wonder though, about the blood on the pink end of the stick.  And if it would be easy to tell the difference in colour.  It's no good folk telling me that they run clear and it's straw coloured, because I have 2 girls who bleed throughout, mate when bleeding, and still get pregnant.

> It's no good folk telling me that they run clear and it's straw coloured, because I have 2 girls who bleed throughout, mate when bleeding, and still get pregnant.

Mine too bleed throughout and after mating too.

My mentor had recommended them as she had a girl who had never had a succesful mating- she is an early ovulator and ovulates day 3 and needs mated days 5- she was succesful this time.
It was also her who told me to round the edges with a nail file as they can be a bit jaggy on a small breed.

Good luck

We used them last year and have to say we weren't keen and won't be buying them again, simply because we found them to be quite sharp.  Friends in the breed who bought them agree.  Much prefer the Draminski.

Wonder if these strips would work for a dog that has silent heats.  In six years with Casie I have only seen on drop and it was pink.  Took her immediately to the male but the breeding missed.  This time I would not have had any idea that she was in heat if it were not for having the male in the house.  Sonny told me she was in.
I am keeping the female for this litter and I hope I do not have the same problem with her, although it does save the furniture and carpets. lol
Think I will look to see if we can get them here, and then just give them a try, when I am not breeding, and see if they really do work, (check the strip with a smear).

I usd them and although my bitch is now in whelp I found the pads difficult to read and their edges were too sharp so that my bitch really objected to their use - so much so that I stopped using them after a few days !.

So for me the jury's out on their effectiveness 1

Yvonne

When my girls are in season, they don't like any interferrance with their rear ends until they are ready for mating, so I'm 100% they would also object to them being used.

I have used the MateTel method, and have had positive outcome each time, the first time we used it we had a litter of 9 which is pretty big for a cocker spaniel, second time we had 7, third time 7.....so I'm happy with the results and have found them pretty reliable

I've just tried the pads and a microscope and although the jury is still out (as we don't know if she is 'in pup' or not), the colour change with the pads was unmistakable.  I had no difficulty with using them and the bitch is a small breed (but was very swollen) and I tested from day 4 until day 12.  She hardly bled at all and I struggled to get any fluid at all on the pad but on her 9th day the pad had changed from it's dark pink that it was the day before, to obvious purple.

I struggled with the microscope and couldn't get much evidence of ferning any day.  I got a mating, albeit a slip mating, on her 11th day so we'll have to see if it was the right day!

Karen of Ovulation Pads, is really nice and so very helpful... I can only champion her customer service...

I think I've said this before.   Vet son did a final year thesis on similar pads to predict ovulation, and the findings were definitely not conclusive.   There was , and has been for many years, a theory that if you use Clinistix (the sort used for testing diabetes) the colour changes red to purplish-brown.   You served the bitch 48 hours later.

Sadly not an reliable method - it would just be too cheap and easy!

Jo
Casblaidd Flatcoated Retrievers