be prepared....

[ShreddedOakAviary]

I live an hour from our avian vet, it takes the fire dept 20 min to get to my house, and the police about 30 minutes. Needless to say I have to deal with a lot of things on my own at first. From home defense (we have security systems and lots of guns), to human accidents (I have a full first aid kit complete with lactated rigers, splints, and so on. Horses are the only lucky ones... (that vet gets here in about 12 minutes.)

So, here are some things I keep on hand for bird related emergencies....

Insulin syringes
Lactated Ringers
Injectable Calcium
Pipercillin
Baytril (injectable)
Ciproflaxin (oral)
Baytril (nose and eye drops)
Haleperidol
Apple cider vinegar
White vinegar
Iodine
Alcohol
Electrovites
Formula one
Avibios
2 35cc syringes (for sinus flushing)
Calciboost
Fluconozol (Diflucan)

Now, I do have legal prescriptions for these items and I nearly never need them (usually get used on birds that get dumped here (after I call and consult with the vet)

I throw stuff out as it expires and buy more, but this group of items help me to deal with medical emergencies fairly quickly (after I call the vet for advice first and schedule an appt)

I also keep a grooming and tool kit and it includes the following....

Dremel
2 no heat grinding bits for the dremel
Diagonal cutters
Pliers
Wood burner (for cauderizing)
Styptic powder (to stop small bleeds)
Sutures, needle, and medical scissors (thread scissors)
Standard hair cutting scissors
Flashlight that attaches to a baseball cap
Small LED flashlight

Now, keep in mind that if the bird will make it to the vet right away, then that is my PREFFERED course of action, but as we all know.... animals get sick at the weirdest most inconvenient times, and often I have to do some work just to ensure they'll make it in to our vet. Also keep in mind that I work closely with my vets and I do not think I am some sort of bird medical expert... I just like to be prepared, and I live very far from civilization.

 

[merlinsmom13]

Sounds like you are prepared. While I'm completely comfortable giving injections w/the horses, dogs & cats, I would be very uncomfortable giving an injection to Merlin. I'm not that familar w/bird anatomy & they are so small. lol I do have some antibotic drops on hand that I got in May for a just in case situation, but I think they are expired by now. My a vet is 1.5 hrs away, & theres no way I'm taking Merlin to my livestock vet. I don't live too far out of town, but this area is not known for alot of exotic pets, so no vets. I guess w/so many birds, you can't afford to leave things to chance. Would love to work w/my avian vet to get more comfortable w/some of the things that could save Merlins life.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

Most owners aren't comfortable with medicating their birds (under a vets advice), and I find that a little frightening since all the most common illnesses respond only to injections given twice a day for two weeks.... so I do get a lot of birds that come to stay here for two weeks because a vet told the owner to give the bird a med for two weeks, and the owner is not comfortable with injections, or restraining a bird for oral meds or drops. I wasn't always comfortable with doing it, but after losing a bird once (years ago) I made a point of understanding what my vet said and learning how to do certain things as they arise. I remeber spending one miserable evening trying to save an umbrella cockatoo that the vet botched a simple srgery on.... I called every major avian vet I could think of for advice.... our vet said to give her injectable baytril (but I couldn't because her breathing was so bad that any added stress would have killed her), so I gave her the injectable baytril orally (per another avian vets recomendation) and added it to handfeeding formula because she would eat that willingly, in the end I knew that even a ten minute drive would have been a death sentence, so I had little options, so, sometimes making it to the vet isn't even an option.... (She lived by the way, and she is the little hiding female umbrella in my avatar photo.)