Wellness exam

[lovie_couple]

As you guys know, I'm having some trouble finding an animal hospital to accept Gigi as a patient. I finally found 2 clinics. One, I haven't heard back from (seeing it's a sunday, I'll give them an extra day) and the other I have.

This is the price range for the typical wellness exam for a bird.

"Yes, we do provide wellness exams for birds, the exam fee is $44.00 the labwork would be in addition to that. Your liver and kidney function (chem 3) cost $38, the pack cell volume will be $18 and gram sains will be $22."

Though I can afford all the charges now, I was thinking about possibly splitting them up between paychecks. Are all those tests needed? What exactly should I get done for Gigi up front?

I'll let you know the answer of the other clinic when they respond. Perhaps they'll have more of a package deal.

[linda040899]

Actually, those costs are very reasonable, considering avian veterinary medicine is a specialty. Are they all necessary? I would have to say yes, as you are looking for a baseline for Gigi's health. The tests done now will provide a reference point should any illness rear its ugly head.

[maya_exquisite]

Wow... I'd kill to have low vet prices like that!! :omg:

[cp.lovebird]

I agree - those prices are great!

[marc]

Could I ask you the reason of these exams?
Does Gigi have some troubles or you want to do these exams just as prevention?

[lovie_couple]

I'm doing the exams just because he has never been to a vet before. I had no idea how much bird exams usually cost, I'm glad they are reasonable! Though they are not certified avian vets.

[lovie_couple]

I just got an email back from the other vet clinic, and though I don't know the prices yet, I'm fairly sure I will take Gigi there! The vet himself emailed me back, and sent a lengthy response explaining what the exam usually consists of and how he cares and handles the birds.

I am very pleased with the time he took to respond to me, it shows that he cares!

[linda040899]

Sounds like the second one may be the one to use. My own vet is not board certified but all she lacks is the testing. She's worked so closely with board certified vets that she's as good as any of them out there. A well bird exam is an excellent idea for Gigi so at least you have a place to start.

[marc]

I'm doing the exams just because he has never been to a vet before. I had no idea how much bird exams usually cost, I'm glad they are reasonable! Though they are not certified avian vets.

I don't want to do the devil's advocate, however if Gigi is a healthy bird I don't see the necessity priority of doing exam.
If Gigi is active bird, if Gigi properly eats and drinks, if the Gigi's poop is regular and it has the proper colour and consistency then it means that Gigi is very fine.
I would save these money for purchasing food of high quality, a big cage and others things useful at the purpose of keeping Gigi in perfect health.
After If you will have some money yet, then I would consider the possibility of doing the wellness exam.

[linda040899]

I respectfully have to disagree. If Gigi is, indeed, healthy, this exam will put on record what is normal and healthy for her should she become ill. The exam will also establish a beginning point as to when she was deemed to be healthy so you know that if anything should go wrong, it happened after this particular date.

[lovie_couple]

I was in fact, planning on waiting. But Gigi is underweight for a "normal" lovebird. He could just be smaller framed, but based on all the trouble I went through in the beginning, and the people I bought him from, I'd rather have him checked out.

My worst fear, of course, is that he is small because he comes from over bred parents. The breeder would refer to him as "the last lovebird" as if the other ones didn't make it. But hopefully he turns out to be a perfectly healthy bird!

[marc]

I respectfully have to disagree. If Gigi is, indeed, healthy, this exam will put on record what is normal and healthy for her should she become ill. The exam will also establish a beginning point as to when she was deemed to be healthy so you know that if anything should go wrong, it happened after this particular date.

I respect your view point and I'm not saying it is wrong;
you have done a proper explanation and I have to admit that you almost have convinced me;
However I have about 50 birds now, (fortunately they are all in perfect health); if I had taken to vet all my bird I would have paid more of 10000$ for having 50 records and for knowing that they are all in health;)
If I had paid 10000$ for wellness exams without to have rescued even a bird (because they already are healthy) then my wife would have killed me :whistle: ...
I forgot to say an important thing...My wife is a professional killer :)

[linda040899]

The world of breeding is very different than the pet world. Many of our vets here in the US go to the breeding facilities and do spot checks for our breeders. I very rarely bring in new birds from unknown sources and those few selected breeders I do work with have clean aviaries. I'm in the same position as you are with a lot of birds and costs would be prohibitive for me, as well. The last bird I just adopted couldn't come here until he was tested for PBFD. I can deal with bacterial and fungal infections, as they are treatable. PBFD, however, is not. My aviary is known clean and I'm not jeopardizing my flock by bringing in the wrong bird.

When I suspect I have a sick bird, you can believe I make vet appointments just like I suggest for everyone else. I have a stock of various medications but won't use any of them until I know what I'm treating.

[Enko_chan]

those are excellent prices. a well bird exam around here is much more than that just to walk in the door. In my experience, its much easier to get our bird seen when they have a regular vet that has seen them in the past. Even if our vet is not in, being established as a patient has been a big help. We don't go to the vet every year if nothing is wrong, but when a new bird comes to live here they have a an examination before the quarantine ends, and every couple of years everyone has a healthy visit.

[lovie_couple]

Wellness Exam is booked for next Wednesday! For a bird exam, an avian culture & sensitivity, a fecal, and sexing. It's going to be around 300$ :/ Not too excited about that! But I get paid on Friday, so there goes that to good use. The DNA sexing is 90$, so I may skip for now. But I end up caving on things, so who knows once I'm there. Curiosity kills my wallet, that's for sure!

[kimberly1985]

Wellness Exam is booked for next Wednesday! For a bird exam, an avian culture & sensitivity, a fecal, and sexing. It's going to be around 300$ :/ Not too excited about that! But I get paid on Friday, so there goes that to good use. The DNA sexing is 90$, so I may skip for now. But I end up caving on things, so who knows once I'm there. Curiosity kills my wallet, that's for sure!

If you think you could collect the samples yourself, you can use http://www.avianbiotech.com. It costs around 20 bucks.

[linda040899]

DNA sexing is definitely cheaper through Avian Biotech or any other lab that offers the services. However, Culture & Sensitivity and fecal are not offered so it needs to be done by a qualified veterinarian. If the sexing isn't important at the moment, I agree that you can forgo it for now. You might want to ask the vet about a blood panel to check the blood values. If anything is out of line, it will show up there, too. I might change out a blood panel for the fecal, as the fecal won't show anything that the C&S won't also show.

[kimberly1985]

Oops, I meant to add, I was talking about the DNA sexing, only. :nyah:

[lovie_couple]

I would rather do it myself! But I'm so terrified up plucking feathers, or clipping a toenail :/

I don't want to accidentally mess up and hurt him!

[kimberly1985]

I totally get that. Why do you think Yoshi and Zazu haven't been tested? :)

[lemonypickett]

Just imagine that the DNA sexing is $300 - So much more of a glorified answer than all the others combined! lol

I got my guys baseline tested, and my precious Eddie was a "lasty" baby (last surving clutch from very old parents) and is a mutation..... so therefore I think he is small and maybe weak (see last pic I posted with his partner Jimmy to see the size difference.... Jimmy is heavily pied, but his mom was a normal green and he is almost 10 grams heavier to Eddie's 43 grams!).... Eddie is 4 years old now....

I will be getting him a CBC physical again soon to compare.....

[bookworm0550]

whew! those are good prices! can't beat that!!!

[lovie_couple]

So I've heard! Apparently Texas is the place to be when it comes to Vet care!

[lovie_couple]

Well, today is the day! Time to go see the vet! He's being such a cuddly bird today, it's unfortunate he is probably going to be mad at me later :( I hope he behaves himself!