$500 in Blood Tests?

So I took Sammy to the vet for a checkup. They did a physical exam and a fecal exam and said that he is in excellent health except for being a tiny bit overweight (not surprising since he was on an all seed diet until I purchased him). But they also want me to do $500 worth of blood tests "just to make sure". I am not even sure what the blood tests are for, though they do include DNA sexing, which I don't really care about. Boy/girl, whatever. I know you can get DNA and other tests done by places like Avian Biotech for cheaper than vet offices, and I was just wondering... Are there in particular blood tests I NEED to have done? I know it's a vet's job to offer every option for keeping your bird healthy, but $500 is a lot of money. Should I do it? Is it necessary? Would we be okay without them? Opinions, please?

That's really high. I had blood work, DNA, and x-rays done all at once and it was only a little over 200. Skip the DNA if you don't care, or find a cheaper option. Ask for them to break down every procedure by price. Personally, I think you may want to find another vet that's not going to prey on your goodness and concern for your bird. 500 is absolutely outrageous for a basic check up and labs.

Yeah my vet offered a DNA test for 20$ (CDN) which I declined since I kind of want it to a surprise. The vet visit itself is expensive (special avian vet) at ~140$, but fecal tests are 30$, and blood tests (kidney analysis etc) are ~100$.

That said, there are 2 veterinary analysis labs in my city, so it's possible they would have to send further in your area which could increase the price.

I live in the (humongous) Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex so it is unlikely they would have to send them far. The vet visit and fecal exam was $120 but the blood tests would be an extra $500. Maybe I will go back and ask them to explain why it is so expensive. What blood tests did y'all get done for $100-$200? I would be more than willing to pay that kind of money. I loved the vet, but I am wondering if maybe I need to find someone else...

I looked up some old DFW vet forum threads and am going to contact someone who is actually certified as an avian specialist, Dr Osofsky, and see what they would charge for the blood tests. This bill (well not really a bill since I haven't had it done... an estimate, I guess) is all I received.

Come to think of it, I also had a Giardia fecal test done, which took 3 days of morning poop collections included with that, and a band removal.
I would say (and I'm definitely NOT a vet) that a basic blood panel and gram stain exam are good indicators if something is wrong...and it doesn't hurt to get a liver panel done, since he was on a poor diet previously. But those aren't very expensive generally, so definitely ask them to break it down price-wise.
If they are claiming he's in excellent health, then there's no reason to order all sorts of exotic labs to check to obscure diseases.
And it certainly doesn't hurt to call around and ask for pricing for labs.

Puck said:

I looked up some old DFW vet forum threads and am going to contact someone who is actually certified as an avian specialist, Dr Osofsky, and see what they would charge for the blood tests. This bill (well not really a bill since I haven't had it done... an estimate, I guess) is all I received.

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Was this not an avian vet? If so, let them go, and go to an avian vet.

I thought she was because they say that they see birds. I am not sure what qualifies a person to be an avian vet. My normal vet (the one I take my dog to) does not see exotics. Sadly, because I love him. Her bio says she is a member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians. This is the description of the vet I took him to on their website:

Dr. Lindsay Robinson

Dr. Lindsay Robinson was born and raised in Arlington, TX. She attended Texas A&M University (whoop!) where she received her BS in Biomedical Science. She then went on to graduate from Texas A&M University’s School of Veterinary Medicine in 2008. While at TAMU, Dr. Robinson worked at the Wildlife and Exotic Animal Center, where her love for exotic animal medicine grew and she decided to pursue treating exotic pets with her career. Dr. Robinson worked in a private general small animal and exotic animal practice for 6 years before coming to I-20 Animal Medical Center. Her special interests include exotic animal medicine, avian medicine, behavioral medicine, and internal medicine. She is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Association of Avian Veterinarians, and the American Association of Feline Practitioners. In her free time, Dr. Robinson enjoys singing in her church choir, walking her dogs, and hanging with friends and family. Dr. Robinson and her husband live in Mansfield and have 3 four-legged family members: Caitlin, a Shepherd/Red Heeler mix, Bentley, a Lab/Great Pyrenees mix, and Max, a black Labrador Retriever.

Having extensive lab work done CAN be quite costly, yes, unfortunately. Looking at your estimate, I believe the "complete viral check" is what's the culprit here. You should ask what all viruses he will be testing for.

And what exactly is 'Avian Exotic Panel'? Is that a CBC?

