How often do you vet your fid(s)

[JerseyWendy]

You should also have an option for "whenever the paranoia gets too much" LOL!! That one would apply to me!

BAHAHAHA!!! That's hilarious....and SO true!!

 

[Mike17]

Attending a vet hasn't been an option for me- some towns don't have one, and avian vets are a very long way away. Too far for an emergency, and not worth putting the birds through the stress (and risk, in a hot climate) of travel for checkups. Our new eccy female Ayu, needs a beak trim and I was surprised to learn that our local vet will do it under anaesthetic. She doesn't see birds much, but wasn't at all fazed by the idea of putting our bird under... while I'm now going to fret for the next 5 weeks, waiting!

 

[tab_xo]

Are there many avian vets in WA Mike? :/ That is unfortunate they are so far away! You are moving to Tasmania aren't you? Any avian vets there at all? :O


It seems queensland actually has the most out of all Australia!

I just got very lucky and have Bob only 25 minutes away, he has won so many awards for avian vet stuff, and writes the articles in the birdkeeper mag!

 

[Blancaej]

I currently take my birds once a year. But I like the idea of every other year, especially if they are healthy. I am hoping to find a new vet, so once they see my fids, I may switch to every two years except for clipping and nail trims. Thanks for doing this thread Wendy! It's nice to see what others do.

That was what my vet recommends when the baseline numbers are all good, and they are still relatively young. (My oldest is only 40...) And the lab tests I've done in the past show I've got their diet dialed in, and the numbers are perfect. As long as nothing changes, do I really need to keep confirming it?!

The important thing is for the vet to have a fairly recent baseline, so that they can compare the labs immediately when there is a sudden event, because birds mask illness so well. By the time you figure it out, the disease process is set in. So it helps them diagnose quickly.

With no base line, they are just guessing. Could be this. Could be that. Could be that by the time we figure it out, it's too late!

So that's why it's important.

That makes perfect sense. My vet always recommended blood work every 2 to 3 years as my Quincy was very healthy. My vet retired.

The new guy is not an avian vet. He saw Quincy & Savannah last year and did blood work. The numbers were not all perfect for Savannah due to her diet at her previous home. So hopefully I can change that. In the meantime I am looking for another vet as I am not super confident in this new guy as he couldn't explain several things I asked about.

 

[goalerjones]

Hahnzel gets his grooming done at my vets, so he goes every 6-8 weeks. They keep up with his weights but I've only had a baseline done with blood work upon beginning of service over 1-1/2 years ago. I intend to keep it that way until symptoms require labs.

 

[Mike17]

Are there many avian vets in WA Mike? :/ That is unfortunate they are so far away! You are moving to Tasmania aren't you? Any avian vets there at all? :O


It seems queensland actually has the most out of all Australia!

I just got very lucky and have Bob only 25 minutes away, he has won so many awards for avian vet stuff, and writes the articles in the birdkeeper mag!

There are two branches of the same practice, avian specialists, in Perth, which is 900km away. There used to be a good avian vet in Hobart, but I believe he's retired. A search reveals there is an avian practice, or at least vets with a speciality in birds, in Hobart- but that's opposite side of the island (300km or so, 4 hr drive) from where we'll be living. We'll be only 30 minutes from Launceston which has good vets one assumes/hopes, but not avian specialists.

I'm envious of you having a great avian vet so close Tab... but no desire to live in Qld... too hot for me (still recovering after going inland today to look at part of the river- it was 45c!). Seems like a hot summer all over, even places around Hobart have had near 40C lately. Off topic, my (blind) daughter is visiting and Alex our eccy is reminding us off what a "bird magnet" she is, he won't let her go when he's out of the cage

 

[svheartsdesire]

I go twice a year with Ivan the GW...my vet used to have an avain research facility and it's it's worth the $ to just chat with him...he's also partial to GW's so we don't get hustled out of there

 

[Mayden]

My guys go every 3-4 months. That includes weight, a good feel for anything abnormal, chat about behaviour, diet, goals, etc. + a compulsory nail trim.

Faecal checks are only done if there's anything that I think is off, that's done in house though. Bloods again, only done if anything seems unusual.

 

[inge]

I been wondering this too.
I inherited a dusky conure recently. She is 6.5 yrs. I took her to my vet for a full checkup including bloodwork and psittacosis check--basically everything the vet recommended. I plan to take her there for her nail clip and wing clip (if I decide to keep clipping her wings, she came to us clipped already). The vet also filed her beak a tad which I liked because birdy can be a bit nippy. Of course, the vet says annual checkups are advised. I certainly do that with my dogs but they have many more reasons.
Maybe every other year is a good idea (incl bloodwork) and then as needed. The visits are not bad $75 but the full workup is $375 (ouch).

