Hip X-Rays

For information on understanding how to interpret these x-rays and learn the importance of correct positioning, please visit this site; Leerburg.

The following are x-rays of some of my dogs, dogs I have bred and possibly other dogs as I add to this page.

If you have not read my story about Cody, you may click here to get the history behind these x-rays. The first thing I would like to show you is some x-rays of normal hips. The following hips belong to my female, Shiloh, who received an OFA Excellent rating on her hips at the time these were taken. This is not the view sent to OFA, but the view taken without sedation. The x-ray sent to OFA was a better view and still, you should be able to see that this is a very good example of what constitutes normal hips.

Shiloh, age 2.

Note how the ball of the femur head sets deeply into the acetabulum (socket).

Here are the x-rays of three of Shiloh's offspring from her first litter. These were preliminary views taken at 6-8 months of age.

Echo & Risky

Twister

Again, note that there is a good fit of the ball into the socket in each of these. If you look closely, you can find varying degrees of this, but all would be considered to be normal hips at this age.

Now, let's take a look at Cody's hips. On the left is his 2 year x-ray. Here you can see that the ball of the femur does not fit deeply into the socket on either side. Interestingly, the left hip appears to have less coverage than the right. However, it was only his right hip which was affected at the age of 7 years, as you can see in the x-ray on the right. Notice the thickening of the head and neck of the femur in the 7 year x-ray. Extensive remodeling of the joint has taken place and arthritic changes are very apparent. On the other hand, the left hip joint is nicely seated, with good coverage, a nice smooth surface and no degenerative changes.

Cody, age two years & Cody, age 7 years.

Even so, we can still say that neither hip sets as deeply in the socket as some of the above x-rays. Look at Cody's 2 year next to Risky's 8 month.

Cody, age 2 years compared to Risky, age 8 months.

Again, this demonstrates to us the reason that there is an ambiguous line when evaluating hip x-rays to be either dysplastic or normal. Obviously, one of the hips on Cody's 2 year x-ray remained free from DJD and at age 7 would probably pass OFA. Unfortunately, we never sent the 2 year on Cody in to OFA, so I can't tell you what they would have said. However, Shadow, Cody's brother, did have his evaluated by OFA and his left hip only was diagnosed as moderately dysplastic. And that is indeed how he ended up at age 7, with his x-ray being a near mirror image of his brother, Cody. Unfortunately, when I went recently to get a copy of Shadow's 2 year x-ray, they were unable to find a copy. The thing to note and the thing the veterinarians pointed out is that at the age of two you can see that the right hip already has thickening of the femoral neck and head and this is what was tell tale of a definitive problem.

Following is an x-ray of a puppy that was x-rayed at the age of 6 months. The examining vet told the owners this dog was mildly dysplastic. For you breeders out there, let me know what you think. Shadland@lisco.net

Finally, here is a picture of Cody's hips before and after his Total Hip Replacement.

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