3 ms·
What are the issues with OFA ratings? They’re treated as sacrosanct on the dog reddits but I’ve never really investigated further
by m-ee 4y ago
What are the issues with OFA ratings? They’re treated as sacrosanct on the dog reddits but I’ve never really investigated further
- mgarfias 4y agoCompletely subjective. The final rating is the average of what three radiologists think about the joint conformation. And, it gets worse, some breeds are rated more harshly that others. For instance, a GSD with an ok looking hip joint will get a “good” rating, but a white Swiss shepherd with the same hip would get a “fair” as OFA wants the WSS to have better hips, so they judge it differently. Also, they take age into consideration, so a 2yro dog will be judged more harshly than a 4yro. We use PennHip, which measures the distraction in the joint, and uses it as a predictor of future health. GSDs on average have a median rating (working from memory, numbers will be handwavy) of something like .5. Thd WSS is more like .4. I’ve seen our kids come back with a pennhip rating of .28/.29, and a fair OFA rating. We’ve stopped sending X-rays for Ofa hips as it doesn’t give us any actual information.