Are we better off not bringing parrot to vet?

[rebeccaturpeinen]

but i am worried about the stress this would caus him

how long have you had him and is he bonded to you? If he and you are close and you are with him at the visit, I doubt it will add that much stress. But I forget how long it has been since you found him. My vet wanted to wait until Norma put on some weight before trimming her nails. He knows it would stress her out and she really needs to put on a little weight before being exposed to stress again.

we have had him for about 2,5 months but 1 months of this he was at a birdsitter. he started trusting us before the birdsitter but we are starting all over again. thats why i am thinking of waiting a bit. i have bonded to him a lot but i aint that sure he has bonded to me yet

but we aint that far from the bonding part so i think his nails will have to wait a little while

[Rue]

I think it depends.

I have animal care experience. Both working and academic. And on the farm, you do a lot of your own vetting too...so more experience.

Outside of routine vaccinations and emergencies, I don't do annual check-ups for the critters...or even my own kids. Our family doctor told me that there was no need to bring in an obviously healthy child 'just because'.

Having said that though...I do have an avian vet should I need one. A few years ago I had a sick canary that I 'rescued' from a pet store and needed to be seen. He didn't make it, but it was better that a bird vet saw him.

However, if you have no animal care experience, you might want to book in a couple of annuals, talk to the vet and get a feel for what's what...

I'm not worried about picking up diseases at a doctor's office. Can it happen? Of course. Is it likely to happen? No. I'd only be concerned with an animal or person who was already really ill and the immune system wasn't up to snuff...

[Mona]

Hi Michael:

Having birds for almost 20 years and being very active in my local avian community, I have some real vet "horror stories". I also know some incredible vet "rescue stories"

If you look at the bigger picture, the problem is that avian vets have to be very specialized. The worse stories I know are "mammal vets" trying to treat Avians. I remember reading a story about some vets who put a macaw under anesthesia and the bird blew up. The reason is that the birds' respiratory system is so different, you really have to know what you are doing.

Avian vets, like any body, need to make a living. If they can't do it specializing in avians, they won't be around when you really need them. For that reason, I don't mind paying for annual avian exams. We are lucky in Seattle to have about a half dozen avian vets that specialize so we are on the cutting edge of a lot of new and exciting information about our feathered companions. For instance, we have a vet here who does ultrasounds of the heart and has discovered that a lot more of our parrots have heart conditions than we are even aware. Nobody was looking at that previously, and now we are learning it is the case. Can you do any thing about it? Yes...

I've been pretty lucky and seldom have health issues. I guess the biggest issue is that my vet tests for cholesterol and so I get the annual "cut down on nuts for treats lecture". If nothing else, it has really made me aware of inadvertent problems you can create by feeding improper diets. For years, I fed my cockatiels a bird bread that I thought was very healthy for them because it was recommended by a breeder but it contained oil. Vet tests discovered liver and cholesterol problems so I switched their diets so now, I mostly feed sprouts, veggies, fruits and a high quality pellet.

The other problem that I see is that health issues often manifest in behaviorial problems. A lot of people blame the bird when a few tests can discover that cranky disposition is attributable to something fixable. I lost my first cockatiel when his kidneys shut down (again, a diet problem). At the time, he was very cranky but I didn't clue in on it and get him to the vet in time.

I have also known some vets that have made some very bad decisions that resulted in the loss of a bird. Birds are after all, delicate animals and avian science is still a learning process. My feelings are that if I can contribute to the learning process and help the future for other people, I will. I also know that you have to discriminate and talk to people because some of the things that I have seen vets do have been borderline "charlatry". If nothing else, you need to establish an avian vet that you trust AHEAD of time so you don't make the mistake of taking your bird to the WRONG vet. I'd rather try to fix the bird on my own than take them to a bad vet.

As far as the disease issue, I don't worry too much about it. I'm a firm believer in a healthy immune system. From informal chats with vets, I understand that new research on PDD seems to be starting to reveal that almost all of the birds we have in captivitity have been exposed to the PDD virus - the ones that survive are the ones that have evolved a healthy immune system. I don't know anybody who has caught any thing from a vet's office. Most of the horror stories I know, come from breeding facilities where the baby birds don't have mature immune systems.

I just don't believe we can keep our animals in "glass bubbles" and still offer them a quality of life....

But..those are just my opinions...I have a mature flock right now...Kiri's probably the oldest at maybe 20 and Babylon is the youngest at nine....so, lots of "well bird" visits and lots of time to weigh the pro's and cons. My advice is: When you find a good, caring, understanding vet with lots of experience....Hang on to them because they are extremely valuable. Experience really is most important.

Thanks for the topic!

[bmsweb]

I personally think that they only need to go to the vet if they are sick. I don't think it's worth the risk to take a healthy bird into an environment where possibly sick birds have been.

