Abstract

It has earlier been described how clinical normal small breed dogs can have different joint laxity without this laxity leading to osteoarthrosis in the hip joints (HD).

These case reports show joint laxity in other joints than the hips in different breeds and even in larger breed dogs. The pictures are all taking without stress put on the joints by purpose, and most of the dogs not being clinical lame. Most of the cases did not show permanent clinical sign in relation to the joints examined.

Therefore, if there are no specific osteoarthritic finding in the joint, the laxity could be normal for this dog and the prognosis should not be evaluated so guarded as they often are just because of distance between joint elements. The parameters for screening programs should be more breed adapted and not just the same for all different breeds. Joint laxity is not always a warning of an osteoarthritis development.

In the international literature it is often stated a lack of agreement between the radiological evaluation and clinical picture which could be due to incorrect radiological interpretation

Keywords: Joint laxity; Osteoarthrosis; Breed depending joint laxity; Breed depending on parameters for HD; Clinical importance of Joint laxity