Requesting Input on Vet Situation

I’m writing to hear your guys’ thoughts and input. I’d like to know what you experts would do in my situation.

As I mentioned in previous threads, there are only two vets in my current country that are listed on the Association of Avian Veterinarians. I’ve taken Cairo to both.

The first vet (went for just a check-up then microchip)
- Doesn’t do blood tests since he says none of the labs here accept the little quantity of avian blood (apparently, you can’t take as much blood from parrots as you would a dog or cat).
- Didn’t weigh Cairo
- Recommended that an ekkie have a diet with pellets
- Didn’t check his heart/respiratory
- Knew that ekkies are prone to plucking
- Is ok with the size of cage Cairo came with
- Didn’t want me in the room when they microchipped him (this was confusing and somewhat upsetting to me, but I can understand it both positively and negatively)
- Just held Cairo for a little until he spooked off to my partner’s head (his safe spot) then the vet put Cairo back in his carrier
- Doesn't own birds

The second vet (went for diarrhoea symptoms)
- Does blood tests (but didn’t for this)
- Did a faecanalysis (since he went in for diarrhoea)
- Didn’t weigh Cairo
- Understood that I wanted to feed him fresh chop, but pointed out that, in this country, most people mix with pellets (but she understood that I thought pellets might be a cause of his toe tapping)
- Checked his heart/respiratory
- Was surprised that an ekkie didn’t want to be touched even by ‘his’ humans he only knew for 3 weeks
- Believes that preening is a dominance behaviour (also because Cairo doesn’t like to be ‘preened’ by us)
- Spoke to Cairo, read his body language, and interacted with him more; let Cairo chill in the room rather than in his cage
- Is a parront

My partner and I have been talking it over. Because the first vet just held Cairo and looked at him; didn’t do anything else, except to say that there looks to be nothing wrong. Whereas the second vet interacted with Cairo, read his body language well, didn’t push pellets too hard; however, we were surprised she didn’t know that much about ekkies in particular. So the first is somewhat familiar with ekkies, but the second is more willing to make sure he’s healthy. Price-wise and distance-wise, I’ll bite the bullet anyway.

Ultimate Questions: Who should I take him to for his regular check-ups? And how should I interact/handle the vet, so that Cairo gets good health coverage?

The second, they can do blood work,!!

I agree with the above statement.

I always believe in requesting specific testing based on a schedule that I use. See the Amazon Forums, Sticky Thread: I Love Amazons - ... That huge Thread has over thirty segments of which there are several that speak to Vet visits.

I also believe in developing a relationship with the Vet(s) we have. They are Human also and appreciate an active /interested client. To that point, I always have a list of questions that had come up since our recent visit. I also believe in being a regular client and not showing up when my Parrot is on deaths door.

#2----Even experienced people cannot look at a bird and tell if they are healthy. Yes, they can tell that they aren't near death, and they can feel their keel-bone to ensure weight is healthy, but that is about it. Internal issues need to be checked with blood-work. My bird had issues with her liver when she got to me, and I finally had to insist on blood-work, as everyone kept saying that she looked just fine. Surprise, surprise--- they ran the tests and she was quite sick. Now she is totally healthy, but she required 3 different medications etc. Don't worry too much that the 2nd vet didn't weigh---if they felt the keel, that is not ideal, but it is good for a general idea of health.
Poop checks will be your new best friend, and blood work is a necessary evil as well.


ps- you can buy your own electric scale with a t-perch attached (Parrot Wizard sells them pre-made on Amazon, but you can also make your own as long as you adjust the scale to account for the perch).

This is a no-brainer...#2...That first vet should be avoided like the plague...

It sounds to me like the second vet is an experienced Avian Vet in-general, but may not be very experienced with Ekkies...That's a way better option than that first vet, I wouldn't even consider him. He has no idea what he is doing or talking about with the blood thing, nor anything else it seems.

You need to remember that you should be able to "work with" your Avian Vet, meaning that you'll most-likely learn more about Ekkies over time than he will know, simply because you own one and they never have. So you can take his recommendations on things like diet, environment, etc., but when it comes down to it, you need to do what you know is best for your Ekkie. Like the pellet thing, someone who is very experienced with parrots but not specifically Ekkies might not know anything at all about their diet, that isn't abnormal. What's important is that the second vet knows how to do an exam on a parrot, knows how to run different tests and do different procedures on parrots, etc. That first vet is absolutely useless to you, you'd do better by yourself than taking your bird to him...So stick with the second vet, and form a relationship with him, and work "with him". You can actually teach him more about Ekkies, share your research with him, etc. And let him be the Avian medical professional, not the Ekkie professional.

Thanks, everyone!!! We really liked the second vet as well. She interacted so well with Cairo and really took the time to talk to us, despite a queue/line forming in the clinic. She advised us to give him probiotics to keep him healthy and away from her clinic, and she actually recommended alternative places where we could buy him probiotics instead of from her clinic. Her clinic also let us know that we can email them pictures of his droppings as he goes through this course of medication, and they can advise us to come in for further tests from there.

I just didn't want to be biased because of her 'bedside' manner or her price (double the other vet!).

#2 without a doubt. Please don't feed your ekkie a pelleted diet!!!

Good for you, for reaching out and being so caring and persistent!