• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

X Rays What's Involved?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Taffer22

Taffer22

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Nov 19, 2015
Messages
18
Reaction score
8
Points
85
Location
Bristol/ South Gloucestershire
Hello,
I've posted on here recently and the responses have been fantastic, so thought I would post again. My boys Bruce and Treacle are due to go to the vets on Wednesday, and I am sooo worried. They have recently been treated for UTI's as thier wee was a funny colour. We think it was Bruce but Treacle was treated too. The wee is still a bit funny but I'm now wondering if this is due to changing from sawdust to white puppy pads. I took the boys back on Friday just to see what the vet reccomended. My usual guinea pig vet wasn't in but the general vet had a good feel of both tummy's and they were not bothered by the prodding. I took a wee sample from Bruce and it was tested for blood- no blood present! So the vet has booked them both in for bloods and X-rays. They have to go all day. I'm so worried because I don't no what's involved. Bruce has a heart murmur and I nearly lost him a few months back. I don't want to put baby treacle through the process if it's really not needed. Help! And advice would be greatly appreciated x
 
Hi there, none of mine have had x-rays but will bump this thread for a response from someone who has. don't be afraid to ask your vet anything regarding the health and procedures for your piggy.
BUMP....
 
What is the vet looking for? Is there definitely something wrong with them? Only it seems a lot to put them through without needing to rule something out.

A good cavy savvy vet should be able to do x rays without an anaesthetic. That said Bumble wouldn't lie on her side for the xray last year so the vet called me to ask if they could give her a whiff of gas to sedate her. Obviously this carries some risk but they should be able to send the pigs home that day confirming they have eaten, drank and pooped.

You will need to sign a waiver to say they can do it all so I would get them to run over their full procedure with you before you leave the vets in the morning.
 
What is the vet searching for? Bladder sludge/stones, I would guess? I would definitely not x-ray the pig without blood in his urine on a test strip, as the odds of finding something is small. The fact that they are planning to keep them all day makes me suspect that they plan to anesthetize them for the x-rays, which carries all the standard risks with anesthesia. This may be necessary for some views, but other views can be taken without anesthesia, provided the pig cooperates. Sundae has had x-rays to look at her bladder without anesthesia, and I didn't have to leave her there. I waited in the other room while the x-ray was taken and then the tech brought her right back.

If I was in your place, I would hold back until you talk to your usual vet. Then I would ask what exactly they are looking for and what is the benefit of gaining this information. There are times when you will gain useful info that will impact on treatment in the future, and then it may be worth the cost/risk. There are other times when there is minimal useful info to be gained (for instance, my vet offered an x-ray on an elderly pig experiencing nosebleeds, which I declined because the only thing it would detect would be a bony tumor, so even a clean scan did not preclude a soft-tissue mass, and there was no real treatment to give even if a tumor was detected on x-ray, so I judged that the x-ray was not worth the financial cause or the stress on the piggie.) Once you talk to your usual vet and have the info of what they hope to find or rule out and how/whether this will impact treatment, you can make an informed decision. I suspect the general vet is just trying to cover his bases (or, less generously, trying to increase his revenue) and that the risk may not be worth the benefit, particularly if he plans to anesthetize a pig with a heart problem to gain it.
 
A pig with a heart murmur should not be sedated. My Ellie is having an xray tomorrow and she is a heart pig and I have already said I don't want her having even a whiff of gas. If they can do the xray conscious that is fine but it is risky otherwise. I used to help at a clinic and we used a few different ways to keep the pig still if needed, such as little restraint bags and blocks. My own local vets even taped my Nigel to the table once, though he was very springy but also a heart pig.
 
helen105281 said:
A pig with a heart murmur should not be sedated. My Ellie is having an xray tomorrow and she is a heart pig and I have already said I don't want her having even a whiff of gas. If they can do the xray conscious that is fine but it is risky otherwise. I used to help at a clinic and we used a few different ways to keep the pig still if needed, such as little restraint bags and blocks. My own local vets even taped my Nigel to the table once, though he was very springy but also a heart pig.
Click to expand...
LOL... I am envisioning him taped to the table! I believe Sundae was once x-rayed in a box... she had nothing to do but stand there as the box was hardly bigger than she was, and of course the x-ray could see through the box!
 
Freela said:
LOL... I am envisioning him taped to the table! I believe Sundae was once x-rayed in a box... she had nothing to do but stand there as the box was hardly bigger than she was, and of course the x-ray could see through the box!
Click to expand...

Ha ha I did too with the cheeky glint in his eye. He was a real character.
 
I do not immediately think that the vet intends on giving anaesthesia just by keeping them in all day. In my experience with vets its not uncommon to take the piggies in first thing in the morning and for the vet to do the x rays when they have the time which will be sometime between the morning and afternoon appointments. ( I have had calls from all sorts of times - 10am, 1pm etc and believe this is just how the vet was able to manage their time). That said it is a question that needs asking and when you sign any forms you need to make sure that form says no anaesthetic to be given before you sign it.
 
Thank you for your responses. I'm in for a sleepless night! They are looking at possibly sludge and stones. I have taken urine samples tonight ready for the vet. I'm adamant I don't want the boys put under, and I'm just hoping the vet understands this. She is very piggy savvy and her specialism is piggys. I think the normal vet didn't really know what to suggest last week. They are in all day as I need to be at work (joys of teaching!) and their actual appointment is mid morning, I'm just dropping them off early. I will keep you posted. Many thanks again x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top