Waiting, waiting, waiting…

[saba]

Oh, just how much do I hate waiting for health results :p:p

I took Saba in yesterday to the Vet, to have blood taken for thyroid testing. Something I have been meaning to do for a while… I have sent the blood over to Hemopet/Hemolife, and I am very much looking forward to Dr J Dodds looking at his results :).

Then just to finish off all his health testing, he also had his hips/elbows done. The Vet who looked at his x-ray, said all looked fine with them, so now I just have to remain patient :p, (definately NOT my strong point...), till the results come through, probably in 2-3 weeks.

Unfortunately, here in ,Aus, we have to have the dogs under a full, (albeit a light), anaesthetic as per the Australian National Kennel Council. I believe you guys are able to just sedate, or even use nothing, if your dog will be as still as needs be on the table... Correct me if I am wrong ??? I think the Aus way is very backward in its thinking, and I believe that this issue has been brought up many, many times at Council meetings, and they firmly believe that EVERY dog needs to be under complete anaesthetic to have appropriate X-rays taken :mad::mad:

Oh well, I am hoping that he has good results, and that will just make my Christmas :). I will let you know when I have the results...

[Rita Jean]

I will be thinking of you and in hopes this is your best christmas ever.

Rita Jean

[nkjvcjs]

@saba:

and they firmly believe that EVERY dog needs to be under complete anaesthetic to have appropriate X-rays taken :mad::mad:

Oh well, I am hoping that he has good results, and that will just make my Christmas :). I will let you know when I have the results…

Good luck on the results.

As an aside, When I was a vet tech, and we would do dogs that weren't sedated or anesthetized, it was always very difficult to get good positioning. And, when you stretch the legs out and twist to get proper positioning, the dogs would scream, and many would pee all over the place. We would often have to re-try more than once to get good films. I think PennHIP actually requires anesthesia so that the distraction can be used to measure hip laxity. We couldn't take PennHIP films.

The sedated or lightly anesthetized dogs, no screaming, no peeing, one set of films and done, and they wake up comfy in their kennel. I think this is much better, at least from the tech's point of view.

-Nicole

[lvoss]

I have had two done lightly sedated and two done with no chemical restraint. I was present for the most recent one done without chemical restraint. For the hips she was pretty easy. They got a nice clear shot in one try, unfortunately the tech saved it to the wrong file so we had to do it again, still she was good and got it in one shot. She is OFA Excellent. There was a little fussing when they did her elbows but most of the fussing was about being turned over on the table. They still got each in one shot. I also work with my dogs from puppyhood to tolerate laying on their back and to be handled by myself and others.

PennHip does require anethetic because they require 3 views and they use a special device to get the positioning they desire.

[nkjvcjs]

@lvoss:

I also work with my dogs from puppyhood to tolerate laying on their back and to be handled by myself and others.

I wish we had more owners like you!

[saba]

Thanks for all the well wishes

nkjvcjs,

I fully agree with you about the control needed to restrain a dog on the table, to achieve the most correct results. I think what I have most difficulty with, is the fact that we dont even have a choice. Thats been taken away from us with this blanket rule. To be brutally honest, I think most, (but not all), of the dogs that I have had x-rayed, I would have chosen an anaesthetic anyway. I know they wouldnt have co-operated, just being /jigglywiggly ;). Most of them possibly would have been good with just a light sedation, though… I didnt have that choice :rolleyes:.

I believe that the Penn Hip x-ray does need a anaesthetic, so no problems with that.

Just out of curiosity, how many dogs are x-rayed the Penn Hip way ??? Here is Aus it is still a very 'new' way of doing it. I dont think many people are actually doing it at all. I did attend a fantastic lecture in Melbourne, (we dont have ANY education sessions down here in Tas, its always a trip interstate, if we want to attend :mad:), and learnt a lot about that way of x-raying, still needing to do far more research to do on that before/or if, I decide to go that way, though :).

[Buana]

Good luck waiting!!!

It's hard!! we are also waiting right now on Chafuko's health results!

[lvoss]

Right now, not many basenji people do PennHip and becuase of that it is not as effective a tool for basenjis since they base their recommendations on the breed average. AT first they were comparing basenji scores to their beagle averages because there were not enough dogs in the database. I don't know if they have enough in the database now that they are comparing to basenjis.

[saba]

Thanks for that info Ivoss… It is probably the same here in Aus, I would think. I dont think there are a lot of Aussie breeders that do H/E, and if done, it would be the AVA scoring system, for those that do