ACCURACY AND PATIENT ACCEPTANCE OF VULVAR STAMP SMEAR FOR ESTROUS CYCLE EVALUATION IN DOGS

Abstract

Vaginal cytology can facilitate determination of the estrous stage in dogs. Although some studies recommended the vaginal cotton swab smear (VCSS) method for sample collection, some veterinarians prefer the vulvar stamp smear (VSS) method for its convenience and to avoid causing trauma or introducing pathogens from the posterior vagina to the anterior vagina. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has compared the results obtained using VCSS and VSS. In this study, the two methods were used to collect samples from 81 dogs. All slides were blindly examined by three veterinarians. Cells were classified into parabasal cells, intermediate cells, superficial cells, and anuclear cells according to cell outline and nuclear appearance. The predominant cell type was identified and recorded. The agreement rate between the methods for the four types was 90.9%, 86.9%, 62.1%, and 23.3%, respectively. Overall, agreement rate was 65.0%. The agreement for the intermediate and anuclear cells was significantly higher and lower than the expected, respectively ([Formula: see text] for both). The VSS method was reported by the owner to be significantly more accepted than the VCSS method ([Formula: see text]). In conclusion, significant differences in anuclear cell identification between the methods were observed. Therefore, VSS results, particularly those for anuclear cells, should be cautiously interpreted.