X-Ray before welping - Page 2

X-rays used to be more common for pregnant women, and are still regarded as safe during pregnancy if necessary.  Ultrasound can measure things that x-ray can't including blood flow through the umbilical cord and placenta.  The hard part is that there has to be a certain amount of fluid present for a clear picture, which is why pregnant women have to drink a certain amount of water about 30 minutes before the exam and then hold it.  My guess is that it would be harder in a dog. :)

Disclaimer - I've never bred dogs and have no business breeding, but I've given birth twice  with two very complicated pregnancies, and have had more ultrasounds than I can count.

Opal

Interesting. Maybe getting the dog to drink a quart of chicken broth before the xray would help? 

When I was pregnant with all of my kids, I had severe pain in my rib/sternum where I had previously a few cracked ribs. At first the doctors assumed was stretching ligaments, but since the pain was becoming unbearable, they wanted to xray me and make sure it wasn't something serious. I was around 6 months along if I remember correctly and really, really nervous about the xray.
I finally consented since I could barely stand the pain anymore and they put the lead suit over the baby and did the xray. My child was born completely healthy. (oh and they didn't find anything abnormal...weird!)
With my youngest son I was very high risk and also assumed to have gestational diabetes, but since I always threw up the glucose drink during the second test (the long one) before they could draw blood,  the doctor did an untrasound at every single visit to check the fluid levels and size of the baby. I honestly couldn't count how many ultrasounds I had with him.
He was also born completely healthy.
These were just my experiences and I certainly am not saying xrays or u/s are 100% safe... I could have just been lucky. But I do wonder if they are not as dangerous as once thought if precautions are taken especially with the xrays.
Stacy

 Ultra sound is notoriously unreliable for counting puppies, just for checking that they are alive and not in distress (if the birth seems to be late for example).  I always X-ray in the last week to see how many puppies and the result has always been correct.  From what I have read and what the vets say it is not dangerous to X-ray after about 55 days into the pregnancy, and it is  a great help during whelping to know how many to expect.