Disappointment with one vet we use

[Kyoto]

Hi everyone,
So, Kyo has been getting nail trims once in a while to keep them from getting snagged in things. I've been going to a vet we really like, who isn't certified but is a bird owner himself and sees a lot of birds here. Keep in mind, he is not Kyo's regular vet, who is certified (She charges almost double for nail trims), just a vet I always trusted with simple things like this... who really is in it for the animals etc... until today.

My problem wasn't with him per say, but the vet tech. As soon as she entered the room, I let her know that Kyo is a bit nippy, and she said to me "Oh great, tell the one who's terrified of birds that!" and when Kyo flew to her to say hi (not aggressively, just curious) she flipped out.

I asked about where the other vet tech was, who we always dealt with in the past and really liked... she was apparently with another appointment. I found it weird as she has always been the one we see.

Needless to say, it made me really really uncomfortable having her be the one holding my bird for her nail trim, as she was obviously not certain or confident and had a bad attitude. I didn't want to bring anything up right there, but in passing I'm really bothered. Other than this experience, we've been really happy getting Kyo's nails done here. I ever offered to be the one to towel her, but they declined to allow me to.

Now the question is, do I boycott this vet for good as I'm fearful I may end up with this girl again? Or should I email them and complain? Or just suck it up and pay the extra money to my regular vet who knows what she's doing but is a total Harrison's pusher and makes me feel crappy about not feeding it to Kyo instead of her golden feast/roudybush mix + chop?

Just really needed somewhere to vent. Outside of this little incident, Kyo was really really well behaved tonight! It's like she just wanted to show everyone that mommy was lying about her being nippy. She was even sitting on me calmly AND BRENT, and went right back into her carrier when I asked her to. Last time, she just wouldn't sit still and was all over the place...

I'm leaning towards emailing them, but I also don't want this poor girl to lose her job or something from me complaining. I'm sure she's perfectly competent with other animals, just not with birds. I know if I was asked to restrain a cat, I wouldn't know the first thing about it.

 

[Dinosrawr]

Oh boogers, that kind of sucks. If I were you, the next time I booked an appointment I would just simply request a time slot that involves the vet AND vet tech you like. You don't have to give them a reason per se, especially if you don't want this girl to be in trouble. There's nothing wrong with having your preferences.

 

[4dugnlee]

I agree...I would ask to have the other vet tech next time. I would at least give them one more chance. If the girl is really afraid of birds, she probably won't mind anyway.

 

[Flboy]

Same thing happened at our vet, tech didn't know what she was doing. And since I only had JoJo for one week, I didn't know what I was doing either! All she did was to take the tips off some very neglected nails. Yes they only charge five dollars for a nail clipping but my daughter was still very upset when I came home. Since she knew what she was talking about and she used to work with the staff there, I made her go back with me. Worked out very well she had a chance to visit with the vet that she hadn't seen in over a year and we found out the new tech just didn't have any bird experience but otherwise was very good!

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Be careful guys [not worth it]. You dont need to be polite. My Macaw died right in front of me . As the vet tech tried to restrain him.

 

[Crazyt123]

Hey there! I work in a animal hospital. Honestly speak to the Vet directly! They should be willing to listen to what you say and work out a better way or to put a different tech on "parrot" duty. At work we try to please the clients and do what makes them comfortable. Just be prepared if you have a request to have a specfic person work with you there might be a little longer wait time. But in the end itll be worth it.

 

[Aquila]

Just ask for the best times when your two would be available together, it's the easiest.

I'm glad I do my own bird's nails as I don't think I could handle watching someone else do my bird's, I know how hard it was for people to trust me doing their dog's nails, but I did everything I could to earn it.

 

[Mimsy01]

I would talk to the vet directly. if the girl is afraid of birds, she needs to be trained and comfortable before being asked to handle someones nippy bird. It's not good for her or the birds.

I do Foo's myself. Sometimes I only do a toe or two, but we get it done. it's really easy if they don't mind being a little bird burrito.

 

[Labbie]

Hi

Even as a vet nurse/ tech, I also agree with the other post. when you book appointment, ask if you can request the tech and vet you like. You're paying so have a right to expect and get good service. If the tech is scared and doesn't like to work with birds, she should talk to management. You and Kyo have a right to feel comfortable. It can be stressful enough for a bird to visit the vet in the first place you don't want it any more so than it has to be. The vet tech seems unprofessional.
Although here in Dunedin New Zealand, its hard to get a vet that's any good with birds. My usual vet, who is excellent with other species, fund it really hard to find the right antibiotic and dosage for my lovebird after he was attacked by a cat the other week. even then, he didn't have it in stock so we had o go get it from another vet. If we need to see a specialist, we have to travel about five hours away to the next city Christchurch.
Good luck with the next visit.

