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Post by Pingo2011 on May 11, 2015 0:10:38 GMT -5
So, my parrot has never been to the vet before. He seems to have part of his beak splitting and I wanted to take him to get it checked out and maybe microchip him... BUT, I'm afraid that it might be more dangerous to take him, because I fear he will catch a disease there and then really have a problem or even DIE. I've thought about it and I'm torn. I think maybe his beak will be just fine if I leave him be and let it chip off by itself. I've been waiting for it to chip off for a week but it hasn't. I don't want him to get it caught somewhere like on one of his toys though. And although I would really like to have him microchipped, I'd rather he escape and I never see him again than have him catch some horrible diaease at the vets office and die.
Any thoughts? I'm fairly certain his beak situation is not life or death. Would it be better for me to not take him? Is there a great possibility that he will catch something there? I've avoided the vet like plauge for the last 4 years because of it.
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Post by Jan and Shah on May 11, 2015 4:12:03 GMT -5
I have been taking animals to the vet for years - not one has caught anything from being there. With the birds, they are transported in a small travel cage which I place on my legs while waiting. The vets disinfect the tables between animals. I doubt very much that your bird will catch anything. I would also recommend you get his beak looked at by a vet. I guess it is similar to going to the doctor - you sit there and notice people coughing, etc., and you wonder if you will catch it. I can honestly say I have never caught anything from the doctor's office (and believe me, I have spent a lot of time there lately). It would be a good idea to get the vet to check out your bird anyway. Why don't you see if you can talk to the vet over the phone first? That may give you a bit more confidence with taking your bird to the vet.
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on May 11, 2015 9:06:44 GMT -5
I think the need to take a bird to see a vet (when it arises) far outweighs the chance that the bird *may* get sick from the vet visit. I'm with Jan on this, I've been taking all sorts of animals to various vets for many many years and have never had a problem. I can't speak for your vet, but the avian vet I use actually has separate rooms and entrances for well visits as opposed to sick visits. While this wouldnt prevent an airborne illness (the ventillation is all the same) it would certainly contain a bacterial one from feathers, dust, droppings, whatever. If you feel your bird needs to be seen by a vet, you should take him  |
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Post by aaron on May 11, 2015 11:51:03 GMT -5
Greetings! So... I can understand being worried about the health of your little one, but it is really important that you don't deprive them of getting checkups at the vet and such. I've never had a bird get sick from a vet visit, and my parents/I have been taking our cockatiel in for nearly 25 years... Our QP Cupcake has never gotten sick from her vet visits in her nearly 4 years of life either..
You should definitely take your little buddy to an avian vet, particularly if you think there is something that needs to be addressed... but even if you think he's fine, he should be seen for checkups periodically. I take Cupcake to the vet annually for checkups, and also at any sign of problems... recently her droppings looked/smelled a little off for a few days and I took her in... better safe than sorry, I figure.
You can ask your vet what their policies are about quarantining sick birds-- most reputable vets are going to have a protocol they follow to prevent the transmission of illness... obviously 100% prevention isn't possible, but they tend to do a pretty good job of it.
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Post by easttex on May 12, 2015 14:19:49 GMT -5
I too would encourage you to take your buddy to an avian vet. There might be something missing in your bird's diet that would explain the beak and a vet would be in the best position to identify it. Vets have a good knowledge of science in general, and things like disease transmission in particular, so though I guess that there must be some careless vets out there, I've never run across one and I think the benefits far outweigh the risks.
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Post by pingo2011 on May 12, 2015 16:28:06 GMT -5
Okay, I made an appointment for him to see the vet tomorrow.
Hopefully, there will be no problems... Though, he is evil to other people... there will be human blood shed.
Maybe they can DNA test him and tell me if "he" is really a "she," just how I suspect it.
