Anasthetic for x Ray

[Chickenpie9]

My 10 year old terrier has lung disease not diagnosed but she displays all the significant symptoms of this and vet agrees however is insistent on putting her under anasthetic for an x Ray to diagnose . My dog has the doggy equivalent of COPD and there is huge risks from anasthetic. I’ve spoke to a lot of people on an online support group all of who have or had dogs with this illness and all of them say an emphatic No to anasthetic. What I want to know is is it standard practice to put dogs under for a chest x Ray? My dog is not lively at all and very subdued ( part of her illness ) . Apologies if grammar etc off but so stressed out with this .

It is standard, even the calmest, most well behaved dog will move etc. and it is stressful for them to be restrained by sandbags with no one there (people shouldn't be in the x-ray room when taking them). The benefit of anaesthetic over sedation is that they will have IV access and will be controlling her airway which are both beneficial in the event of an emergency. They will also tailor the premed and anaesthetic drugs to her needs.

Discussing your concerns with your vet is the best thing you can do as a next step.

Similar issue with my old dog, the Vets used sedation as a first resort, which worked in our case for getting the two xrays, but wouldn't probably have worked if we need more.

Whenever my dog has had to have ultrasounds or xrays he has been sedated in some form. Even the most placid dog is going to find it scary so isn't going to stay still enough for X-rays especially as they have to be correctly positioned in the first place. It's hard enough for us humans to stay still in the correct position let alone a scared dog who does not understand what is happening.

I would therefore weigh up the risk of not doing any investigations compared to the risk of an anaesthetic with my vet.

It’s pretty much impossible to get diagnostic X-rays without sedation.
I would also favour a full GA as the airway is maintained especially in a patient with breathing difficulties.

Obviously there are risks with any form of sedation/GA but if it were mine I would X-ray so I knew what I was dealing with.

Yes sedation or anaesthesia is required and anaesthesia would be safer than sedation in this case. In addition anaesthesia allows full ventilation of the lungs resulting in better diagnostic images

My question would be - if your dog already has a diagnosis, how will xrays change the treatment plan? I think this is the part that your vet needs to explain to you to alleviate your concerns.
In general I would trust the judgement of a well trained professional who has actually examined your dog over online strangers though

She’s showing a distinctive crackle in her breath which is one of the sure signs of this Westie Lung Disease also a few other signs . I do want the x Ray to know what we are dealing with I would just hate for anything to happen to her from the anasthetic