Small animal reproduction: Scientific facts versus dogmas or unverified beliefs

Small Animal Reproduction is a rather recent topic in the field of Animal Reproduction. Although some continuing educational societies aim to improve the level of general knowledge, published scientific facts are still limited, and there are many hypotheses or affirmations that remain unverified or even sometimes dogmatic or empirical. Through examples, this article reviews the main causes that may sometimes challenge a veterinary practitioner faced with a dog or a cat presenting reproductive problems. It could be difficult to orientate the diagnosis or the therapeutic approach, not knowing if what is found in the literature is a scientific proof or just an unverified affirmation. This problem may result from the fact that there are still physiological processes that remain unclear, but also that some common beliefs are based on old studies that have not been repeated or verifiedIn addition, to make it more challenging to seek for the information, there are unverifiedaffirmations,unclear nomenclature, clinical conditions which have not been standardized in the literature, clinical conditions mostly described through case reports, lack of studies on specific topics, areas of small animal reproduction that have been neglected by researchers, contradictory data or even studies that lack objectivity. The growing interest for research in Small Animal Reproduction will probably reduce the gap between unverified beliefs and scientific facts.