Veterinarians

[ATLBirdMan11]

Hello. Not sure if this would be a suggestion or where to even put this type of information. It would be great if we could rate the veterinarians that are listed on your main list of veterinarians. I won't mention the name here yet just in case this is frowned upon or the wrong way communicate this, but I do need to let someone know so others that may not know better do not move forward with this veterinarian.

There is a veterinarian in Marietta, GA who will intentionally bleed the bird's nails to sex them. This was an old practice and ended years ago and not recommended by the AAV (association of avian vets). I took a bird into this vet to get him/her sexed and the veterinarian told me the way they do it, is clip the nails just a little bit more to get blood and then they capture the blood! THIS IS CRAZY!

 

[texsize92]

Hello. Not sure if this would be a suggestion or where to even put this type of information. It would be great if we could rate the veterinarians that are listed on your main list of veterinarians. I won't mention the name here yet just in case this is frowned upon or the wrong way communicate this, but I do need to let someone know so others that may not know better do not move forward with this veterinarian.

There is a veterinarian in Marietta, GA who will intentionally bleed the bird's nails to sex them. This was an old practice and ended years ago and not recommended by the AAV (association of avian vets). I took a bird into this vet to get him/her sexed and the veterinarian told me the way they do it, is clip the nails just a little bit more to get blood and then they capture the blood! THIS IS CRAZY!

My avian vet uses the same method.

I call my avian vet a “one trick pony “ because he always does the same thing regardless of the problem my bird has.

Check the bird for gram - bacteria (for a fee of course).
If yes hands out antibiotics (another fee).
If no hands out antibiotics (just in case) and pain meds (for a double fee).

He did successfully amputate a portion of one of my Cockatiels wings so I know he has skill.
But I have lost .
Plumas, Pacho, and Bingo to his method of care.

Plumas was lost due to a series of strokes or seizures.
I don’t completely blame him on this one but his diagnosis was arthritis (for falling off his perch).

Pacho died because she was eating her rope perch.
I thought she might be egg bound but my vet didn’t even order x rays.

And Bingo was suffering a long illness he never did diagnose. Guess it was some form of cancer.

A good avian vet should know what questions to ask and not rely on …..what a layman has observed.

Anyway I like the idea of rating a in vets you have personal experience with.

 

[ATLBirdMan11]

I am sorry that was your experience. That vet sounds horrendous, hopefully you can move to another one! I am lucky to live in a major metropolitan area that I do have good medical.

 

[kme33883]

Intellect is an art. It’s a gift. You either have it or you don’t. Yes, there are people with doctorates that I often question, but I don’t necessarily blame the person or want to write a bad review on the person because it’s a systematic issue. How is this person able to get a doctorate degree? How is an institution paying them for the job in which they’re performing? Generally speaking, people mean well. It’s the system that fails.

 

[LaManuka95]

Thank you for your suggestion, @ATLBirdMan. The mod team had this debate when we put together our list of avian vets, and it was decided not to go ahead with rating them. There are already places where experiences with vets can be rated, on their own platforms and Google reviews for example. Upon reading through some of them, it's apparent that some are rather vexatious in nature, and may not always accurately reflect what occurred at the clinic. Members are free to post on the forums if they have an experience with a particular vet that they think other members should know about, but we decided that having a rating system here would not be appropriate.

 

[ATLBirdMan11]

Thank you for your suggestion, @ATLBirdMan. The mod team had this debate when we put together our list of avian vets, and it was decided not to go ahead with rating them. There are already places where experiences with vets can be rated, on their own platforms and Google reviews for example. Upon reading through some of them, it's apparent that some are rather vexatious in nature, and may not always accurately reflect what occurred at the clinic. Members are free to post on the forums if they have an experience with a particular vet that they think other members should know about, but we decided that having a rating system here would not be appropriate.

Thank you for that response. Very good!

 

[ATLBirdMan11]

Intellect is an art. It’s a gift. You either have it or you don’t. Yes, there are people with doctorates that I often question, but I don’t necessarily blame the person or want to write a bad review on the person because it’s a systematic issue. How is this person able to get a doctorate degree? How is an institution paying them for the job in which they’re performing? Generally speaking, people mean well. It’s the system that fails.

you are absolutely correct. that's a different perspective for sure and made me think. My issue is those who do not even attempt to keep up on current events (or in this case, current medical practice). I totally understand that back in the 70's if you wanted to sex a bird, you cut the quick, drew blood and got your results. But I also feel that professionals, especially doctors have an obligation to "do no harm". and cutting a birds quick does exactly that.

 

[kme33883]

you are absolutely correct. that's a different perspective for sure and made me think. My issue is those who do not even attempt to keep up on current events (or in this case, current medical practice). I totally understand that back in the 70's if you wanted to sex a bird, you cut the quick, drew blood and got your results. But I also feel that professionals, especially doctors have an obligation to "do no harm". and cutting a birds quick does exactly that.

Female cockatiels in captivity have a reputation of getting egg bound. That is a very painful thing to happen, and life threatening. I think it’s important to DNA sex parrots in captivity to protect female parrots. I think you can use egg shells, or pluck feathers to DNA sex a parrot as well. Some of these aren’t always options. I’d rather pluck a feather, or trim a nail to get blood to protect my birds than to have an egg bound parrot in a life threatening situation with no good way out. These are very debatable topics, and you’ll get different answers from different people but in general people really do mean well.