Regarding Hip Dysplasia and OFA certifications:
The OFA defines a dysplastic joint as the following:
The Dysplastic Joint
"Hip Dysplasia is a terrible genetic disease because of the various degrees of arthritis (also called degenerative joint disease, arthrosis, osteoarthrosis) it can eventually produce, leading to pain and debilitation.
The very first step in the development of arthritis is articular cartilage (the type of cartilage lining the joint) damage due to the inherited bad biomechanics of an abnormally developed hip joint. Traumatic articular fracture through the joint surface is another way cartilage is damaged. Full thickness loss of cartilage allows the synovial fluid to contact nerve endings in the subchondral bone, resulting in pain. In an attempt to stabilize the joint to decrease the pain, the animal's body produces new bone at the edges of the joint surface, joint capsule, ligament and muscle attachments (bone spurs). The joint capsule also eventually thickens and the joint's range of motion decreases.
No one can predict when or even if a dysplastic dog will start showing clinical signs of lameness due to pain. There are multiple environmental factors such as caloric intake, level of exercise, and weather that can affect the severity of clinical signs and phenotypic expression (radiographic changes). There is no rhyme or reason to the severity of radiographic changes correlated with the clinical findings. There are a number of dysplastic dogs with severe arthritis that run, jump, and play as if nothing is wrong and some dogs with barely any arthritic radiographic changes that are severely lame."
The examinations for this certification are x-ray exams that must be done under anesthesia by a vet who is certified to do the exams. The exam must be done under general anesthesia, often at a risk to the health and life of the dog due to the risk of anesthetic complications. The exams range in cost from $500 to $1000 (for larger dogs) per animal. Please see Hip Dysplasia Statistics By Breed and Trends In Hip Dysplasia to see if the type of dog you are interested in is even listed by the OFA and where they are at on the list. Out of 132 breeds listed, 51 breeds have less than a 10% incidence of dysplasia. (These are mirror sites only and are not meant to be an infringement of any copyrighted information. They are posted with all links intact, and are used for informational purposes only). To return to our website, please hit your BACK button on your browser.
The OFA offers registration of certification for 9 different ailments of dogs, all of which must be tested for by a board-certified veterinarian who is certified in each specific ailment. Dysplasia examinations alone, for example, to be complete must include hips, elbows, and patellas (knees). The cost of each certification ranges from $15 to $30 PER certificate for a total cost of $175 for ALL the health certificates, and that's without the cost of the examinations to determine the dog to be disease free, which range through sebaceous adenitis, deafness, patellar luxation, DNA, cardiac disease, thyroid disease, Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, hip dysplasia, and elbow dysplasia.
Dysplasia is the doggie version of osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease. This is a disease that is quite common in humans. In some people, evidence of osteoarthritic changes may exist by the second or third decade of life (usually without associated symptoms). By age 40, almost every human has some osteoarthritic changes in weight-bearing joints (e.g., hip and knee joints) and, by age 75, virtually everyone has changes in at least one joint. (This is according to the American Arthritis Foundation). Most adult dogs will manifest signs of dysplasia by age 2, if they are ever going to, and the OFA does not certify any dog under the age of 2 for this reason. Preliminary examinations can be done, but range in accuracy from 76.9% accuracy on up to 97.9% reliability, depending on the preliminary grade and the age of the dog when radiographed. Please see the OFA website for more information on canine dysplasia and other certifications.
Our dogs range in age from puppies to 9 years old. None of our adult dogs have manifested any signs or symptoms of dysplasia. Obviously, doing the OFA examinations and registrations on each dog would greatly increase the price of our puppies. Any breeder has to use their best judgment when breeding animals. If the adult animal has any signs of genetic disorder, whether it be as simple as an overbite or underbite, or as complicated as undescended testicles, any orthopedic problem, or eye problems, that animal should not be bred to produce puppies who might inherit any of those disorders. None of our adult dogs have shown any signs of dysplasia. We have had several puppies shipped via the transport service provided by TransPet. The interstate health certificate (required by law) requires an exam, which also also checks for congenital deformities along with signs of dysplasia and subluxation of the patellas. None of our puppies have ever failed to pass this exam, and every puppy is examined by a veterinarian.
12/02/03