Home-style pregnancy test...Do Queens have a positive test?

[abi]

Hello: I'm a new member and wanted to introduce myself. I breed Somalis.
In the past it was difficult to tell if some of the wanna-be mothers were truely bred at 3 weeks. It was not until ultra-sound imaging was done that pregnancy was confirmed.
I was wondering if the standard drug-store (human) urine pregnancy test would detect cat beta-HCG? BetaHCG is highly conserved (similar in many species). Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

[harriet]

Sorry Abi, I'm not that scientific. I use the good old fashioned 'pinking up' test. Somewhere around 3-4 gestation the queens nipples take on a rose colour. Couple that with a little morning sickness at the beginning and they are usually pregnant.
The 'pinking up' thing can be misleading at times as I once didn't notice my tom cat had crawled onto my lap and thought, " oh good, she's pregnant!"

 

[abi]

Thanks Harriet:
I have two Queens who are sisters. I just bred one and am watching for the signs you mentioned, I guess I will obtain urine from each of them and perform the experiment. If the bred one doesn't go into heat, I'll take her for the usual U/S. Regardless of the result, I will post it on this forum.
Abi

 

[Anne]

Well, that would be interesting to know.

 

[abi]

I put the question out to some of the vets at Yale (where I work)hopefully, I'll have an answer soon. I might also contact someone I know at VHUP who specializes in Aby and Mollie genetics.

My bred kitty has alittle morning sickness and hasn't gone into heat yet.

 

[abi]

Thus far, a vet at Yale U told me that the human pregnancy test will not work on a pregnant queen because "the hormone spikes are different". I am still looking into this because I am not sure if it is a matter of timing when the test is done vs incompatibility. Abi

 

[sandie]

I don't know, I asked the vet I work with the same question. He said if they came out with a pregnancy test that would test for another hormone it would work. He said for now, that the hormone human tests look for are not seen in felines. I wish I had written down the hormone he was talking about.

 

[abi]

Thanks Sandie:
I wonder if it's feline choriogonadotrophin? I let you know when I find more info.