hips and eyes

[tikabenelli]

Hi everyone

Can anyone tell me where the best place to get my labs hips and eyes tested.We are in Lancashire and any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[apache]

Go to your usual vet. The hips are all scored by the BVA in London. The eyes are done by a blood test [DNA] now.

 

It is a myth that any vet can do anything that will increase or decrease the hip score.

 

Your dog now will need a microchip if it hasn't already got one.

[tikabenelli]

Go to your usual vet. The hips are all scored by the BVA in London. The eyes are done by a blood test [DNA] now.

 

It is a myth that any vet can do anything that will increase or decrease the hip score.

 

Your dog now will need a microchip if it hasn't already got one.

Thanks Apache. He's already chipped. Our usual vet said they could do his hips at a cost of £270 plus £40 for the BVA. But cant do his eyes. I could be wrong but thought that was a bit steep. Whats your opinion on the price ?

[fluke2]

Hi everyone

Can anyone tell me where the best place to get my labs hips and eyes tested.We are in Lancashire and any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

Check out your local dog training class for the eye checks they

regularly hold block meetings for this and up here no membership

required just book in and pay. YOU HAVE PM.

[apache]

Thanks Apache. He's already chipped. Our usual vet said they could do his hips at a cost of £270 plus £40 for the BVA. But cant do his eyes. I could be wrong but thought that was a bit steep. Whats your opinion on the price ?

 

The £40 BVA fee is what they charge so they have not marked it up.

 

The other fee would depend on many factors that I wouldn't like to comment on. What is hard to compare from just the bare price is the level of service you get. Some vets have a lot of technical equipment [digital x-ray machines, anaesthetic monitors] and skilled staff monitoring anaesthetics. Some practices are altogether more basic and you pay less.

 

For decent x-rays the dog will usually require a general anaesthetic and almost perfect x-rays are required. It can take some time. You pay your money, you make your choice. I would always encourage you to support your local vet if you want them there when you need them.

 

 

Check out your local dog training class for the eye checks they

regularly hold block meetings for this and up here no membership

required just book in and pay. YOU HAVE PM.

 

Having the eyes looked at is a really poor 2nd choice versus DNA testing. Dogs need their eyes checking every year but the DNA lets you know if they are carriers of the gene or not. The best way to progress on the issue of inherited eye disease is through DNA testing. Over the life of the dog it is cheaper too.

 

Basic genetics for this evening! In your body you have 2 copies of each gene [a gene is a packet of information that tells the body to make something]. If you have 2 good copies of the gene you are free from the condition. If you have 2 bad copies you are affected and will likely succumb to the disease [or be at a very much increased risk]. If you have one good copy and one bad copy you are a carrier.

 

When two dogs mate they get one gene from the mother and one from the father [the sex cells split and only have one copy of each gene]. If your bitch is free of the bad gene [2 good copies] each puppy will get a good copy from her. If the dog is a carrier [1 good gene, one bad] half its sex cells will have a good copy and half a bad copy - meaning that half the puppies from the litter will be carriers, and half will be free.

 

If you think this through and either the mother OR father is free of bad genes [2 good copies] none of the puppies will be affected, at worse they will be carriers.

 

With eye testing [by examination by a specialist] this can be missed until later changes and the dog has already bred and passed it's genes on.

 

I can explain further if you wish?

[fluke2]

I didnt dispute the fact that DNA testing was now considered the way to go

in my answer, I Stated that local dog training groups up here do group

bookings for eye tests. Now wether he wants yearly checks or DNA taken,

they are both available and normally a lot cheaper due to the amount of

dogs tested.

[apache]

I didnt dispute the fact that DNA testing was now considered the way to go

in my answer, I Stated that local dog training groups up here do group

bookings for eye tests. Now wether he wants yearly checks or DNA taken,

they are both available and normally a lot cheaper due to the amount of

dogs tested.

I'm not arguing with you! Both are available, I was just trying to explain why the DNA tests were better. They can also be a lot cheaper, did a lab not too long ago that cost just over £100 for the DNA test - for life.

 

For a group of dogs [over 25] the charge should be £27 - if you take travelling time into account you will be in pocket after 4 years minimum!

 

AND it's better for dog kind if* we want to eradicate these inherited diseases.

 

*there's another discussion there...........

[fluke2]

I'm not arguing with you! Both are available, I was just trying to explain why the DNA tests were better. They can also be a lot cheaper, did a lab not too long ago that cost just over £100 for the DNA test - for life.

 

For a group of dogs [over 25] the charge should be £27 - if you take travelling time into account you will be in pocket after 4 years minimum!

 

AND it's better for dog kind if* we want to eradicate these inherited diseases.

 

*there's another discussion there...........

 

My apologies as for eradicating other doggy diseases wouldnt

it be easier and more cost effective to eradicate the breeders causing

the problems

[apache]

My apologies as for eradicating other doggy diseases wouldnt

it be easier and more cost effective to eradicate the breeders causing

the problems

This is another issue. The problem we have with pedigree dogs is a small gene pool and a lot of inbreeding.

 

If we have a high prevalence of a particular genetic problem in a breed and select only dogs without that genetic problem and breed from them we are making a small gene pool smaller.

 

The problem is pedigree dogs. We should all be happy with out springa-dors and sprocker spaniels!

[PERCE]

I plan to breed from one of my Labrador bitches so the health tests required are?

1 - eyes, blood taken for DNA test for PRA

2 - Hip scoring

 

Done in this order as the eyes are cheaper based on if the bitch is affected breeding is a no anyway.

 

Correct?

[apache]

I plan to breed from one of my Labrador bitches so the health tests required are?

1 - eyes, blood taken for DNA test for PRA

2 - Hip scoring

 

Done in this order as the eyes are cheaper based on if the bitch is affected breeding is a no anyway.

 

Correct?

Seems good. You can get their elbows scored as well if you want. They need a microchip for all these schemes now.

[fergie]

This may be a daft question but how are they scored? what i mean is if it has a high score is that bad or good and vise versa or is there an average score?

[apache]

This may be a daft question but how are they scored? what i mean is if it has a high score is that bad or good and vise versa or is there an average score?

It's like golf - the lower the better. Points are given for things being wrong.

 

The British Veterinary Association who runs the scheme produced bread mean [=average] scores that are freely available to all on their website

 

http://www.bva.co.uk/public/documents/BMS_...2010%281%29.pdf

 

If your dog scores more than the breed mean score you shouldn't breed from it.

[fergie]

is there an opterman age to test or is it just before breeding

Edited October 11, 2010 by fergie

[apache]

is there an opterman age to test or is it just before breeding

Any time once they are a year old. If it's a really big dog better to wait until they are skeletally mature.