What to expect with a vet check up?

I'm going before the end of the month to my vet, he has seen our cats and dogs. He is also a bird doc too and I didn't know it. I would like to ask what does a check up include and what should I expect? I'm very nervous about the whole visit. From putting Bill in some kind of holder, the ride, the weather, and how Bill will handle the check up. I'm also worried how Bill will like me after the visit. I don't want him mad at me. I'm not going to leave his side, so he will see me there if he gets angry at something. After reading a couple threads on here about check ups, I really have been spinning thoughts in my head about going to the vet. Any info would be greatly helpful. Thanks.

I think it’s going to depend largely on how old Bill is, and how long ago his last check-up was. My little guys went for a “wellness” check about two weeks ago. Fang the cockatiel goes annually so he got a physical exam, he was weighed and had his poop checked out and was wormed. The new girlie, Lilly Pilly the lorikeet had all of the above plus blood tests for psittacosis and PBFD which thankfully were negative. I was worried about how Lilly would react after all the poking and prodding as it was done while I was still working on hand-taming her and was concerned it would set me back in gaining her trust but it really didn’t seem to affect her. Our vet is about a 5 minute drive from our house so we are very lucky there.

What your doc will do exactly and how an Amazon will react I couldn’t say! My bird vet generally tends to think most of his patients see him as the bad guy and not the parront. He is also happy to carry out virtually all procedures in front of the owner and I think any confident vet should be.

I do hope your visit to the doctor’s is a successful one for you and Bill.

The worst part for me has always been the bill.
(not the parrots obviously, the vets)

Since parrots always take their clue from the owners- it helps it you are okay with it.
If you are there with the bird, acting like it is no big deal, relax, chat away etc.etc. the bird will be 500 times more okay than if you hover there on the tips of your toes, your face all rigid, tensed up in anticipation etc.etc..


Some vets will just look al lot and ask you to handle the bird, some will get 'hands on' immediately -> there are no rules.

Just do not act 'guilty' afterward- even if the vet-visit was no fun at a certain moment... you are doing this to help your bird, not to traumatize him or her.
It is like dropping a pan in the kitchen: yes it was loud, unexpected and probably freaked the bird out for a second (or more) but it is part of life...
and life goes on!


Just step back into your routine like nothing happened.

=


I always practice with the transportcontainers/cages/ backpacks/ whatever before, so the birds are familiar with that part.
Let them have a go at it, some treats may be involved, or just exploring is reward enough.

Appie loves the modiefied catcarier I use, Japie is not a fan, but when he was done with the CAV and the co's (students) he could not wait to get in it.
(by himself!)
He really had enough (after flirting with all of them, have his pictures taken in a lot of selfies, had his exam, bloodwork etc.etc.)

My kids see the Doc usually every six months,more often of course if one is sick. Their doc is very good at what she does,very gentle with them and always talking to them to calm them down. I am ALWAYS in the room also trying to calm them down. Usually the fids are very good but the last two visits Amy didn't like her visit and fought with Doc Kristen and the vet tech. BB was ok with it.

A proper wellness check the doc will listen to their heart and lungs,look into their eyes,check the vent area,check their arms and sleeves looking for any abnormalities. Also check the keel bone,trim nails and beak (if needed) also weigh both of them.


Nothing above the norm was done yesterday and it cost me $115. The last time we were there and Amys heart condition was found,with x-rays and blood work it was over $700 so it CAN get pricey!


I put the fids in one of those plastic carriers. They readily go in,Amy knows she is going for a ride


Jim

I would make sure that your vet is actually a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet and not just a General Vet who will "see birds"...I'm not saying this to disparage your dog/cat vet at all, it's just extremely unusual for a General dog/cat Vet to also be a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet...And it is SO important that you only take your bird to either a CAV or Avian Specialist Vet because of how unique and specialized Avian medicine is. It's nothing at all like treating a dog or cat or any mammal, or a reptile, a primate, etc. So if I were you I'd actually ask your vet "Are you either a Certified Avian Vet of an Avian Specialist Vet who sees and treats birds on a regular, daily basis, and who has had extra education and training in treating birds beyond Vet school?" If the answer to this is no, then you need to find your bird a Vet who has extra education and training in diagnosing and treating birds, and who sees them on a regular, daily basis...

Beyond that, you want to make sure they do a complete visual and physical exam, a Fecal culture/gram-stain, and then also routine, baseline Blood-Work so that you know his liver/kidney values, his nutritional health, and whether or not there is any sign of infection or disease...and then you'll have the baseline Blood-Work results to compare to each year when you bring him back for his yearly Wellness-Exams, and most importantly if he becomes sick in the future.

If this is your first visit, I would make sure that your bird is weighed, examined physically and that a CBC (bloodwork) is done, as well as testing for common avian illnesses. Call ahead and verify that the can do this.
I also frequently run gram-stains on my bird just because they aren't that pricey and poop is a good indicator of certain bacterial infections.

