Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Oestrus cycle does not affect patellar luxation breeding scores
By Hansen, D E et al.·Published in Research in veterinary science·2022·Anicura Dyresykehuset Bergen Nord·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Oestrus status does not alter breeding suitability assessments regarding medial patellar luxation in female small breed dogs: A blinded multi-observer study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of female small breed dogs with medial patellar luxation (a knee joint issue) was evaluated to see if their breeding suitability changed depending on their heat cycle. Three independent observers assessed the dogs at different times, and their findings showed that the dogs' oestrus status (whether they were in heat or not) did not affect the grading of their condition. The observers agreed on their assessments most of the time, indicating that pet owners and veterinarians can confidently evaluate patellar luxation regardless of the dog's heat cycle.
People also search for: dog knee problems · medial patellar luxation in small dogs · dog breeding suitability assessment
Abstract
Study aims were to evaluate if medial patellar luxation clinical grades changed with oestrus status, and to determine interobserver agreement for different classification methods for grading patellar luxation. Intact female dogs were recruited for grading by 3 independent observers on 2 occasions (pro-oestrus/oestrus and dioestrus/anoestrus) using a published grading system. Observers were blinded to oestrus status. Oestrus status was confirmed by vaginal cytology. Observer agreement was determined using Fleiss' multirater kappa on the original grading scores, simplification to the Norwegian Kennel Club system, and further simplification to a binary suitable/not-suitable for breeding system. The exact McNemar's test was used to assess the effect of oestrus on classification. Of 70 dogs recruited, 53 underwent paired observations. Interobserver agreement was considered moderate to very good for the study sub-groups, with overall kappa values of 0.68 (95% CI 0.63-0.72), 0.79 (0.73-0.84) and 0.92 (0.85-0.99), and percentage agreements of 65%, 81% and 94%, for the original, simplified and binary classifications. Oestrus status did not have a significant effect on classification of breeding suitability. Clinicians and owners should not be concerned about the timing of patellar luxation grading in relation to oestrus. Experienced observers show good or very good agreement using the Norwegian Kennel Club and binary categorisations.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35777278/