bchurch@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Bob Church) (11/28/90)
The recent thread about removing bands from birds legs, trimming beaks, etc. made me wonder about something. Since our canaries see the Avian vet at least once every six months it's no problem having him take care of it. So my question is, why do people not take their birds to an avian vet regularly? We have an excellent doctor who treats nothing but birds and is within an hours drive. Is this an exception? I'm curious as to the availability of these services. As to regular vets I'd say you were better off not going at all. A local vet in this area diagnoses all lumps in Canaries as cancer. He claims to see a lot of it and that the only treatment is to put the bird to sleep. It's a self-fulfilling thing since the bird always dies ( at his hands ). He didn't know about ingrown feathers. He does now!!! Anyway, I hope that no-one takes this posting the wrong way, I'm just genuinely curious about the availability of good avian care in other areas. Since birds tend to hide their symptoms until it's too late to treat them preventive care is very important. bob church bchurch.oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu
dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sam Conway) (12/03/90)
In article <2637@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> bchurch@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Bob Church) writes: >Anyway, I hope that no-one takes this posting the wrong way, I'm just >genuinely curious about the availability of good avian care in other areas. >Since birds tend to hide their symptoms until it's too late to treat them >preventive care is very important. > A good point. Competent avian vets are hard to find. It is a highly specialized field of veterinary medicine, and the vast majority of vets don't bother learning it. Anyone who has ever seen a bird's insides (as I have -- sometimes with the insides on the outside) can appreciate how very different the avian anatomy is from the mammalian. And yes, birds do hide their symptoms extrordinarily well. I might have to go over a bird feather-by-feather for more than 10 minutes before I find an injury.....and I would dearly love to get my hands on this jerk who came up with the "animals instinctively know when you're trying to help them" garbage. And DON'T flood me with any anecdotes about "well, I once helped an injured robin who just sat there and let me help him." That's called SHOCK, folks. I've been clawed by enough raptors to know that, even if they know you're trying to help, they really don't care. -- Sam Conway * What shape do you usually have? dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu * Mickey Mouse shape? Smarties Chemistry Dept., Dartmouth College, NH * shape? Amphibious landing craft Vermont Raptor Center (VINS) * shape? Poke in the eye shape?