Hello - If you are going to re-take X-rays for OFA to re-evaluate, does it have to be 6 months later? I had shoddy films taken in April...Can I go to another vet and get them re-taken BEFORE Oct 4?? OFA site is not very helpful on this and I keep getting put on hold when I call. I have others due and would rather take a van full now that I have some vacation time. TIA!!

Of course you can - that's just the recommendation. But if the films aren't good, you can re-take them right away. One time I got a borderline on hips, retake in 6 months. I totally freaked out (we all thought the hips were fine) - vet called OFA who told him it was because the films were bad and he could retake and send them in right away. Did so, and got a Good. My question is why did OFA call them borderline when in fact it was an x-ray problem - quality of the film itself, not positioning.

I thought if the positioning or exposure was poor, OFA was supposed to say films weren't good enough quality for evaluation and not give a grading?? I can say I never believed it though.

Doesn't it say something to that effect though on their web site, that they'd be returned without a grading??

Just a suggestion in my opinion, you may want to call back and ask when the panel is changing. They change every 6 months. Dr. K himself has suggested to me to wait for the board to change for re submitting. IF they are OFA Pre Lims, then Dr. K is the one that reads those and it would not matter if you wait or not.

I have seen horrible x rays due to positioning and they have come back graded, not saying "bad positioning". I didnt even know they were supposed to do that. (Not taken by my vet thank goodness) thanks for that info

When you call, hit 7 instead of 0 and that may help you get through quicker. You can also ask to speak to Dr. Keller directly, he's great about phone calls. Just give them your dog's registration number and the information they need and they should put you right through. Good Luck

OFA offers a very valuable breeding tool at a very inexpensive price, consequently they have an assembly line method and only one film is submitted which has been proven to be the best viewpoint when evaluating hips in MOST cases. Final ratings are the views and opinions of three different radiologists - try getting that on anything else for only $45.00.

It is easy to get upset when results are questionable however OFA is not the breeding police. It's up to breeders to take the information and process it themselves along with many other factors and make good decisions. So if someone thinks the films were not properly graded then simply resubmit. They look at films with limited information - breed, age, and sex. They do NOT look at prelims or past films - in other words each x-ray is viewed as if for the first time whether the dog has had films submitted prior or not.

I have had two instances with bad films. First hip x-ray I ever did was by a semi-retired veterinarian who sedated her and used a "cradle" to position her. One hip was in shadow. He sent them in anyway and came back dysplastic. I had another vet re-shoot and she got a good rating.

Second situation was elbows--the vet (not my vet any more!) showed me that the dog's elbows were "weird." I suggested we re-shoot. He almost screamed at me, "It isn't the films, it's the DOG!!!" He sent them in and two weeks later I had a very sheepish message on my answering machine that OFA wanted both elbows re-shot because the positioning was incorrect.

I would re-submit since you feel the films were poor quality.

MK

From offa.org site:

"When a radiograph arrives at the OFA, the information on the radiograph is checked against information on the application. The age of the dog is calculated, and the submitted fee is recorded. The board-certified veterinary radiologist on staff at the OFA screens the radiographs for diagnostic quality. If it is not suitable for diagnostic quality (poor positioning, too light, too dark or image blurring from motion), it is returned to the referring veterinarian with a written request that it be repeated. An application number is assigned."


Not knocking OFA, of course I'll continue to submit to OFA... but I have to laugh about one experience. Says above that information on the radiograph is checked against information on the application! HA, not always... I know someone who submitted her girl's films along with the application which her vet completed from AKC papers, which mistakenly were issued for a "male" and the owner never bother to follow through and have corrected by AKC (this was a pet owner). OFA put the info up on the database that way too! When I called and inquired about the info on the database saying I knew for a fact the dog was a bitch but the database shows it to be a male, I asked don't they even check basic info?? Don't they look at the films to see if the films are indeed for a male and match up with an application indicated the submittal is for a male??? Well, who ever I talked to went and had Dr. Keller look at the films and came back and said I was right, yes, the dog was a bitch (evident on the films, no testicles! LOL) From there it was their problem to straighten out for their database.

My fait is a little shaken in the database itself if something like that slips by.

Try Pennhip method.