[Yorkiemom1]

I xray all my females around day 59. Fortunately, have NEVER had one come down with any of the cancers, etc, listed in the article. The two females that I have lost to cancer were not breeders and had never had ANY xrays of any kind....and they both died of cancers. I believe you can OVER-RADIATE a female during xray.....that is the benefit of having a vet that is knowledgable in xray dosing.....unfortunately, any xrays can irradiate the patient and cause cancer....true in humans too.....we xray broken bones, hip alignments, etc,. It is important you have a vet that knows about dosing of xrays.....as far as xrays causing cancers, over radiating can be a problem....it can be a problem with ANY xray done, regardless of the purpose of the xray. I guess being a nurse and working around xrays for the last 45 years has probably given me a healthy respect for the rays, but no fear....the dose used and the length of time used to xray a pregnant female is actually insignificant....chest xrays, xrays for conformation, xrays to diagnose broken bones, these all require more substantial dosing of rays than what is required to verify number of puppies or placement/size of puppies in order to preclude issues of puppies passing thru the pelvic ring. The benefits of xraying (to verify number of puppies and size of puppies), in my opinion and experience, far outweigh the possible dangers of xray. I know a lot more breeders that have lost babies as well as mommas because of stuck puppies, retained puppies, retained placentas, etc. because they had no idea the puppies were not going to be able to deliver normally, puppies wedged in pelvic ring, retained placentas, retained puppies, etc., than breeders that have lost females to cancer, secondary to xrays.

None of my owners have ever reported the death of one of their babies due to cancer.