OFA Heart Certs - Practitioner or Cardiologist?

[TrishB]

Hi all,

The OFA will grant heart certification for exams performed by practitioners or by cardiologists. The certificate will state which performed the test.

I discussed this with my vet. He said that a practitioner can assess a heart if it is normal. Anything out of the norm, should be referred to a cardiologist.

So while he doesn't feel that a practitioner should treat heart conditions (a cardiologist is best for the dianosis, practitioner then treats per their findings), he does feel that they can test a heart. The certificate from the OFA by a practitioner, is completely valid and trustworthy.

Comments?

[frontierrots]

ABSOLUTELY NOT

I don't know what OFA was thinking. Cardiac certs should only be done by a board certified cardiologist. I have see many practitioner certified dogs drop dead of SAS over the years.

Practitioners don't even normally hear the soft murmurs and what THEY grade normal is oft times actually a grade 1 !!

[miccmill]

It's really that way in human medicine too. An internal medicine doc can perform a cardiac assessment and will identify things that are not within normal limits then refer to a cardiologist.

However, if I were looking for a certification that my heart was good, I'd like a cardiologist to do it. I think the specialists go into greater detail and know how to read specialized imaging studies

[TrishB]

So you know Diane, I agree with you. I would certainly regard a cardiologist certification higher than a practitioners. I just wish cardiologists were easier to get a hold of / more clinics by them. I'm in Ontario and I only know of 2 that are within a 3 hour drive. Even then, they're tough to get for clinics.

I'll get a cardiologist eventually (I'm not breeding, so I'm in no rush)

[hcelsa]

Cardiologist for sure! When in private practice my vet friend was approached multiple times about doing the OFA heart certificate. For breeds with known heart problems (like ours) she would not fill out the form because she doesn't feel that a regular practitioner has the knowledge to truly evaluate the total health of a heart (and she'd try to encourage any owner planning on breeding a dog to see a BC-cardiologist first). The nice thing about going to a cardiologist's office vs. a clinic at a show or trial is that they have all the equipment available if something doesn't sound quite right.

[rottcrazed]

We have a clinic held once a year here in Calgary where a board certified Cardiologist comes up from Oregon and does testing over the course of the weekend. It is also a CERF clinic, so you can kill two birds with one stone. Great opportunity to have this testing done, all of my local pups are doing it in May and I can't wait as OFA gives a 'group rate' for littermates submitted!!!

Cardiologist all the way in my books too!

Kristi

[CanadianRotts]

Hi all:

Originally Posted by TrishB

So you know Diane, I agree with you. I would certainly regard a cardiologist certification higher than a practitioners. I just wish cardiologists were easier to get a hold of / more clinics by them. I'm in Ontario and I only know of 2 that are within a 3 hour drive. Even then, they're tough to get for clinics.

I'll get a cardiologist eventually (I'm not breeding, so I'm in no rush)

Just for future reference ... there are Cardiologists in the GTA area.

1. OVC ~ Guelph, ON

2. K9 Heart Care
905-439-0146
2D Imaging
Doppler
Colour Doppler
Digital Calculations
(Cardiologist on Staff has 25+ yrs experience)

Also the Golden Retriever Club of Greater Toronto has an annual health clinic coming up in March. (I've gone to the health clinics since 1999) They do everything over a 3-day weekend: OVC Hips/Elbows, OFA Hips/Elbows, pre-lims, OFA Heart (Cardiologist) {From NY State}, vWd, Thyroid, Doppler, CERF. It's very well-run. The health clinic is held at Dr. Carol Graham's in Hillsburgh, ON. (About 1.5 hr trip northwest of Toronto - near Orangeville).

Keep checking the website (under Upcoming Events) for the Health clinic.
http://www.grcgt.com/

There is also a cardiologist in the Ottawa area.

Good luck

Dianna Contin

[mwaters]

Kristi,

Do you have details about the clinic in Calgary this year? I'd love to have my boy checked out. Any info you can provide would be great.

Thanks
Melissa

[rottcrazed]

Hey, Melissa,

http://www.cadf.ca/events.html

Try this again!

If this needs to be somewhere else, please put it somewhere else.

Kristi

[BostonRott]

I have to agree, I would not consider a practitioner cert worth anything, regardless of whether or not AKC accepts them.

For those in the US, you can look for cardiac clinics on the OFA website: http://www.offa.org They have a section on health clinics.

[Sharon Marples]

You can also find a list of certified cardiologists in the US here:

http://www.gdhfa.org/BoardCertifiedCardiologists.htm

If you find one near you, you can do a google search for the clinic phone number.