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WHAT IS CHIC?
is a centralized canine health database jointly sponsored by the AKC/Canine Health Foundation (AKC/CHF) and the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA). CHIC offers a breed specific listing of health tests recommended for that breed. CHIC determines which tests to recommend for each breed based on information given to them by the breed’s parent club health committee.
CHIC recommends three health tests for Boston Terriers. They include an eye exam, knee exam, and hearing exam.
The eye exam must be performed by a licensed veterinary ophthalmologist. He/she examines the dog and records his/her findings on a form provided to them by CERF, the Canine Eye Registry Foundation. Juvenile cataracts are the most common heritable eye disease checked for in Boston Terriers. Juvenile cataracts are one example of a problem we can keep from reproducing in our Bostons simply by not breeding affected dogs. Other issues, such as thin corneas and “bulgy” eyes make them more prone to eye injuries, but are simply a result of the way they are made and there is little we can do about it.
The knee exam is performed by a licensed veterinarian. OFA, the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, is the organization which sets the criteria for this test. They provide a form to the veterinarian detailing how and what should be checked. He/she then performs the exam by maneuvering the knees of the dog to determine if the knee cap (patella) is firmly in place. If the knee cap slips in and out of place freely (luxates), the dog is said to have a luxating patella. Although this condition can be caused by injury to the tendons and ligaments in the knee, most often it is the result of a hereditary defect where the groove in which the knee cap slides is too shallow allowing it to slip in and out of place causing the dog some pain and/or discomfort.
The hearing test is performed by a licensed veterinary neurologist or audiologist. The preferred test is the BAER, Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response test, also registered with OFA. This test is performed by placing earphones inside the dogs ears and electrodes around the head and neck. Neurological responses are then recorded after various sounds and pitches are played through the earphones. Congenital deafness, either bilaterally or unilaterally is becoming a larger problem in Boston Terriers, thus the new recommendation by the Boston Terrier Club of America’s health committee for this test to be performed on all breeding Bostons.
After all of these tests have been completed and registered with their respective registries, they are recorded in the CHIC database and a certificate is issued stating that the said canine has been tested in all of the recommended areas.
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