 

[henpecked]

In all fairness, that's why the Avian Vet charges more. You expect a tech that's familiar handling birds. I agree with the others that you should request the tech you like when booking the appointment. I too use a non Avian Vet for lots of parrot related issues. I also have an Avian Vet on retainer that's 3hrs away. I'm surrounded by many AV s here in Fla. But good vets and tech are hard to find. Work it out with the one you like.

 

[SilverSage]

I would simply find out the name of the tech you like, and be sure to schedule the appointment with her next time. I have always been able to schedule around techs in the past and make a habit of it with my dog. I would politely mention to the vet herself that you do not feel safe letting someone restrain your bird who is fearful themselves, and then simply refuse to do so in the future.

I do think you need to mention it. Having seen a bird die in front of me at the hands of an "experienced" vet, I have very little trust. You don't need to be nasty, but you don't need to take risks, either. Also, the things the tech said were quite unprofessional, and if I was her boss I would want to know so that she could be better trained not to make customers uncomfortable like that.

I would honestly highly encourage you to learn how to do this procedure yourself. I know it is scary especially when the bird has dark nails, but it is worth it. I know you can do it, because I taught myself when I was 11. NOT that I am suggesting kids do this, but my point is that you CAN do it, and I personally feel it is safer and less stressful for the owner to do this than to take the bird to the vet to have it done. I use a dremmel, many use other kinds of files and clippers, a pedi-perch helps, and you can even train your bird to sit there and let you do it without a fuss (Though I will admit I use a towel). Barbara Heidenreich has a good video on how to train them to simply hand you the foot for nail trims.

 

[Mallory]

Do not be shy about asking for another tech or insisting on restraining your bird yourself. Your vet should not have a problem with either, especially the latter for a simple nail trim on a smaller parrot. I have had to ask vet techs to leave before...one time Katara (Siberian husky) was vocalizing a bit waiting for the vet, the previous visit she had lots of tests including an ultrasound and she was nervous. She also has severe separation anxiety especially in scary places. For some reason the tech was holding her lead in our room while we waited after getting her weight. I always go back with my dogs for the weight (both to make sure they are handled appropriately and because they do not understand a stranger in a scary place dragging them away from their owners). She did not allow Katara enough leash to reach me and this was visibly upsetting her. She understandably started screaming, tech roughly pulled her out of our line of sight and I immediately followed her and took my dog back. She muttered something about dog behavior and left, I informed my vet and she was extremely apologetic - should not have happened. A vet's office is not an appropriate place for separation training nor is that an appropriate way to handle our dog. No one knows your animals better than you do and with "exotics" many techs at a general clinic will not have much handling experience. Most of the time the techs who have not handled a species before are excited and I show them how first, then supervise and help if needed. Sometimes you get a tech that is just not working out and that is when you step in and ask for a new tech or to come back another day. I think it is unfair to judge the vet clinic by the mistakes of one tech - even vets will have off days - but if it continues on multiple visits that is a big red flag. A good example - another clinic we no longer use had a vet AND many techs that would gossip about us and other clients in back in earshot. We would wait over an hour for basic things while listening to nasty comments about our animals. We called them, informed them of the reason why they would no longer receive our business and where they should fax our records, and that was that.

 

[Kyoto]

I would simply find out the name of the tech you like, and be sure to schedule the appointment with her next time. I have always been able to schedule around techs in the past and make a habit of it with my dog. I would politely mention to the vet herself that you do not feel safe letting someone restrain your bird who is fearful themselves, and then simply refuse to do so in the future.

I do think you need to mention it. Having seen a bird die in front of me at the hands of an "experienced" vet, I have very little trust. You don't need to be nasty, but you don't need to take risks, either. Also, the things the tech said were quite unprofessional, and if I was her boss I would want to know so that she could be better trained not to make customers uncomfortable like that.

I would honestly highly encourage you to learn how to do this procedure yourself. I know it is scary especially when the bird has dark nails, but it is worth it. I know you can do it, because I taught myself when I was 11. NOT that I am suggesting kids do this, but my point is that you CAN do it, and I personally feel it is safer and less stressful for the owner to do this than to take the bird to the vet to have it done. I use a dremmel, many use other kinds of files and clippers, a pedi-perch helps, and you can even train your bird to sit there and let you do it without a fuss (Though I will admit I use a towel). Barbara Heidenreich has a good video on how to train them to simply hand you the foot for nail trims.

