Dear Pam, Please rethink your views on HD. It is a problem in Cavaliers. I suspect that it is as high as 30% of the breed affected. Usually, the milder forms of HD do not exhibit symptoms in this toy breed due to the small size of the dog. A larger breed with the same OFA ratings would be limping. However, if you don't keep an eye on the hip status of your dogs you can end up breeding severe HD into your line.
For example, say that you bred two dogs with mild HD. The pups that result could have a range of hip status from good to severely displastic. How can you tell that the beauty that you decided to keep from that litter doesn't have a worse hip structure than either of her parents? While choosing for looks, you could inadvertantly be choosing for bad hips. Eventually, you won't need to do an x-ray to tell which pup has bad hips. They'll be limping before they are a year old. Yes, it is costly to have the x-rays done and vets are not equally talented in taking the x-rays. We had to delay some pre-lims until a new clinic opens next week. The young vet that we used to have do our dogs x-rays left his old job at a local clinic and opened his own practice in a nearby city. I've waited until he can get his business open. He trained under one of the people who evaluates for OFA and he does a perfectly positioned, clear x-ray. The main thing is that hip structure responds quickly to selection pressure. It is much easier to breed sound hips if you know what the dog has. All the best, Susan Cochran ----- Original Message ----- From: "PAMoesinger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2002 10:18 AM Subject: Re: [CKCS-L] HD > No, I did not own the sire and I did not test the offspring because HD is > not a serious problem for cavaliers in my eyes. I also did not have a > problem finding an owner of a tested sire that would do the breeding. Most, > I have found, understand the balancing act issues of breeding. > > Most pet homes do not test their adults for HD unless the dog is displaying > a problem and it's diagnosed. These problems generally do not appear until > later in life and mostly it's arthritis issues, which alot of older dogs > will get - as with humans. > If a pet owner came to me with an incapacitated young animal under 5 due to > severe hip dysplasia.....I would share the expense of surgery. > > I don't understand why people think there is such a huge concern about HD in > cavaliers in this country when abroad... hardly any dogs are ever hip > scored.......untested dogs are bred to one another constantly.........and HD > problems do not abound! And so many people import these pups from untested > parents. Why aren't the UK breeders concerned? Because, apparently, it's > not a problem for cavaliers to live with it in most cases. Why do Americans > feel they have to "wipe out" everything! It can't happen..........I'd still > rather have my dogs live a long life with some aspirin then have them die at > 5. > (not being sarcastic, just stating my feelings) > > I'm not trying to change minds on this issue, pro or con. this just > highlights to newbies that there are two schools of thought about ALL > testing issues......... Hearts and eyes are my priority. I'm comfortable > enough with that. > > There are many people that do not test hips in this country with the same > feelings as mine........but they will not speak up on the list for fear of > gaining a reputation of unreputable by the people that need to test for > everything. > > So here.........tell everybody looking for a puppy.....don't contact > Pampurred because she doesn't test hips and her dogs will be crippled! We > all know that's what some of you are thinking and it's absurd!! :-) > > pam > > ========================================================= > "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 2002 by its original author. ========================================================= "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 2002 by its original author.
