Page 1153 - Problem-Based Feline Medicine

55. The infertile queen

Isobel Phebe Johnstone

KEY SIGNS
● Normal estrus cycles and failure to produce a litter.
● Failure to cycle.
● Prolonged interestrous intervals.

MECHANISM?
● Infertility is the failure of a queen to produce a litter. It is the result of abnormalities in the
female (e.g. infection, congenital abnormalities) or male or environmental management
practices which prevent successful mating and pregnancy.
Signs of infertility include:
● Normal estrus cycles and failure to produce a litter.
● Failure to cycle.
● Prolonged interestrous intervals.

WHERE?
● Reproductive tract (ovaries, uterus, vagina and vulva).
WHAT?
● The most common problems associated with infertility are:
● Environmental and management practices.
● Viral or bacterial infections.

QUICK REFERENCE SUMMARY
Diseases causing an infertile queen

ANOMALY
● Congenital abnormalities (p 1156)
The queen appears physically normal but there is a structural abnormality in the reproductive tract
that is a barrier to intromission or to the movement of sperm. Chromosomal abnormalities can
present as phenotypically normal females that do not exhibit estrus.
continued

1145