There is another means of assessing dogs’ hips, called Penn-HIP. Pulling the legs this way might actually push the femur (thigh bone) into the hip socket, masking any dysplasia! Having a dog lie on his back and pulling the hips straight out and down mimics how a human stands, but it is obviously not a natural position for the hips. One thing – the positioning of the x-rays may not be ideal for detecting laxity, or early dysplasia, in the hips. OK, so if your dog has good hips, what’s the problem? A study was published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association that shows the widely accepted OFA ratings may not be as accurate as we’d like. Evaluating the hip joint is rather subjective, and often the three specialists may not agree. Here’s their website on how they average the 3 opinions. Hips with signs of dysplasia are rates Mild, Moderate, or Severe. Normal hips are rated Fair, Good, or Excellent. These x-rays are submitted to the OFA, where three veterinarians who are specialists in radiology read the x-rays independently. To get the certification, a dog must be at least 2 years of age, and have x-rays performed under sedation or, ideally, general anesthesia. OFA stands for Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. Genetics certainly plays a big role, but nutrition, body weight, environment, muscle mass, and even hormones all may play a role as well. Turns out this disease involves many many factors. One study showed that if two parents have good hips by OFA standards, 1 in 4 of the puppies may still develop hip dysplasia. Damaged cartilage means more friction, and major pain! The destruction of the cartilage leads to arthritis – inflammation of the joint. This friction erodes the cartilage that normally stays between the two bones to provide cushioning. This instability leads to bone-on-bone rubbing, and that is where the pain comes in. If the socket is shallow, we have looseness, or instability. The socket needs to be deep enough to cover the ball without it slipping around. It’s a ball-and-socket joint (think 8th grade biology) with the head of the femur as the ball, and the pelvis, or acetabulum, as the socket. It’s defined as a looseness in the joint, causing the junction of the femur (thigh bone) and the pelvis to wobble and be unstable. Hip dysplasia is a complicated, multifactorial disease. If they parents have good hips and are OFA certified, then your puppy won’t have hip trouble later in life, right? (Some bad breeders do this to, but it’s a start). With so many crooked breeders out there, we veterinarians have told clients one thing to look for is the breeder getting both parents OFA certified for good hips. That said, some people want a specific niche breed that cannot be found (easily) in a rescue. Until the shelters are empty, it makes no sense to buy a dog from someone contributing to the problem. As you know, I am a huge proponent of adopting dogs from shelters and rescues.
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