Should I avoid touching my dog after a pet ct scan

That's a very good question but it doesn't look like any other members of this group have the necessary experience with a PET scan to answer.

Could I suggest that you post this in ask a nurse and one of the specialist cancer nurses will respond within 2 working days.

x

Hi Andrea,

I work in nuclear medicine and having discussed this topic numerous times, there's a clear conclusion.

When you have a PET-CT scan, you are normally injected with a radioactive tracer. This tracer is eliminated naturally from the body within hours however, during this time, you are considered 'radioactive'. It may seem like a daunting prospect however the levels of radiation you are exposed to are so small that they are likened to the same amount of exposure you receive from the sun or when you get onto an aeroplane and fly high in the atmosphere.

There are published guidelines that state a patient should avoid contact with babies, young children and pregnant women however there is nothing published regarding our much loved furry companions.

My personal advice to you, as a dog lover myself, is that based on the guidance surrounding babies/pregnant women, would be to treat the situation with your dog in the same way. We don't really know how this radiation would affect an animal but it can be surmised to be similar to those that would affect a human. So maybe hold off on the dog cuddles for the first 6-8 hours or so, just to be safe

Hopefully this will put you and others at ease, take care and best wishes,

Lynne.

This thread is being marked for retention by the moderator, as some members are still finding this useful.