Dr Mary Sebzda is a board certified theriogenologist. This means she has a specialty in reproduction. Although this means babies to a lot of us, Mary tells us it is much more complicated. Dr Sebzda is here to help experienced as well as inexperienced breeders. She is Southern California's favorite board certified small animal theriogenologist. Much of her work revolves around the hormones that are produced by our dog and cat's reproductive system. She has devoted several articles to explain the role these hormones play in a successful breeding and sometimes how they can be manipulated to our benefit.

Estrogen is very important in the normal heat cycle that is so important to reproduction. The end result is what makes us all smile at Newport Harbor; a pregnant mom followed by kittens and puppies. Mary will look for signs of estrogen when she does vaginal cytology to examine the cells for evidence of early heat. This is very important in the timing of breeding.

Estrogen sometimes appears when it shouldn't. Dr Sebzda will often act as a detective when this happens. Sometimes these sources of estrogen are in medications used for their human owners in hormone replacement therapy.

Progesterone is a hormone that plays an important role in the reproductive cycle. Here at NHAH Dr Sebzda uses the progesterone level to detect ovulation. She notes that this hormone does not act exactly the same in dogs and cats. Measuring this hormone is one of the many tools to help successfully breed both cats and dogs.

Hormones such as relaxin, prolactin and luteinizing hormone (LH) all have a roll in some phase of reproduction. The information in Dr Sebzda's articles will help to explain how these hormones work and how we can put them to work for you to have a successful breeding.

Dr Sebzda also has the expertise to do frozen semen. This has many purposes and can help take travel distances and timing out of the picture. Her article on frozen semen explains the technique and also points out some if its significant uses. The last frozen semen breeding done by Dr Sebzda here in Orange County used semen from a dog outside the state. The breeding yielded seven Portuguese Water Dog puppies.

Dr Sebzda has written articles to help breeders plan breeding for their dogs and cats. The science of planned breeding is highlighted here. As backyard casual breeding starts to fade away, planned breeding is essential. This helps to control population. It allows breeders and veterinarians to work together to improve the quality of our large variety of breeds.

We are very proud of Mary's accomplishments here at NHAH. If you have any questions please be sure to call Dr Sebzda and our American Animal Hospital Accredited staff at 949-631-2211 as we are here to help.