Semen Quality of Captive Fishing Cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) Obtained by Electroejaculation

Abstract

Fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is categorized in a group of small cats. The cat has brownish grey fur with dark brown spots and lines running across the length of body. It is wildlife conserved (IUCN) and protected as wildlife animal in Thailand. It is also in the CITES Appendix II. The aim of this study was to study semen quality of this cat by electroejaculation. Five male fishing cats aging approximately 13 years old and body weighed between 9-16 kg were employed in this study. Anesthetic by dexmedetomidine (0.02 mg/kg) and ketamine (4 mg/kg)) was used before semen collection. Stimulation patterns for electrical stimuli using 0.5-5 volts by autonomous program were applied into the rectum of each fishing cat using the rectal probe (r=1.27 cm). Semen was successfully collected from sixteen out of twenty attempts. Semen volume and sperm motility were much variable. Average semen volume was 43.13 µl (range between 5-200 µl). Average pH was 5.81 (range from 5-7). Average sperm motility was 28.25 % (range from 1-90 %). Average sperm concentration was 207.44 million/ml (range from 12-860 million/ml). The semen collection method developed in this study proved to be a useful technique for frozen semen preservation and planning of artificial insemination in order to propagate and conserve the threatened and endangered fishing cat species in the future.