In 100% agreement with you

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Well, I do take my other animals in for fairly regular checks, if not annual. I think there is value in having a real vet-patient-owner relationship. I haven't had enough bird experience to have an informed perspective yet, but it seems reasonable to have some sort of baseline set of data established.

If a vet's office did not seem to be using adequately sterile handling procedures, it would worry me about that vet.

I don't know too many healthy people who have gone into hospitals and gotten critically ill, but certainly if you are already weakened, you can pick up some pretty nasty stuff there.

[pfinarffle]

blood work and other labs pick up a lot of very subtle illness most bird owners will miss. nothing can replace these labs but these labs. the risk of these labs in and of themselves is really very low. if your biggest reason for not taking your bird to the vet yearly is sanitation, ask the vet how they clean up after other patients! our avian vet has spray bottles of chlorine bleach solution around their other equipment in very single exam room. it protects not only the birds she sees, but the mammalian clients as well. just ask!

and as another poster said, a good portion of illnesses that birds acquire are secondary to poor nutrition causing a compromised immune system. if your bird is eating well, there shouldn't be that much of a concern for you taking your bird to the vet. i'd be far more worried about visiting a pet store with random birds of uncertain health status, your being around them, returning home and exposing your pet to something that way. i always change clothing after going to pet stores and use my steam cleaner on anything i bought at a store that wasn't sealed to protect it.

and, as another poster stated, it's easy to have one bad vet experience and be tempted to generalize about all other vets out there. as a health professional, i see this happen with humans and doctors in all the time. sometimes it's only a matter of finding a vet you like. get a second opinion! sure, most of us don't have the luxury of an avian vet within a reasonable distance. but hey, if it's just once a year, most of us can drive a few hours away to get the checkup done.

[Grey_Moon]

I think that you can't take the risk out of everything.

With that in mind, I feel better and more responsible knowing that both my fids have their yearly check-up---even if I haven't noticed anything unusual and they're completely fit and healthy. That $100 dollars or so a year for both their check-ups combined is well worth the peace of mind of knowing that, as far as both I and my vet know, the birds are ok.

Not only that, but really, unless you go through a hazmat-grade disinfection process *every* time you even get near your house---how much are you saving the birds from?
Suppose you get near a bench or touch a rail out in the world going about your buisiness....who's to say there wasn't once pigeon poop or some other source of disease on that? A hand washing isnt going to get that off of you most likely.

So I mean, is forgoing the annual check-up really worth trying to neutralize a risk that you can't really get rid of anyway? Also, at my local exotics office they ask for what exactly your bird has symptom-wise before you are allowed to make an appointment. All the boarded birds are tested for the major diseases and parasites...so really I'm not worried.

[lotus15]

I am probably the most paranoid bird owner out there, but I do believe in annual vet visits. I think establishing a good relationship with your vet as well as your vet getting to know your bird(s) is incredibly important... a base line in terms of bloodwork is one of the BEST ways to notice irregularities or problems that don't have any outward symptoms first of all, so getting that bloodwork done annually is very important to us. Second, your vet will be able to diagnose your bird better if he is familiar with it and its habits, normal physical appearance, etc. and can reference his records on your bird.

I know a lot of people say that for experienced owners it's not as necessary... but most people have MAYBE two or three parrots of the same species. Vets have seen hundreds of the same species of bird and are better able to generalize and say what is normal/abnormal for a particular species. Yes, knowing YOUR bird is important-- I know Lola very, very well-- but I cannot say that I know all Capes very well, whereas my vet sees a ton of them.

I am also however very picky about my vets and always ask about cleaning protocols and such. A good veterinarian cleans/disinfects between every patient. Of course there is the waiting room, but that should also be cleaned at lest once daily. Personally I think that a clean and cautious veterinary center is LESS of a risk than pet stores like Petsmart or Petco-- I could never, ever shop at one of these places simply because of the extremely high likelihood of sick birds being bred/housed/sold there. Both of my vets (one in NY, one in VA) say that the vast majority of budgies from Petsmart/Petco that they see ARE ill, especially with megabacteria (avian gastric yeast), and this is only among the ones that are actually brought in to see them (I'm sure there are a ton of people who buy them and never have their birds see the vet).

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Your vet sees a ton of Capes? Do you have a big breeder locally? We felt lucky ours had seen one before!

[lotus15]

Your vet sees a ton of Capes? Do you have a big breeder locally? We felt lucky ours had seen one before!

Yes! I am near DJ Feathers, one of the big breeders. There's also Featherheads who usually have a bunch of Capes too. And then people like me who got Capes from elsewhere We were really, really happy that our vet was sooo familiar with them.

P.S. I meant to say I pretty much agree with everything in your above post too. Great points.