OFA/PENN HIP - Page 1

Getting ready to  radiograph my 2 year old. If all is well she will eventually be bred. Have done OFA but see more breeders going to Penn Hip.

I live 20 minutes from U of Pennsylvania Vet school. Comments please. which do you prefer and why?

I do both on my dogs but I prefer PENN HIP to OFA.  With PENN HIP you take three different sets of x-rays with the dogs hips in different positions and are able to not only tell if they have HD or not but are also able to determine how much laxity is in each hip.  Based on the number your dog receives from PENN HIP your vet can then give an educated opinion on whether your dog will ever get HD. 

I forgot to mention that another reason I prefer PENN HIP to OFA is that with PENN HIP, all x-rays have to be submitted no matter what the results are, where as with OFA you can choose whether or not to send them in. 

what about elbows? Penn Hip does not have a data base for elbows 

I do only OFA hips/elbows without anesthesia (required by Penn Hip). I believe that "stress xrays" can possibly injure the the joints by torquing them. Also, OFA ratings are reflected on AKC registration certificates and pedigrees.

We do both OFA/PennHip.  Of course only OFA does Elbows-personally I do not like OFA's x-ray for elbows.  When GDC was still around we did GDC at a year-the x-rays for elbows were 2 veiws-one extended and one like for OFA-you could see more comparing the 2.

As for PennHip x-rays putting too much pressure on the hips-Not True!!  We have had over 20 PennHip x rays done and if the hips move they move-if they don't they don't.  Have seen this because we are there when the x-rays are done. The results when compared to OFA do not match most of the time.  We have had Percentiles from the 90th to the 30th in the GSD and <95th to 10th in the Malis/Dutchies.  Also I have been taking Dig PICS of some of the x-rays so we can look and see the hips when the rating are given.  PennHip x-rays do take some getting used to:))

Vikki

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My only concern is with the Penn hip being done on young dogs that still have a lot of cartilage. It does stress the joint to be pushed out. but with an adult it seems it would be harmless.

Debby