Are non contact thermometers any good?

[Silverstreaks]

We've been advised to keep a log and take boy dogs temperature after he has an episode. Any time he's had a rectal reading at the vets it has taken two of us to hold him as he really doesn't like it and it seems to take quite a while to get a reading.
As I'm usually by myself when these things happen I think it will be difficult to keep the rectal thermometer in him and hold him still for the required time.
Would a Non Contact thermometer do as good a job as a rectal one? Could anyone recommend one please?

Has no one got a view on this?

Not used clinically really very much.

If you google - there's studies, they don't recommend them.

I dunno what products are available to you but non-contact ones were used heavily in the Ebola crisis. So not useless, but probably very crude, just show "normal" vs "well high".

Yes, I'd come across some studies showing showing glass thermometers at three minutes to be the gold standard.

But, my thinking is surely it would be better to get a quick reading showing whether he actually has a high temperature or not rather than trying to hold him still, insert thermometer, continue to hold the now squirming dog and wait for the beep. Even at the vets this is hard enough with two people.

Non-contact work better on humans as no fur, fur due to nature of it's insulating properties affect non- contact dramatically.
Digital soft tip paediatric thermometers are the most widely used in clinical practice.
The thermometer microchips have a higher failure rate than regular chips which is why they haven't become hugely popular.

Ah, you learn a new thing every day. I hadn't heard of the temperature microchip or the soft tip option.

Thanks Lonecat I'll have a look at the paediatric ones.

Assuming he didn't chew it would a mouth reading be accurate?