{"id":2480,"date":"2019-04-29T07:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T07:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2019\/04\/fear-free-imaging-for-exotics\/"},"modified":"2024-09-04T20:05:07","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T20:05:07","slug":"fear-free-imaging-for-exotics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2019\/04\/fear-free-imaging-for-exotics\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear Free Imaging for Exotics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Linda Lombardi
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Low-stress handling techniques are better for all pets, but they’re particularly important for exotics.<\/p>\n

“With exotics, you really want to minimize distress, because a lot of them when they’re sick are really prone to cardiovascular failure,” says J\u00f6rg Mayer, DVM, DABVP, associate professor of zoological medicine at the University of Georgia.<\/p>\n

Exotics are more stressed by handling than domestic animals, and diagnostic imaging can present particular challenges since you need the animal to keep still. Anesthesia will do it, of course, but can present its own problems. Dr. Mayer uses a number of techniques that can eliminate the need for anesthesia in some cases while keeping animals calm and still.<\/p>\n

Dark Means Calm<\/h3>\n

One simple trick is to take advantage of diurnal animals’ natural response to light and darkness, a technique Mayer often uses with birds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the wild, you don’t see a goose flying at night,” he says, “To them, the moment the lights go off, that means \u2018We should be resting.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Darkness, then, will calm waterfowl. The same is true for parrots.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of psittacines need a high intensity of light in order to see, so if you can just dim the room, they simmer right down,\u201d he says. It doesn’t need to be pitch black, so you can get the benefit of this effect while still being able to see well enough to do the job.<\/p>\n

With birds Mayer says often the image does not need to be perfect or detailed; for example, a scan to see if they’re eggbound or have swallowed something toxic such as a lead sinker. In this case, waterfowl may be laid on their backs in a darkened room and will hold still for long enough without distress. \u201cIt’s a very quick scan, so you don\u2019t necessarily need the absolutely perfect position for them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Parrots, on the other hand, would be extremely stressed by that position, but can often be scanned on a perch in a darkened room or, if they\u2019re too sick to perch, in a box.<\/p>\n

Benzodiazepines Have Multiple Benefits<\/h3>\n

For cases requiring more detailed imaging, Mayer says heavy sedation is often all that\u2019s needed. Benzodiazepines have several beneficial effects. For an intelligent bird such as a parrot, it\u2019s significant that these drugs suppress both anxiety and memory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith very smart birds like most of these psittacines, you do a couple of procedures and quickly they learn that the guy in the white coat is really bad news, because every time he comes he does something horrible to you,\u201d he says. \u201cSo this is where these benzodiazepines, because they’re amnesic and anxiolytic, help significantly because there\u2019s no learning effect, so this makes future exams less stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Small mammals such as rabbits may be too weak to move much when ill, but that doesn’t mean you should try to image them with no medication. \u201cWe don’t really want to handle them without any sedation, because that gets the blood pressure up and gets the heart rate up and that\u2019s exactly what you don\u2019t want,\u201d Mayer says. \u201cWith a very sick or compromised patient, that can be enough to push them over the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benzodiazepines are safe to use in the face of the possibility of cardiovascular complications. \u201cThe nice thing is that these have no real cardiovascular depressant effect, so we can use them in the most critically ill patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Use Containers<\/h3>\n

Mayer has several strategies for containing different animals for imaging. Rabbits frequently need the head imaged to look for dental disease. He\u2019ll contain the lightly sedated animal in a clear acrylic box surrounded and propped up by towels, which help them feel secure and calm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey like to feel like they can lean against something,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd in the clear acrylic box, it\u2019s safe for the animal–even if they would want to walk off the table they can’t–and we can see the animal, so in case they are struggling we can intervene.\u201d<\/p>\n

Containers are also the best approach for aquatic animals, since imaging works through water. \u201cKeeping the animal in the natural environment, like an amphibian or fish in water, is the least stressful, so you can do it and the animal doesn’t even know that something happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imaging a fish might not be an everyday event, but Mayer says he has done quite a few procedures on valuable fish like koi, such as radiographs to check the swim bladder or look for spine fractures.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can leave them in a container and shoot the x-rays through the water, or keep them in a plastic bag. That works really well and that means absolutely no restraint,\u201d he says. \u201cYou just have to have a little bit of patience and use a smaller container so they don’t swim constantly left and right. Once they get used to it, you can just take a little time and take the radiograph once the fish is in the right position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reptile Dos and Don\u2019ts<\/h3>\n

With iguanas and other lizards, Mayer often takes advantage of a simple trick of physiology. \u201cWhat you can do is put pressure on the eyeball, and that induces the vasovagal response,\u201d he says. The heart rate and blood pressure come down and this calms them. \u201cYou don’t need to use drugs and they\u2019re not stressing out because everything in their system is telling them to just relax.\u201d<\/p>\n

What you should not use, he says, is artificial cooling. \u201cPeople say, \u2018Just put them in the refrigerator and chill them down and they don\u2019t move,\u201d he says. \u201cWe don’t advocate this as an appropriate way to deal with these animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a misconception that that would be similar to what a reptile or amphibian would experience in nature. \u201cHibernation is a more complicated process,\u201d he says. \u201cThe animal prepares for that–they stop eating, they empty the GI tract, it’s a gradual thing–they don’t suddenly find themselves in a refrigerator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Animals Hide Weakness<\/h3>\n

For any procedure, Mayer says, remember that all of these animals do feel pain and stress even if it\u2019s not apparent. Not only are we less skilled at reading their signs, they are expert at concealing distress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is hard-wired in them, so with exotics we have to be extra cautious,\u201d he says. \u201cThe little dog has no problem limping into the vet clinic and showing that it\u2019s lame, but the rabbit or bird know that if they do that, they’re going to be someone\u2019s dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayer says that in a study testing effectiveness of a pain drug in iguanas, researchers found that behavior was different depending on whether someone was watching. \u201cThey noticed that when the iguana knows it\u2019s being watched, it shows significantly less signs of pain, compared to when they used a camera to observe them,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s the prey animal\u2019s instinct, to suppress any signs of weakness.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was reviewed\/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and\/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Low-stress handling techniques during imaging are particularly important for exotics. 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