HD and hip x-rays - Page 2

Bob, HD a-stamps are not repeated. The dog gets the first KKL on the original a-stamp. The KKL for life (LZ) is done 2 years after the first KKL, without any need for additional x-rays, still on the original a-stamp. Only active breeding males have to submit an additional x-ray after 30 studs or so. Igslady, from your report the different systems you use really seem all over the place. Some say x-rays pass, others would not pass them, on the same dogs. And dogs go from bad to good or good to bad. Interesting note that a dog with tight hips still got diagnosed with HD. PennHip bases their system on laxity, so that one slipped by their system. Since that dog PennHiped at 90%, I wonder if a repeat PennHip would still pass the dog? Have you ever considered doing it again on that dog? PennHip also claims to be accurate from the age of 4 months. According to your account you seem to have had different experiences than that... May I ask how you raise your dogs, what you feed, how you expercise dogs between the age of one and two? Just wondering of there may be a correlation.

Thanks D.H.. I should have added that those requirements were for active breeding dogs only, and not for non-breeding dogs that are merely breed-surveyed. I was trying not to be too wordy. Thanks for your addendum to prevent incorrect information. Regards, Bob-O

D.H., I should add that you made a good observation about pass/fail and different results for the same dog through the same type of examination done at different times in the dog's life. As you know it usually points to a lack of positioning consistency during the x-ray, but there is one (1) other issue to consider. The veterinarian that I use (he does many O.F.A. exams) told me once that often the problem is not caused merely by poor positioning, but from the use of a radiographic film developing machine that has maladjusted rollers, dirty silver solution, or a combination of the two (2). I spent many years in the graphic arts industry and know that he made a very good point as nearly identical equipment is still used in that industry to produce offset film for printing plates. These imperfections of the developer will can cause voids, streaks, and specks to appear on a developed silver-based film. At arm's length one usually will not see these imperfections, but under close examination they will appear. They distort the finer features of the true image, and of course to careful eyes this can cause the final opinion of an x-ray to be swayed. The gap between the tibia ball and the acetebelum can appear larger than it really is due to "shadowing" of the film, and the appearance of the joint's "roundness" and fit is thus affected. And specks on the image can appear to be minor arthritic changes. He stated further that many veterinary offices don't maintain their machines very well because of (a) the cost of the disposal of spent developer and fixer solution, and (b) they are seldom looking for very fine details on an x-ray unless they are trying to examine a small joint rather than a broken bone, etc.. This is one (1) more reason for the inconsistency of x-rays done at different times by the same veterinarian's office. I think this is an issue that one must consider when doing any x-ray evaulation of hips, and especially elbows since they are much tougher to determine because the intent is to find not large, but very small imperfections of the components of the elbow joint. Bob-O