October 5th, 2008 by Gypsy

How To Find One, and
How To Tell If You REALLY Have One….

Liz Wilson
Parrot Behavior Consultant

Every time I talk to bird owners, I emphasize the importance of having one’s pet bird checked out yearly by an avian veterinarian. Indeed, I generally refuse to work with a parrot with a “behavior problem” until after the owner has had the animal thoroughly checked out. After all, many so-called behavior problems are actually manifestations of physical problems.

I also routinely hear stories about veterinarians seeing birds who apparently do not have a great deal of information about them. A recent example would be the parrot who was diagnosed as having allergies simply because he had a runny nose — but that diagnosis was evidently made by just looking at the outside of the animal. From the owner’s description, no diagnostic testing was done. According to the Association of Avian Veterinarians (the AAV), bacterial infections are the most common cause of runny noses in pet birds, NOT allergies, and testing needs to be done identify the specific bacteria and the most effective antibiotic with which to treat it (bacterial culture and sensitivity testing). When I questioned the bird’s owner further, she admitted that she didn’t think this vet was a “real” bird vet.

Consequently, I am often asked just how a lay person is supposed to find a vet who is knowledgeable about birds, as opposed to a vet who will see birds…and how can a lay person tell the difference.

Disheartening Survey
When people get a new dog or cat, most of them know to seek veterinary care for their new pet. According to a survey done in 1989 for PET AGE MAGAZINE, 60% of dog owners and 68% of cat owners have their animals checked by a veterinarian. However, the same survey found that only 7.6% of bird owners take their animals to avian veterinarians, and that 92% of their respondents take their sick birds to pet stores to be treated.

Pet Stores and Pet Store Medications
These numbers are incredibly depressing, considering the fact that the average pet store employee has neither the training nor the qualifications to treat sick birds safely and effectively, nor does (s)he normally have access to the most effective drug therapies available. From my own experience, over-the-counter pet store medications at best only mask signs of a problem without correcting the underlying cause — and at worst, these “drugs” waste valuable time that a sick bird simply does not have. They can also alter the results of proven avian diagnostic techniques such as bacterial culture and sensitivity testing as well as blood tests for chlamydiosis (”Parrot Fever”).

Suffice it to say, if your foot is broken, you don’t go to a shoe store for treatment. A corollary of this rule is that you don’t take a sick dog to a cow vet — so you shouldn’t take your sick bird to a dog vet.

So What Exactly Is An Avian Veterinarian?
Contrary to what many people seem to think, most veterinarians are NOT trained in veterinary school to deal with every species of animal they might come across in private practice. They are required to learn about the domesticated animals (dogs, cats, horses, cows, etc.), but not what are termed exotic animals.

Most veterinary schools have a course in avian medicine, for example, but in most cases that course is classed as an “elective.” In other words, veterinary students are not required to take it. They take the course only if they have a specific interest in these other types of animals. Also, not all veterinary schools even work with exotics. For example, for the last several years, the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania doesn’t treat any species of exotics in their small animal facility in Philadelphia — they treat only dogs and cats. Consequently, no matter how interested they might be, vet students at the U of P will get no hands-on experience with exotics unless they have spent part of their training in other facilities.

A Rare Bird
Avian vets are extremely dedicated individuals who, in their copious free time (joke) have sought additional training in the relatively new field of avian medicine. They are members of the AAV, so that they have access to all the most current medical information about birds. This is really important, since new information is discovered all the time, and we all want our birds to benefit from “state of the art” avian veterinary medicine.

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