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Post by aaron on May 12, 2015 20:43:52 GMT -5
Very good! It will be good practice for him to see other people that won't give in to his "evilness"  . DNA testing usually costs around $50 and takes about a week to get the results. Let us know how it goes! |
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Post by pingo2011 on May 13, 2015 20:47:50 GMT -5
Well, I took Pingo to the vet today and I was happy to see that there were no other birds scheduled for an appointment the whole day. He was also surprisingly well-behaved. He flew around the examination room a couple of times, but he didn't bite the doctor when he landed on her. He didn't bite anybody. He actually stood still on the weight scale, too; turns out he weighs 3.6 oz (~102 g). She said his weight is healthy for his size. That's less than I expected, but he looked healthy except the top layer of his beak on the tip was thinner than it should. This could be due to his knocking on his cage. He knocks on his cage and yells "c'mere!" knock, knock, knock, knock....... A few weeks ago, he had a bruise on his beak and one of his toys (a huge, quite hard, seed pod) was broken...... I suspect foul play from someone in my house; but, I have no footage of such an event. (No one in my house is fond of Pingo and the feelings are mutual between them and him.) I mean, Pingo knocks on his cage A LOT, but he has always done that and never gotten a bruise. Nonetheless, the vet said that could be the cause of his beak chipping weird. She said that she wants to see him in 2 weeks to see if it grows out OK. If not she's going to take his blood. Oh, and he got microchipped! I asked her to do that because the breeder handed me his leg band four years ago, rather than having put it on his foot. I still have it, but it's practically useless. He's had no form of identification until now. He's fully flighted; so, he could easily escape. They knocked him out in a box first. It only took ~8-10 minutes for them to do everything and him to wake up. They put it on the left side of his keel. It didn't seem to hurt him much after the fact either. He sat in his cage on only one foot for about an hour and a half, when we got home, but he's been fine ever since. |
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Post by aaron on May 13, 2015 23:09:49 GMT -5
Glad to hear the vet visit went well and Pingo was well behaved! That's great!
I'm sorry to hear that your household and Pingo don't get along. It's a little unsettling to know that you think they might have intentionally hurt him. Hopefully his beak will be okay.
I'm glad to hear the microchipping went well... I haven't talked to anyone that has microchipped a Quaker before.
Keep us posted on how things progress!
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Post by Jan and Shah on May 14, 2015 0:10:06 GMT -5
That's great news. I bet you feel better now. I was going to have my quaker microchipped but the vet talked me out of it - Shah has clipped wings and flies down so his chances of flying out of windows (or doors) is slim. It is good that you got Pingo microchipped. If he does get out, it is easier for people to track you down.
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Post by easttex on May 14, 2015 4:21:22 GMT -5
Thanks for the update! That is very good to know about the microchipping. Can you feel the chip at all when you run your finger over the area? It's good to have an established relationship with a vet in case of an emergency, even if you don't take Pingo in on a regular basis. I've been able to get help from Peppy's vet just with phone calls sometimes. I don't like to think about people who would harm a bird, no matter how annoying, so I hope his beak injury was due to his own momentary over-exuberance. |
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Post by julianna on May 14, 2015 13:49:59 GMT -5
Wow.. a computer inside a bird... well.. sorta. Amazing what they do now a days. I hope Pingo does well.
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Post by pingo2011 on May 14, 2015 16:54:34 GMT -5
I can't feel a bump where it is. The only thing I can feel is the spot where the surgical adhesive/superglue was placed. It's sort of like a scab. The vet told me she put there to close up the small hole where the needle went in. She said it should fall off in a couple of days. That's all. The way he is acting today, you would never know what happened to him yesterday. He seems perfectly normal. I guess they put it in deeply enough that you can't feel it, which is good. I guess they did that so he wouldn't pick at it.
They are going to DNA test him in a couple of weeks when I take him for his follow up appointment.
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Post by Jan and Shah on May 14, 2015 17:37:05 GMT -5
I just have to comment - we often get traumatized taking our animals to the vet. They quickly recover. We don't |
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Post by aaron on May 14, 2015 19:24:03 GMT -5
I just have to comment - we often get traumatized taking our animals to the vet. They quickly recover. We don't So true |
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. DNA testing usually costs around $50 and takes about a week to get the results. Let us know how it goes!