OFA X-rays, Vets who can do it right. - Page 3

IMO dogs should be sedated to the point of relaxation for hip xrays.

Blitzen, to my understanding, Dr Link used to be on the board for OFA. People come from all over the country to have their dogs xrayed with him. He is simply that good. My OFA excellent was done by him. My other dog really should have been excellent, too, but I settled for a good. I love that he doesn't sedate them.

OFA recommends sedation to the point of relaxation. It probably isn't a big deal for most dogs, but if the dog is fighting the manipulation by tightening its  muscles, a younger dog with mild subluxation can be missed before the remodeling begins.  I've seen it with a few of my own dogs and saw it when I studied under Riser at Penn. He was a big stickler for sedation for hip xrays. 

Not too long ago someone put a link here to a website that listed about 20, 25 dogs, maybe more, about 80% of which rated as mildly dysplastic/borderline when xrayed while sedated, passed with mostly fairs, some goods, and I think 1 or 2 excellents when redone without sedation - reason given for failure, subluxation.  I doubt it would make a difference with an excellent other than the dog MIGHT get a good instead.  Some vets and their techs are good at positioning whether or not the dog is sedated. It's not so much that sedation makes it easier to position the dog well, it's that there are going to be a few dogs that are going to get an OFA number when xrayed awake than wouldn't pass if sedated. A small percentage to be sure, but still a possibility. I sure wouldn't re-xray a dog that passed without sedation unless it produced more HD that expected, Then I would want to take another look with the dog sedated.

I can understand not wanting to have the dog sedated.

Doesn't the SV require sedation for hip xrays?

Dr Cindi Bossart
Oakland Park Animal Hospital
Ft Lauderdale, Fl

I'll be taking my Carbon there is a couple months for hers when she turns two.
Dr Cindi is a 2 hour (one way) drive for me and worth every minute
She is also a good repro vet

ChrisD, Thank you so much! I don't even have my pup yet (she is arriving tomorrow), but at least I know where to take her when the time is right. I'm probably going to do pre-lims at 1 year just so I know what her hips and elbows are like. I'm not going to breed, so it is for my own knowledge. Thank you again, Char

this kinda went off subject........
i was hoping for only a list of vets who can do it well without commentary.......
anyone else have good experiences with x-rays?