ULTRASONOGRAPHIC PREGNANCY DETECTION AND INHALATION ANESTHESIA IN THEGRAY SHORT-TAILED OPOSSUM (MONODELPHIS-DOMESTICA)

Female gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelph is domestica) with known breeding dates were anesthetized with isoflurane for ultrasonographic pregnancy detection, Beginning on gestational day 9, gravid females co uld be identified using a 9-MHz mechanical sector-scanning transducer equipped with a standoff pad, Fluid-filled vesicles 3 to 4 mm in diame ter were seen within the thick-walled uteri on gestational days 9 and 10, Visualization revealed loss of individual vesicles, with replaceme nt by thick, irregular uterine walls and some free luminal fluid by ge stational days 12 and 13, On the basis of subsequent birth of pups, so nographic diagnosis of pregnancy was accurate in 27 of 28 opossums exa mined.