> First of all examining eyes isn't simple - it requires several stages of > examination of the lids, cornea and retina under different lighting > conditions.
All of my breeding stock is checked very single year by a certified ophthalmologist and CERFd. Many whole litters have been done as well. It takes about 5 minutes per dog and even 12 week old puppies do quite well with it. They charge $20-$25 per exam here. > X raying hips requires (almost everywhere) a general anaesthetic > (dangerous) and exposure to X rays (dangerous) and a panel of experienced > trained vets to read the plates. (The results too can be debatable in some > cases) No one uses a general anesthetic here that I know of for OFA. Many will do without any anesthetic, some require a very mild, short-acting tranquilizer. Again, very, very simple. On the table, a quick x-ray, then it is mailed off to OFA where dogs under 2 have their hip xrays evaluated by one reader and dogs over age 2 have their hip xrays evaluated by 3 readers. With 3 readers there is less likelihood of an incorrect evaluation. In 26 years I have NEVER thought my dog was okay and had OFA tell me it had dysplasia. However, once or twice I worried my dog might not pass but it did. I honestly see very little to debate. My cost is usually $80-$120. > Ultrasound hearts requires the dog to be sedated, and a highly trained > specialist to look at the screen and interpret what he is seeing. I just had an ultrasound done (color doppler) on one of my dogs 10 days ago. I drove 350 miles round trip to see Dr. William Brown, certified cardiologist--who also happened to train with Dr. Buchanan. No sedation was needed whatsoever. The whole procedure took 25-30 minutes while he checked and measured every single valve carefully. (Found absolutely no regurgitation and no stenosis so the dog was totally clear--in case you were wondering.) Although it was time consuming--it was quite easy--the dog fell asleep while he was doing it. Ultrasound is not totally necessary--in most cases auscultation is adequate and a lot cheaper. In this case I had had 4 of my dogs ultrasounded by a good friend of mine who is an experienced echo tech (her daily job!). She found absolutely no regurg in any except the older one I knew had MVD. It was interesting to see how Dr. Brown did it as compared to her--turned out she did it exactly the same way and had the same results on the one dog both did. Since auscultation is adequate and we don't *require* color doppler here (unless there is or may be a problem)--I thought it might be nice to be able to use my friend to check my dogs for free--especially if she was good enough. Turns out she did a good job. I would never use her to officially diagnose--but I can use her results as extra information. (She also checked me--my mitral valve is perfect but my tricuspid value has trivial regurg.) Anyhow, I find it all very interesting. Plus I feel every little bit of information I get will help me do a better job. Laura Trunk Roycroft Cavaliers ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 1999 by its original author.
