Thank You! Gonna make the call!

Paula~

are born with Hemi's. I don't think it has anything to do with a dog's topline or length of back. In fact..I often hear people saying that the longer backed dogs tend to have more spinal issues. If your dog has them it will show up on an xray..in fact sometimes when you have a routine pregnancy check xray done the Vet can see them. There are several different types of spinal anomalies.
Hemivertebra (wedge-shaped vertebral body)
Butterfly vertebra (“butterfly” shaped vertebral body with central portion missing or reduced)
Block vertebra (a pair of adjacent vertebrae fused together)
Transitional vertebra (a vertebra showing some characteristics of two types, such as cervical plus thoracic characteristics, or thoracic and lumbar characteristics).
Often you will see a dimple when the dog has the Butterfly type.
Many other breeds have done studies. This is what the BCA Health committee is trying to do. participate in the health studies, and get involved.
Speak to your Vets..Many people think that is gawd awful to have 1 Hemi..and while it is not good..what you fail to realize is that it is quite common in our breed and several other breeds. The most common area is the thoracic portion of the spine.
For example the French Bulldog Club of America did a survey. Of 245 total Frenchies studied, there were 941 anomalies, of the 245 ONLY 12 had completely normal spines. Of the 941 anomalies, 694 were Hemi's.
I have spoken to a few Bulldog Vets and they all agree that probably a very high percentage of Bulldogs also do in fact have about the same amount of Hemi's. But unless you do the testing you will never know! People are afraid of what they will find out. But truthfully I think the most will find that their dogs have Hemi's. My Vet found one on one of my girls during routine pregnancy xray. On another bitch that xrayed completely clean, no anomalies we had a puppy with a spinal dimple, go figure????????



Just-LoneStar Bulldogs

Yep. my own vet did mine.
e

Elizabeth,
Can my regular Vet perform the necessary x-rays and then I submit them to OFA (like I did for the tracheal) or do I need to have them done by a specialist?

Paula~

Are you guys taking advantage of the OFA study on spines?
Please do if you are concerned.. and we all should be.. just like the trachea study.
Info here;
http://www.bcahealth.homestead.com/ofaspineinfo.html
e

Out of 7 pups with hemi, 4 have been completely incontinent. 1 partially, 2 normal. They all had the dimples in the spine close to the tail area. They all could move normally. When they were x-rayed they showed normal looking spines.....thats the part that makes no sense to me.

trying to find out through everyone's collective experience what the consensus is regarding hemi-vertebrae unless there is a concluded study I have missed somewhere.?

I've had several, and my dogs would be considered longer, rather than shorter, and I usually have spike tails. I agree with E about shorter backs and very screwed tails being more "deformed" in general, thus more susceptible. But bottom line, its in certain lines......and no one wants to "buck up". I have found it to be a non-discussed big and about to become bigger, problem in the breed.

I appreciate your response.
Deirdre

it is really not an issue of long or short, although short, straight backs with twisted-up deformed tails are likely more susceptible.
Its an issue with many brachecephalic breeds.
e

"Spinal Abbreviation Related Anomalies in Bullbreeds" by Carol Hawke

an interesting article last year that discussed how selective pressure applied through reducing the spines of dogs induces the appearance of hemivertibrae in various areas along the vertibral column... I will look for it (I printed it somewhere!) and post it for you.