2007-12-22 06:39:45 · 6 answers · asked by ♥FANCYS_MAMMA♥ 6 in Pets ➔ Dogs
do the vets do these tests if not who?
2007-12-22 06:49:42 · update #1
now why did corgis get a thumbs down he gave the same info as everyone
2007-12-22 09:14:48 · update #2
Hips and elbows have been x-rayed. OFA sneds a report with the findings. Elboes either are "normal" or not...if not they explain what they found.
Hips are "excellent", "good", or "fair". Those get a number and are passed. Anything less is a FAIL and they will tell you what they found.
Only dogs that have cleared hips and elbows should be bred.
OFA also has listings of other health clearances, if people send the results in....like thyroid, patellas, cystenuria......there are many more.
For hips and elbows, dogs have to be TWO YEARS old to get rated. If it is before they are two, it is a "pre-lim"....It gives a rating, but not a OFA number......that is only after they are TWO.
You should be able to ask ANY vet about doing OFA's on your dog and they should know exactly what you are talking about. It is very routine.
2007-12-22 06:46:29 · answer #1 · answered by ARE YOUR NEWFS GELLIN'? 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
We had a discussion of this a few days ago. OFA is the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals and it is an organization that radiographs are submitted to for review by a panel of orthopedic vets and radiologists to assess for various abnormalities. Initially it was hip xrays for hip dysplasia and elbows for abnormalities there so if a dog didn't have hip dysplasia it would get OFA certified -- can have grades depending upon the breed and the results of the xrays -- they are listed on the OFA site. Elbows the same thing only it is a pass/fail thing from what I recall. Also now they will database results of other health testing -- cardiac, thyroid, eyes, vWD, etc., and have joined with AKC to have the CHIC database that has breed specific criteria.
add: The vet does the xrays and can send the bloodwork for thyroid etc but the vWD can be collected and sent to Vetgen and then the results sheet copied and submitted to OFA for the database - same with Cerf - they send/give you a copy of the results and you send it in and it is put in the database. I was under the impression that hips/elbows had to be done only on dogs after two years of age but maybe it is different for different dogs -- Dobermans, Rottweilers, GWPs and GSDs are all have to be two years...
ADD: Maybe he got a thumbs down (not from me although I thought about it) because he gave misinformation. He didn't give the same answer as everyone else - he put in that dogs had to be 1 - 1 1/2 years or something like that and that is false.
2007-12-22 06:52:36 · answer #2 · answered by Nancy M 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
OFA certified is a hip grade that vets can give to a dog after it's about 1-1 1/2 years old, as to how prone to hip dysplasia the dog is. Breeders, well responsible ones, get their dogs OFA hip certified to make sure they aren't breeding hip problems into their pups. I have all my Corgis OFA hip certified.
2007-12-22 06:45:07 · answer #3 · answered by Corgis4Life 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
OFA stands for Orthopedic Foundation for Animals... it is a database that contains reports of orthopedic (hip and elbow dysplasia, laxating patellas, etc.) and genetic (cardiac, thyroid, dna, deafness, etc.) disease information for both dogs and cats.
If you want the genetic and/or orthopedic reports/scores of your dog (or cats) you send in the x-rays or blood work to the OFA and they use a scoring system to let you know where your dog falls into place. Not only do you get a written report back, but you can also store your reports in the OFA database for other breeders or owners to have access to them.
Here: www.offa.org
ADD: Your regular practicing veterinarian can take the x-rays and send out the blood work to OFA for evaluation.
2007-12-22 06:44:43 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Orthopedic Foundation of Animals for dogs. It is a institute that will grade your dogs hips.
You have your dogs hips x-rayed in several positions and send them to a OFA certified location and the will tell you what your dogs are grade as. This will tell you if your dogs hips are sound or not. If your dogs hips are not graded excellent to Good then In my opinion the dogs should not be bred.
2007-12-22 06:48:05 · answer #5 · answered by ♥Golden gal♥ 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Check with dog club in your areas,many have health testing clinics which will do the teating at a greatly reduced rate.
2007-12-22 09:11:30 · answer #6 · answered by panache 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