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On November 29, 1999, I asked Dr Keller if OFA would assist the Friends of the French Bulldog Health Newsletter by setting up a Pilot Program for Spine Research on the French Bulldog. The pilot was approve on December 7th, 1999. The pilot will last for 5 years and we will assess whatever recommendations OFA suggested at that point using a Neurologist to help with suggestions. The main objective is to build a database for the breed. The database is OPEN, to encourage sharing between SERIOUS breeders. Owners will send in their spine x-rays taken in 2 views/2 x-rays in these positions: VD and Lateral views and have the dog under sedation so that the spine is as straight as possible. The minimum age to send is 8 weeks of age, there is no maximum age limit. SEND X-RAYS TO:
We will leave a space on the form to follow up later or in the computer etc, if the owner called back later to say that the dog had a back problem etc. A new form is being made so we will let you know as soon as it is completed. No dog will be passed or failed during this time and only a reading of the x-ray to show where the Transitional/hemivertibrae or other anomalies are in the spine. We all realize that a dog could have 4 or even 6 anomalies of the spine and never have clinical signs of pain etc. I have hopes that this type of registry will help to make the breed as sound as possible. UPDATE HERE CLICK HERE
Constance Parker - FRIENDS OF THE FRENCH BULLDOG HEALTH NEWSLETTER
Make a donation to help breeders learn as
much as possible about the breed. OFA/ FRENCH BULLDOG SPINE PILOT Make checks out to OFA, and in the MEMO section please put FRENCH BULLDOG SPINE RESEARCH.
Thank you, French
Bulldog Breeders of the
What do I test my French Bulldog For? Registries used: OFA is a closed REGISTRY in the USA and GDC is the OPEN REGISTRY in the USA Hips: make sure you x-ray your French Bulldog to fine out if he or she has sockets. If there are no sockets, then your French Bulldog is on his or her way to a life of pain down the road, if they are not already showing signs.
Eyes: make sure to take your French Bulldog to see a CERF Ophthalmologist. He or she is the only type of eye doctor that can determine if your French Bulldog has a or any type of genetic problem with the eye that could cause a problem later in life. Patella's: if your French Bulldog has luxating Patella's after one year of age spay or neuter the dog. Heart: the breeder should have the sire and dam's heart checked before breeding the two to be certain they are not knowingly breeding to defective animals that will cause heart ache and pain to some unsuspecting buyer not to mention the dog itself.
Listed below are the maximum test
that can be done on the French Bulldog Hips: With the hips they lie the dog on it's back and take a hip x-ray. The vet twists the feet towards each other so that the femurs are parallel to each other so that OFA may evaluate the head of the femur and how it fits into the socket. The dog should be sedated to get the best view. You can do OFA prelims for hips at 6 months and up to 2 years old. Your dog will not be certified with OFA at this age but it gives you an idea of what the hips look like. At 24 months of age OFA will give you a registration number if hips are normal . The vet can sedate your dog to do this procedure. You will get a more accurate reading if you do. Elbows: The elbows need to be extremely flexed which is hard to do with a mastiff asleep let alone awake. You can do OFA prelims on the elbows from 6 months up to 2 years old. Your dog will not be certified with OFA at this age but it gives you an idea of what the elbows look like.
Genetic Data Collection (GDC)
They will also evaluate, patella's, skull, hocks, and shoulders . They certify
at 12 months of age, for those of you who want a early OPINION on your
Frenchies. I do mine at this young age I agree with GDC that they
are not going to change to much after this age. They have 3 individuals
view your dogs x-ray, as opposed to OFA which has only 1 doing their rating on
prelims (X-RAYS before the age of 2 years). Spine: Listed above Eyes: CERF Only a board certified Ophthalmologist can CERF your dogs eyes. You need to get your dogs eyes cerf'ed once a year starting at 8 weeks old. PPM (persistent papillary membrane) will sometimes go away after a dog is 9 weeks old so the only true way to see if a dog has PPM is to CERF at 8 weeks. This is a hereditary condition. COST: Most Ophthalmologist charge $15.00 to $25.00 per dog. Some clinics charge $45.00 for the first 3 and $15.00 for each dog afterwards. Procedure: The doctor will dilate the dogs eyes and examine them with an instrument that magnifies the retina etc. The procedure is painless and usually takes less than 5 minutes. He then fills out your CERF paper with the normal or abnormal eyes noted. Then you need to mail it to:
vWD: vWD is a bleeding disorder. This test will tell you if your dog is borderline carrier, carrier or normal and free of the disease. This is a blood test. There is a very special procedure for this test including special tubes for blood collection and possible freezing or special shipping instructions. Your vet needs to call Cornell before performing the test to find out if they have the right tubes and supplies to perform the test. This is a one time test and can be done at any age but needs to not be done a month before or after a bitch is in heat. Preferably it should be done before the dog has even had any vaccinations, around 7 weeks old. Here is the address and phone number for Cornell:
Thyroid: this test can rule out many problems that can crop up at one time or another in a French Bulldogs life. If you notice a dry, itchy sometimes pitted coat, you should have a complete thyroid panel done on your French Bulldog. The thyroid can change from one day to the next if the animal become debilitated, if a bitch is in season this will throw her thyroid levels off and would have to be tested later for a more exact level. If a male has a infection, this will throw his levels off as well. The same goes for the females. The thyroid controls a lot of body
functions including immunities etc. The thyroid test is kind of confusing
because the blood gets sent to one place but has 2 different fees and the
results get sent to 2 different places. OFA now gives a registration
number for normal thyroids. But they only require 2 or 3 tests performed.
Michigan University's standard full panel thyroid test performs 7
tests. So...when your vet sends the serum to Michigan they need to request
"The FULL Thyroid Panel" then OFA has a form that needs to be sent
with the serum with a 30 dollar extra fee, made out to OFA for
Michigan to report those 3 tests to OFA. Did that make sense? f you don't
request the full thyroid panel and the serum gets sent with OFA's form than
Michigan will only perform those 3 tests. Also, your vet needs to call OFA to
get these forms, tell them to request the patella and cardiac forms at the same
time. So, to summarize, if your vet sends serum to Michigan and the OFA form,
Michigan will send the required results to OFA. You don't have to worry about
it. The address and number are: Animal Health Diagnostic
Laboratory Patella's: Patella's are painless and easy. They require no sedation or special testing. As a matter of fact, they can be easily done during a regular exam in an office call. The doctor simply checks the dogs knee to see if the patella is subluxated or tightly fit into the knee. He does this by lying the dog on its side and trying to slide the patella out of place. Heart: Cardiac: You do NOT need to see a cardiologist for this, a regular vet can do this. If you have any question about your dogs heart it would be a good idea to see a cardiologist. If your vet listens to your dogs heart and signs it xxxx DVM then OFA puts a "P" behind your registration number meaning a practitioner performed the exam. The vet just listens for abnormalities in the heart and makes note of them on the OFA form. OFA
HEALTH STATISTICS ON THE FRENCH BULLDOG
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FRENCH
BULLDOG SPINE RESEARCH