Thanks for the encouragement. I used to trim my other birds myself, much as you described. They would just perch on my finger and let me do it. Was super easy. Kyo is so hyper, I need a second person (I don't trust my hubby to do it) to hold her while I do it. This is why I usually give up and make the appointments. I am going to try introducing her to the nail file in 2 weeks and see if I have any luck trying that.

 

[SailBoat]

I fully agree with Henpecked.

An educated and certified Avian Vet has incurred two years of additional training and the certification to be an Avian Vet. As a group, they expect their Vet Techs to have the additional training needed to support them. That level of professional service does come at a cost.

We also have two separate Vet Clinics. One with the Avian Certified Vet (ACV) and the other with an Avian Qualified Vet AQV). The costs are not double, but the Avian Certified Vet's Clinic is more expense. With good weather and medium traffic, the Avian Vet is 40 minutes door to door, whereas the Avian Qualified Vet is 15 minutes door to door. Our Special Needs Amazon, Vet visits four times a year, twice with the ACV and twice with the AQV. Both Vets are fully aware of each other and agree to share Client Visit Documents. There is very clear differences between the two Clinics and the knowledge base of their staff and services provided. Having said that, if I cannot get a blood feather to clot, the nearest Clinic is the best clinic.

Yes, your Vet needs to know that one of their Vet Techs is not up to speed with parrot handling. Yes, the Vet Tech needs more training, especially if that Vet Tech needs to develop a comfort zone with parrots and parrot handling. I have always worked with both of our Vets as part of their training programs with new Vets and Vet Techs as they join the Clinics. My view is very simple, the more Vets and Vet Techs that become interested in working with parrots the greater number there will be in the future. Currently in the Great White North, we are loosing more Vets and Vets Techs interested in parrots than we are gaining.

 

[Birdman666]

Oh boogers, that kind of sucks. If I were you, the next time I booked an appointment I would just simply request a time slot that involves the vet AND vet tech you like. You don't have to give them a reason per se, especially if you don't want this girl to be in trouble. There's nothing wrong with having your preferences.

Exactly.

I just really like the way SO AND SO handles my bird. She's just the best!

You're not putting one down, YOU'RE COMPLEMENTING THE OTHER ONE.

 

[TacoNTiki]

I would simply find out the name of the tech you like, and be sure to schedule the appointment with her next time. I have always been able to schedule around techs in the past and make a habit of it with my dog. I would politely mention to the vet herself that you do not feel safe letting someone restrain your bird who is fearful themselves, and then simply refuse to do so in the future.

I do think you need to mention it. Having seen a bird die in front of me at the hands of an "experienced" vet, I have very little trust. You don't need to be nasty, but you don't need to take risks, either. Also, the things the tech said were quite unprofessional, and if I was her boss I would want to know so that she could be better trained not to make customers uncomfortable like that.

I would honestly highly encourage you to learn how to do this procedure yourself. I know it is scary especially when the bird has dark nails, but it is worth it. I know you can do it, because I taught myself when I was 11. NOT that I am suggesting kids do this, but my point is that you CAN do it, and I personally feel it is safer and less stressful for the owner to do this than to take the bird to the vet to have it done. I use a dremmel, many use other kinds of files and clippers, a pedi-perch helps, and you can even train your bird to sit there and let you do it without a fuss (Though I will admit I use a towel). Barbara Heidenreich has a good video on how to train them to simply hand you the foot for nail trims.

Thanks for the encouragement. I used to trim my other birds myself, much as you described. They would just perch on my finger and let me do it. Was super easy. Kyo is so hyper, I need a second person (I don't trust my hubby to do it) to hold her while I do it. This is why I usually give up and make the appointments. I am going to try introducing her to the nail file in 2 weeks and see if I have any luck trying that.

Have you tried being the one holding and hubby doing the clipping? If Kyo is confidently held, the clipping part is not so bad. I always do the holding and when Tiki is calm, my 12 year old will clip the nails. We would not be able to do it the other way around. Having said this, we can't clip our tiel's nails

 

[Minimaker]

I know how you feel. I'm seriously thinking about driving an hour to get to a different avian vet. My current avian vet is truly afraid of my two larger parrots. She honestly looks stressed and unhappy when she sees me coming in with Sailor or Mako. I know I need to work on training for vet appointments but the level of fear she shows is not proportionate to how my birds react to her. Are they scared? Yeah sure they are. Are they trying to kill her? Nope, not at all. Not even lunging. I'm not quite sure why an avian vet would be so afraid of medium and large size parrots. She's fine with the step up part, but after that she just looks panicked.