Labrador Retriever Forum
My girl just began her heat. Has anyone ever done X rays while in heat?
I see OFA says to wait but I just would like to get them out of the way.
Any input appreciated.
I always wait at least 6-8 wks after a heat for xrays, as I want the best possible outcome/rating; but that said, I had an ortho vet tell me once, "if the hips are bad, the hips are bad", he didn't feel the hormones had that much influence on the outcome.
I have a 2 yr old girl who came in season day before I was going to take her in for her OFAs....I opted to wait, and delay breeding her until next year.
I agree if they are bad they are bad. She has passing hips all behind her and my vet would know if they are bad. I think I am going to do them anyway.
I have done them twice and had the girls come in a few days later. One was good and normal and that was fine. The other came back good elbows and dysplastic hips.
I had disks so sent them on the dysplastic girl for two more opinions because I couldn't see what was wrong with them. They both said she would be darn lucky to get a fair if I redid them. The ball was round and was 1/2 covered. What they judged as dysplastic was the tightness in the socket.
So I agree if they're good they're good and bad is bad no matter when you take them.
What I understand is there is more laxity when they are in heat. If x-rayed during this time the positioning can pull the ball more out of the socket making it look like there is less coverage. The joints are the same before and after heat but more laxity allows the joint to be pulled apart more and read differently.
I've done both, waited , planned , thought I had followed all the rules. Some passed, some failed. And then I needed to do a bitch that was in season , and not miss out on a dog that had limited time to be used, so I went ahead and had the films done, she was in standing season, OFA Excellent , good elbows. It's all about the technique of the person doing the positioning , no more , no less !
I had one that came in shortly after being xrayed and she was Excellent. Another that came in, and due to her high drive in the field, I decided i was going to at least get the elbows on record and if hips looked okay, fine, if not, we'd re-do in 3 mos. My only regret was not having her sedated. They'd have very likely come back Excellent w/ proper positioning acc'g to the vet, but she was not a "patient" patient that day! They came back Good. Vet said he's seen some bitches be very affected by hormones yet others not. I'm not going to be terribly worried about it in the future as we can always have a "do over".
I see OFA says to wait but I just would like to get them out of the way.
Any input appreciated.
Only once I did a Final OFA Xray right before my bitch came in. She was a beautiful mover but you never know just by movement.
She came back an OFA Good but the vet in later years did some horrible radiographs for myself and other breeders, labrador and other breeds. Perhaps she would have been an OFA Exc had someone else done the placement for the films or she might have had very mild subluxation due to her coming in less then a week after the radiograph. Third option is that was her true rating at any time.
If you're prepared to re-xray if the rating is below what you would like to see then go for it. If not, I would wait especially because there is nothing that sounds pressing.
I have done it. The ones I've re-done (because they were not good or because they were prelims) came back tighter when taken at another time. Changes in the bone will look exactly the same. I also did one 3 weeks after weaning the puppies and they were way out. I re-did them and they came back good.
If you decide to do them and they don't look good, re-do them; do not take that as the final say on the hips of your girl.
The hips are NOT more lax when a bitch is in heat! There's a reason that the canine pregnancy test measures levels of RELAXIN in the blood, which is only present when the bitch is pregnant! This is the hormone that causes laxity in joints. My repro vet has no problems xraying a bitch in heat - I've done it several times - Excellent hips each time!
I say go for it!
I have to agree with most posters here. My girl came in season a week after the x-rays were taken and she came back Excellent Hips and Normal Elbows. Of course, I had an x-ray tech who knows what she is doing :)
I've done a couple of my girls when they were in season, one was on her 6th day of heat. Both got excellents
Sorry, but how do you know it's all about the person positioning for the xrays? Is it possible it could be the actual dog that does not have good hips? I agree that positioning is important, but every vet hospital I have ever worked at or ever gone to, they know how to position by now.
You could maybe say "it was the positioning" 20 years ago, but OFA has trained a lot of technicians on how to position over the last 40 years they have been in existence.
I have done xrays while the bitch was in heat, got "borderline" results, and spayed and placed the bitch after talking to the orthopedic specialist who said hormones do not make or break the xray, it's the bitch and her joint conformation. And just so people know, it's not just one factor they go by, it's 1. how well seated the ball is in the socket (50% rule), 2. how clean the margins of the ball are, and 3. the thickness of the femoral neck.
OFA can tell if the positioning is wrong and they will kick back the xray.
Don't know if one data point means anything, but I did a girl that was very close to her season and she failed OFA hips. I wanted and took her back 4 months later and she was OFA Fair. OFA recommends that you wait and they are the experts, correct?
According to a Dr Keller seminar a few weeks ago, he says wait.
So I will wait. Really? What's to be gained when what's lost is having to resubmit and not know if that was the cause. A few months wait one way or the other shouldn't make or break any huge plans.