 

[MangieSun]

I took Jasper in when I got him. My avian vet didn't recommend any bloodwork or lab tests. She quickly did a fecal swabbed and looked at it under the microscope, weighed and listened to his heart and that was it. $45 exam. I wonder why a new bird check didn't include a full lab work up. Hmmmm. She is the only all avian veterinarian in the area.

Maybe it's fine for a baby from a reputable breeder to not need the bloodwork at the beginning?

 

[jenphilly]

When we had the oopsie baby cockatiels and Victoria had to pull them at 10 days cause dad tried infantcide on the poor things, we were going every couple weeks it seemed. But, it seems we usually end up once a year on average. The green cheeks had been 18 months, but then we took everyone for a good nail clip, we trim nails, but the dark nails are just scary to do back to far, least for me.

My Ivory will be a once a year at least for next few years because she had such poor bloodwork when she came to us, so we will monitor to make sure her liver panels remain normal.

A yearly gram smear is a good thing to do and not too expensive... while bloodwork gives you the answers, a poop smear is quite telling if all is well or something more needs to be looked into.

I know everyone keeps saying about stressing the birds going to a vet, I don't know if we just have a bunch of guys who are too well socialized or they just follow what we do. And granted, we have a wonderful vet that is just awesome with the birds, she baby talks and fusses over them like babies, so its kinda hard for a bird to be stressed with her But, none of our guys stress over a vet checkup, even Folger was not terribly stressed, he was a bit irked at being towled, but not stressed.

We might be lucky with the area we live in, we have two very well respected vets including Dr Liz Clark (but good lord is she expensive), but we have access to at least 4 avian experienced vets and two that are truly avian specialists within 40 minute drive.

Again, all this is opinion, but after we lost one bird because I did not act quick enough, vet care has become a must if anyone even acts vaguely worrisome. Told the story before when Loki first came home and tried to drown himself by bathing in the water bowl, he gulped down so much water, he was pooping all liquid. I had the phone in one hand talking to the vets office and the other hand pulling on my boots as I was hopping around to get everything we needed.

Even if you do not take your birds in every year, find an avian vet, go in for a checkup to establish a relationship or at least a baseline for a healthy bird so when you need them in emergency they are not going totally blind. But again, this is all just opinions!!!

 

[Kiwibird]

Might be getting in here a little late, but I would only take Kiwi if he is showing a sign of illness or has an injury I cannot treat at home. I just don't like exposing my perfectly healthy bird to potentially sick and dying birds. Kind of like when you take your perfectly healthy kid to the doctor for a checkup, and 3 days later they have some nasty bug they caught in the waiting room. would definitely prefer to avoid that with Kiwi. And bird disease are much much more serious than illnesses person might pick up in a doctors office waiting room. Even a respiratory infection could be fatal, let alone being potentially exposed to a bird with something incurable like new castles or PDD. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I feel Kiwi stays healthier when he stays away from the vet.

I do monitor his weight at home, and Joe feel his tummy to check that it doesn't have any odd lumps. I watch his poop carefully too.

 

[Sterling1113]

I like this thread! (Okay, I like anything that lets me talk about my birds.. cause that's what parronts do, yeah?)

When I had my 'tiels in the past we didn't do any routine visits, they were flighted and they kept their own nails/beaks good from the perches and chew toys. My one tiel did go to the vet though because my doberman(Xar) got hold of her and broke her wing but she recovered (with a crooked wing..) after stitches, setting, and antibiotics for infection, and eventually learned to fly again before passing at 24.

My conures haven't had a "routine" check, I was considering doing one for the both of them when Loki turned 1 a couple months ago and then doing them yearly, but honestly since Kiwi had an upset tummy yesterday I feel like I would definitely notice if either of them were acting even the slightest bit different. I mean I look at them and spend time with them every day, yknow? and just overnight I can see Kiwi is doing 100% better. I'm almost positive she just ate something that didn't sit right.

I've had Kiwi about a year, maybe a little longer, and Loki for about 10~ months. However I do plan on bringing them both in for a wellness check in the next couple months, once I find a vet I'm comfortable with, just to have numbers and records that are "normal" to use for comparison in case either of them get sick.