Boarding - Your opinion

[manu1304]

Hi, I boarded my 2 cockatoos for 3 days at a local bird store. When I picked my birds up, Satchmo acted sick. Later my vet diagnosed him with chlamydia. The store doesn't require a vet certification that the bird is healthy. Anyway, my vet bills are almost $1000. What do you think, should the bird store pay my vet bills?

[shiraartain]

No, because that is a risk you chose to take.Seeing as you weren't asked for a certificate of health, I'm sure it was a plausible assumption to make that nobody else was asked for one either.

I have a bird store nearby but now that I have birds again I avoid going there and I don't even buy bird toys from there because there's a chance of bringing home diseases. I only go to a local chain store where the only animals present are cats up for adoption. However, I only made these decisions because I happened to see a post about it. Got lucky in that regard.

All that said, you can try saying something to the store. I don't think it's worth the effort of a lawsuit if that's what you have in mind. At the very least, they'll be aware that there's an Ill bird amongst them. I understand that 'toos are very high maintenance animals and it must be difficult to find care for them. Hope he feels better soon!

[Wolf]

Even if the bird picked this up at the store, you have no way to prove it. There are known cases of birds carrying this disease for years with no symptoms for years until it is triggered by some form of stress.

[Michael]

If your kids get sick at camp, you can't get anything from the facility...

Im glad it was something treatable!

[marie83]

Yes its a risk and unfortunately one of those things. Whilst it's quite likely the boarding was the source of infection there is no way to prove it.

I wouldn't board my birds for that reason unless it was 100% avoidable and I had exhausted all other options. I prefer friends or family to come and be with mine but it's a bit of a pain when they need so much attention. I have paid for a pet sitter to come to mine and spend 2 hours morning and evening with them so 4 hours a day. I would pay for more hours now ollie is an only bird if I had to but for now I wouldn't go away until he has another companion.

[Pajarita]

I would never board any of my animals anywhere and I don't care how good they are or how many people recommend them. And, no, Shira is correct, you have no legal recourse at all. The only thing I can tell you is that you need to treat both birds -not just Satchmo- and that you should also do preventive treatments for both every two years. I hope your vet is not doing the injections but the doxy in the water...