# Are X-rays safe?



## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

My tiel has a possible chronic infection and we are not quite sure where it is. The vet was guessing that it may be in her uterus (an educated guess) which lead her to prescribe a more targeted antibiotic as we used baytril last year and the year before and it worked short term as her WBC would go back up but then it was down again last June and this June. Well her chemistries came back and the liver counts and everything look perfect as usual except for the protein counts which are a little low. This has lead her to suggest possibly doing an x-ray to check on her liver as an infection in that area would require a different antibiotic. 

I am absolutely terrified of this idea. She is a good vet and is avian certified, but that doesn't stop me from being afraid because she also works with dogs, cats, and other exotic animals so I don't know how many small birds she has anesthetized in her time as a vet. Personally, I would rather finish this course of medication and check her WBC again in a couple of months and THEN talk x-rays if the counts are low again but either way if she needs an x-ray, I need to know everyone's experiences. Have you had your tiels anesthetized and x-rayed? How did it go? Did they recover well? Any side effects? Any bad experiences? Good? 

I should note that if we finish these meds and wait a couple of months I will actually be with a new vet (moving across the country in 2.5 weeks) but this new vet ONLY sees birds and teaches vet students as well. I get the feeling that he has probably anesthetized and x-rayed more small birds than my tiel's current vet but I haven't asked the current vet yet to how much experience she has x-raying small birds. I just don't know if I should allow her current vet to do it now or give this antibiotic a chance (as the uterus infection wouldn't show up in an x-ray anyway) and then think about x-rays if it doesn't work. I don't know. I'm a stress ball right now. 

Experiences please! Ease my mind, make up my mind for me, either way...help. :wf grey:


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Many small birds have been anesthetized safely but there are always risks. I recommend that you have a friendly but honest talk with your current veterinarian about your concerns, and whether it's safe to wait a couple of months before you get the x-rays. You don't have to tell her that you want to wait for a new vet who may be able to do it better - the risks of anesthesia are a good enough reason to not do it unless it's absolutely necessary. But you need to know how risky it is to wait, and your vet knows a lot more about that than anyone here does.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

I guess I'm just looking for lots of good experiences (hopefully) in case she does want to do x-rays. I will be talking to her about it. She hasn't called me since yesterday so I'm assuming she either hasn't had a chance to consult with another avian vet yet or she has and just hasn't had time to call me back. Totoro is in perfect health otherwise (she looks good, she acts good, fecal was good, every other bit of her bloodwork was good, etc.) so I would just hate to risk putting her through an x-ray unless we definitely have to, especially since the possible infection area she is currently treating for wouldn't show up in an x-ray (which is why she didn't recommend it then, only after seeing her proteins did she mention it). She did say we could continue this medication and see but we only briefly spoke since she was going to get a second opinion on everything knowing that I'm moving in 2 weeks. I'll communicate more with her for a decision, I just mostly need to know that if it comes down to doing the x-rays that there are lots of people on here with success stories and hopefully not many or not any with sad ones. I'm an anxious person so I kind of need A LOT of reassurance about big decisions like this ha ha ha.



tielfan said:


> Many small birds have been anesthetized safely but there are always risks. I recommend that you have a friendly but honest talk with your current veterinarian about your concerns, and whether it's safe to wait a couple of months before you get the x-rays. You don't have to tell her that you want to wait for a new vet who may be able to do it better - the risks of anesthesia are a good enough reason to not do it unless it's absolutely necessary. But you need to know how risky it is to wait, and your vet knows a lot more about that than anyone here does.


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## breannaangus (Feb 15, 2014)

*Update*

Okay, panic over ha ha ha. The vet consulted with a specialist and the specialist was on board with everything we are already doing. We are just going to check her WBC again after this course of antibiotics and if it looks perfect then I will check again in about 6 months to see if they stayed up or not. The specialist wasn't too worried about her wbc considering she is otherwise acting normal and everything else looks good (she said sometimes the little guys just tend to have lower wbc and be just fine). It will be a game of just monitoring her and making sure she gets her supplements.

In case anyone else is panicking about x-rays or in case I do need to have them done eventually, it still would be nice to hear from other people who have had success stories with their tiels. I couldn't find much out there which is why I decided to post.


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## Buckbuck (May 17, 2018)

I have had x-rays done on my past birds, cockatiels, and my current sweetie tiel pearl hen. For the most part no anesthesia was given and they've always been fine. They stress a little but not too bad. I had my Shiloh in on Saturday because she was acting eggbound and the avian vet gave her anesthesia for a better x-ray. While she was under he drew blood for tests and gave her a shot of Lupron for ratcheting her down some as she cannot lay eggs safely. She's 11 and has only layed one and it was a disaster. Shell-less. The part that makes the shell hard doesn't work right. She was perfectly fine. They bounce right back. When we got home she flew immediately. That said, there are risks with anesthesia on ANY animal. But bird anesthesia has come a long way.

Cathy and Shiloh


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