In the hip joint, the soft tissue structures include the joint capsule and the ligament of the femoral head. Instead of simply looking at the static bony anatomy of a dog’s joint (OFA xrays), he developed a method to evaluate the bony anatomy and soft tissue structures to give us a better indicator of the actual joint stability. Gail Smith (University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Plan) developed a different method of evaluating a dog’s hips. OFA certification is no guarantee that a dog will not develop hip dysplasia symptoms in the future, and does not guarantee that the offspring will not develop hip dysplasia.OFA recommends NOT performing this test in animals in estrus (heat).Cannot be performed on dogs under 24 months of age. Dogs have to be at least 24 months old.Any veterinarian can perform OFA radiographs – certification is not required.Because no sedation is required and only one radiograph is taken, cost is lower.Click here for a more detailed explanation of the grades from OFA’s website. The radiographs are subjectively reviewed by a veterinary radiologist and given one of seven “grades.” The grades are Normal (Excellent, Good, Fair), Borderline, and Dysplastic (Mild, Moderate, Severe). Sometimes dogs are sedated for the procedure, but it is not required.

For this procedure, one radiograph is taken of the dog’s hips in a standard extended hip position. OFA radiographs (x-rays) have been used for many years to help diagnose dogs with abnormal or dysplastic hips. Below I will describe each type of test and the pros/cons of each test.

The two main ways to check the hips are PennHIP testing and OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) testing. If we identify hip dysplasia in young dogs (< 5 months old) it’s possible to surgically intervene and change the conformation of the developing hip joint, greatly reducing the chance of developing significant arthritis. We also check the hips on young non-breeding dogs.

Normal Hip Joints (above) Displastic Hip Joints (above)īecause there is a genetic component to hip dysplasia, we often check the hips on breeding dogs to help determine which dogs are good candidates for breeding programs. Hip replacement surgery can be very helpful, but is only done at surgical referral centers and can be cost prohibitive. Once a dog develops arthritis from hip dysplasia, medical treatment can help, but is expensive and lifelong. We see this condition somewhat commonly in dogs, and it can be frustrating to treat. Hip dysplasia is the abnormal growth or development of the hip joint.

Normal hip vs hip dysplasia xray