Dog with heart murmur coughs and retches. Is sedation safe for X-rays?

Question

What can I do for Bambi she coughs and wants to vomit but can’t. Pet smart could not do any thing for her due to she has a heart murmur. They couldn’t take exray of her due to the fact they couldn’t handle her, so they said the only way they could take X-ray if they sedate her, but in the past they said they couldn’t sedate her to get her teeth clean and now they can sedate her for $105 . I don’t understand that. Please advise what I can do for my Bambi. Thank you. Mapu. Pet's info: Dog | Chihuahua | Female | spayed | 9 years and 5 months old | 6 lbs

Kevin Sanada, DVM · Accepted Answer

It seems that poor Bambi may have a heart condition. Not all murmurs are bad, but the cough can indicate signs of heart failure and an x-ray would tell a lot of information that would be helpful for getting the right diagnosis. It's always difficult to speculate without fully knowing Bambi's medical history, but I'm guessing that they did not want to anesthetize Bambi for the teeth cleaning because they were afraid that she had severe heart disease. For dental cleanings they need to fully anesthetize the dog and this can be risky with heart disease. Often there is a risk versus benefit decision that needs to be made. The doctor may have decided that the risk of anesthesia was not worth the benefit of a dental cleaning. For the x-ray, the sedation would not be as worrisome as the full anesthesia that is required for the dental. We have sedation drugs that are very safe for heart conditions and it's often less risky to sedate a heart patient for an x-ray rather than struggling with them to get them in the right position. Struggling too much can cause a heart attack in some patients with bad heat disease. I hope that helps to answer your question. I'm sure your vet could give you more information and I'm sure they would be happy to discuss this with you the next time you speak with them.

Dog with heart murmur coughs and retches. Is sedation safe for X-rays?

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