I don't know. I have contacted Carrollton West Animal Hospital where they have one of the 9 certified Avian Specialist vets in Texas. I sent them the estimate and they are going to let me know the equivalent cost at their office. I may go to them in the future even though they are farther away simply because she has a special degree for birds.

FYI, your estimate has your address, may want to correct that!

Oopsie, now you guys know where to go to steal my sweet, angelic, always darling never bratty Quaker! :angel::smile046:

$500 sounds kinda crazy - I would definitely look for another place. When Parry hurt his toe and chewed off a part of it, everything with ER visit and about 8 regular vet visits, tests, medications, bandages, etc did cost us about $500 total! It was about 1,5 month of 1-2 vet visits a week.
And if your bird is healthy - why would you even need all those tests? Sounds a bit like BS to me, sorry.

Hopefully you can sort this out, and possibly find a cheaper price if you choose to do the blood testing. I personally would find a different vet, but its hard if your attached to them. I just went through a situation similar to this one, And I am now looking for a new Avian vet for Kiko. It cost me nearly 200$ for the vet to just bring us into his room, reach out for Kiko(Who promptly bit him and drew blood Oops!), and then he said he looks healthy to me. !!!! I'll give it to him, that he toweled him and looked in his mouth and on his toes, but he didn't even weigh him, or offer any tests to do. I had come in because of his constant Polyurea... Withoutiany tests, the vet said to worm him, and gave me medicine for it.

Flboy said:

FYI, you estamate has your address, may want to correct that!

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AWESOME catch! Thank you for pointing this out, as it's not ok to be openly displayed for obvious safety reasons.

Oops, sorry about that!!! I fixed the photo so no addresses!

Puck said:

So I took Sammy to the vet for a checkup. They did a physical exam and a fecal exam and said that he is in excellent health except for being a tiny bit overweight (not surprising since he was on an all seed diet until I purchased him). But they also want me to do $500 worth of blood tests "just to make sure". I am not even sure what the blood tests are for, though they do include DNA sexing, which I don't really care about. Boy/girl, whatever. I know you can get DNA and other tests done by places like Avian Biotech for cheaper than vet offices, and I was just wondering... Are there in particular blood tests I NEED to have done? I know it's a vet's job to offer every option for keeping your bird healthy, but $500 is a lot of money. Should I do it? Is it necessary? Would we be okay without them? Opinions, please?

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Sometimes the vet is doing his job. Other times the vet is lining his own pockets. The only thing that I get really concerned about are base liver values myself. That doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

I had one guy who wanted to charge me for well bird exams for all of my birds, in order to do simple wing and nail trims... just because he hadn't seen them before. Well, so what, they had well birdie exams not too long ago, and they are fine. Why do you need to do one? "Because it's our policy!"

So, yeah, what's that all about?! I have student loans to pay back! Uummm... excuse me doc, but which finger would you like to see first?! I won't be going to you EVER under any circumstances!

My vet quoted me $180 for full checkup and DNA sex test. I'm in Nova Scotia, Canada where it's hard to find these services at all, so I'm assuming you are being charged a lot.

My vet charges me $280 for a complete well birdie exam, and every applicable test... So, yeah, that's a significant markup.

JerseyWendy said:

Having extensive lab work done CAN be quite costly, yes, unfortunately. Looking at your estimate, I believe the "complete viral check" is what's the culprit here. You should ask what all viruses he will be testing for.

And what exactly is 'Avian Exotic Panel'? Is that a CBC?

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Yup! I think our Wendy called it! The extreme price is likely due to complete viral check. Sadly, I just ran through most of the testing gamut. There's no "one size fits all" test for avian diseases, unfortunately. So a test for PBFD is going to cost around $100. PDD another $100. Psittacosis... Pacheco's... Aspergillosis... the list goes on and depressingly on.

So the reason the costs are so much less at other places is that the vets usually go for the tests they deem most likely to be the issue or, in the case of a check-up, the most common diseases. It winds up being a bit of a calculated risk. Some might figure testing for PDD and Psittacosis will most effectively cover their bases. Others might just run a single test for PBFD. The regular bloodtest will cover any abnormalities in the levels (kidney/liver/nutritional deficiency issues), and fecal tests will cover intestinal problems.

So, in all likelihood, they're testing for several (though most certainly not all) possible issues. Now, if it turns out they are only covering one or two of those areas... run, don't walk, for the nearest exit.