Joints
Hips
Hip dysplasia is a relatively usual affliction and appears in all breeds. In short it is an abnormal formation of the hip socket. If the joint does not match correct, it may cause painful arthrisis.
Since 2000 it is not only the matching of the joints that are estimated, but also the angulation of the femur head's centre to the edge of the socket.
Joints are graded as:
A - Normal hips
B - Normal hips
C - Mild dysplasia
D - Moderate dysplasia
E - Severe dyspalsia
A and B are normal hips, and from C is calculated on degrees of dyspasia. How the dog is affected by the dysplasia cannot be judged through the grading.
In an enquiry made by the Swedish SBT Club in 2010, owners were asked if their dogs with different gradings of hips had shown signs of pain. The owners responds was that no dog with A or B had shown signs, 8% of dogs with C had shown signs (8/95), 39% of dogs with D had shown signs (10/26) and 76% of dogs with E (3/4).
Changes in the hip
Hip dysplasia sooner or later causes wear in the cartilage of the hip joint, which causes framgentation which is shown on x-rays. There are no certain relation with wear of the joints and pain. Older dogs showing symptoms from the hips normally have wear even if they do not have hip dysplasia. A dog with hip dysplasia does not need to develope arthritis.
Elbow dysplasia - ED
Elbow dysplasia means an abnormal wear of the cartilages in the elbows, and are determined by x-ray. The x-ray prints show the amont of framgentation that are caused by wear:
UA, 0 - No changes, normal elbows
1 - Mild fragmentation
2 - Moderate fragmentation
3 - Severe fragmentation
Just as with hip dysplasia, fragmentation in the elbows does not mean the dog is in pain. Often dogs with severe or moderate fragmentation show signs of stiffness and may limp, especially after hard exercise.
In 2016 21,9% of the x-rayed SBTs in Sweden have some grade of Elbow Dysplasia. According to the enquiry made in 2010 by the Swedish SBT Club, the owners said that 10% (5/49) of the SBTs with grade 1 showed signs of pain, 69% /11/16) at grade 2, and 100% (1/1) at grade 3.
Snogrisens Galaxy Express - HD A
X-ray of unknown dog - HD E
Reasons of dyspasia
Dysplasia is said to have a genetic factor as well as being factored by the environment. The heritage and the genes consider if a dog is likely to develope dysplasia. In short; a dog can have different genetic prerequisites to develope dyspasia, but environment (such as weight, nourishment and too much wear early in life) contributes to developement of the hips.
Snogrisens Galaxy Express - ED 0
Reasons to elbow dysplasia
Just as with HD, elbow dysplasia depends on genes and/or environment. Except for genes, wrong nourishment, wrong exercise and over weight causes abnormal wear and fragmentation.