Thanks for the info, and my vet has a couple docs in house and one of them is a certified Avian, and one is a Specialist. How do they take blood? I'm very afraid that there is going to be lots of biting going on. I don't have a carrier yet either. I'm thinking he is in pretty good health, but I want to go and get a check up, and get a relationship going with the vet for just in case. I'm going to set up for the beginning of Jan. I need to get Bill adjusted to a carrier. I want to be able to take him with me doing whatever, I hope he doesn't think the carrier is bad news only going to the vet in it? This time of year I don't want Bill getting cold going out, so I'm waiting till spring for trying to take him around. Being the first time out and going to the vet I don't want to have him think the carrier is all bad?

You can always improvise a carier from one of those clear plastic boxes they sell almost everywhere (the ones with a clip-on-lid, for safety)
Just add a few holes for ventilation and add a perch.

Supersafe, non-draughty, easy cleaning.

Just have one stand by for emergencies
Like the birdy first-aid-kit: when in a panic/ emergency - it should be there to grab and use.

This subject has been well covered above. I will add a couple of small but important points.
- The plastic carrier that was referenced above is commonly called a cat carrier and are widely available from local pet stores, the big box pet stores and the huge internet mass-marketers.
- Travel with your Amazon! Yes, temps are colder this time of year in the great white North. That said, pre-warm the auto and cover the carrier when outdoors. Our Amazon loves to travel and he is far from alone in that regard. If the only trips are to and from the CAV's office, they will quickly connect the two and that can turn into a problem.
Please take the time to Read both sticky Threads at the top of the Amazon Forum.

The blood is taken from a vein in the neck with a very tiny needle. My CAV has his assistant hold Sam in a loose towel on his back on the exam table. The assistant always has control of the head, so there is no biting. He bends the needle slightly and draws the blood. This vein stops bleeding quickly, that's why he likes it. I am always there, talking and petting Sam's head while the blood is drawn. We usually do it once a year. Once the exam and blood draw are done, Sam is back to normal in about two minutes.

Since we have a vacation home, he usually does not associate his travelling cage only with the vet. We sometimes stop at the vet on the way out to the other house, so there are no bad feelings.

Vet visits are very important to the health and well being of a companion parrot. So many problems can be averted by having a good relationship with a competent CAV. My Sam is a 35 yr. old BFA, and has not had any significant health problems. I want to keep it that way, so I visit the vet several times a year for grooming, health checks and any other issues we may have. I even board Sam at the vet when we go away, so there is always someone available in the event of a health problem. Expensive, but so worth it for my little bird!

Amy has been going to this particular CAV since he picked me to go home with when he was just four months old,nearly thirty years ago. He has been well socialized and in the warmer days goes plenty of places with me. Where I go...he goes lol. He loves people and anytime we are at the CAV he is very vocal with everyone,other birds,even with the doggo's and kitty's. Of course Amy stays in the carrier while we wait our turn,unless we are the only ones there,and he'll climb right out of the carrier onto his perch stick and let everyone know he is there
Usually in the car he is not in the carrier,he sits on my shoulder and looks out the windows and talks to passing cars who notice him and beep their horn.( Amy doesn't know how to fly)
A couple summers ago we did take a 2,5 hour ride to go visit Al and Salty and I took the carrier so he had a place to sit and rest or grab a snack or a little water. When we stopped to pay a toll,the gate keeper said "Hi bird!" and it freaked him and ME out when Amy said "HELLO!" back to him lol.


I also believe the cage you have is too small for an Amazon the size of a Blue Front. If Ozzie is going to spend most of his time OUT of the cage and use his cage just to sleep in..different opinions on that too.

I bought a very large house with a playtop for Amy years ago and she has plenty of room and now BB lives in her old house,but I have found Amy constantly climbing BB's house to sit on the roof,play with HIS toys and munch on HIS snacks!! Also on more than one occasion I found Amy inside BB's house,eating his food and destroying his toys! Kind of easy for an Amazon to destroy a little cockatiels toys lol.


I'm just wondering if Amy remembers living in that house a long time ago and misses it?? Can't figure that out for the life of me


Jim

Just took Nike for her annual CAV wellness check today. 15-20 minutes, $80. Toweling for Exam including listening to heart and lungs, feeling the body, examining mouth and nose and clipping nails and removing the point on her beak.

She chirped happily all the way home and showed no signs of stress or a grudge even though she squawked much more than usual.

Over the years, Sam has gotten much calmer at the vet. Vet says he has realized we aren't going to hurt him. I guess that must be the case. He used to scream so loud, other vets would come in to see what was making all of that noise!

One time, when I was paying the bill, Sam was sitting in his travelling cage on the floor and another patient came in. It was a Scarlet Macaw, and the owner put his cage down next to Sam's. Sammy looked over and said " Hello bird" We all fell over laughing. I guess he was just being polite LOL.