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Chapter 31

Performance and Demonstration

Pets: Bear and Bison

Some exotic pets are accomplished film and television III BISON
performers. In the last few months, we have radio-
graphed a bear and a bison, both of which had exten- Taming and training a bison bull calf is an arduous,
sive and impressive resumes. Other exotic pets serve time-consuming task requiring enormous patience,
as demonstration animals, usually in academic set- and taking a full-grown bull through its paces on a
tings such as zoology or biology laboratories. One such movie set is mind-boggling. Keith Houston is one of
animal we have attended to is a pet caiman. the few men to have accomplished such a feat with his
partner “Pete.”
We were introduced to Pete, a bison bull, in the
III BEAR summer of 2006. He was ill according to Mr. Houston,
his owner and trainer; vagal indigestion and hardware
Over the years, we have cared for a number of bears— disease were suspected. Having Pete’s trainer present
circus, zoo, and wild—and each of these bears has facilitated everything we did and perhaps more impor-
presented its own unique group of logistical chal- tantly, made it much less stressful on the animal.
lenges, particularly in regards to imaging. The most Mr. Houston supervised the unloading and move-
recent of these was a large black bear with a diseased ment of Pete, including his placement of the bull in a
upper canine tooth requiring a root canal. To examine, squeeze-chute so that radiographs could be safely
image, and perform surgery on the animal, it fi rst had done (Figure 31-5). Once secured, the radiographer
to be adequately restrained, which meant general took over, but the trainer remained so that Pete would
anesthesia. This proved far easier than anticipated stay calm (Figure 31-6). Once the imaging was com-
because the bear was not only a highly trained pet, but pleted, the trainer escorted Pete back to his stall.
a seasoned motion picture performer, comfortable Unfortunately for Pete, radiographs disclosed a pair
with the people, lights, and noise that typically accom- of wires (Figure 31-7), one of which appeared to have
pany movie making. No darting was required! penetrated the reticulum and migrated through the
After uneventful sedation, the bear was anesthe- diaphragm and into the nearby lung, or worse, into the
tized, vital sign monitors were placed and activated, pericardium, causing infectious pericarditis. Obviously,
and the animal was imaged while on an adjustable reticuloperitonitis was also a possibility.
padded table with a portable x-ray machine (Figure A magnet was given (Figure 31-8) and appeared to
31-1). After the procedure, the bear was imaged again fix the smaller of the two wires, indicating a high prob-

as shown in Figure 31-2. The resultant radiograph is ability that it was free in the reticular lumen (versus

seen in Figure 31-3, and the surgery was deemed fixed in a reticular fold or embedded in the reticular
successful. wall). The remaining wire continued to appear outside
Bears are a handful, or perhaps a “paw-full” (Figure the reticulum, probably in the thorax.
31-4). The owner and trainer should be available as the
animal is unloaded, sedated, anesthetized, examined,
imaged, operated, imaged again, recovered, reloaded,
and sent on its way to make more entertaining fi lms.
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