Birds at the Vets
Dr Amisha's Lutino Cockatiel "Pretty Boy"
Why do we keep birds as pets? We keep birds for a variety of reasons. We fall in love their beautiful bright colours, their complicated songs, their curious nature, their ability to mimick and talk, their companionship, their antics, their happy-go-lucky nature and the list goes on and on.
What are the most common reasons that we see birds as patients at our clinic? Unfortunately most of the problems that we see are husbandary related. This means everything in the bird’s life that we do to care for them eg feeding, housing, cleaning, environmental enrichment, grooming etc. A common dietary related problem is malnutrition – these are almost always birds on an all-seed diet. Things changed a long time ago in terms of bird food, and the best food for birds are pelleted diets. Unfortunately pet stores have only recently begun stocking pelleted diets and most supermarkets still do not stock these. Seeds are deficient in a variety of vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately the seed diets are also very fatty which makes them extra tasty (but unhealthy) for birds. This is why they keep eating the seeds, and will choose these over healthier vegetables and fruit. Some birds are proned to growing large fatty tumours in their abdomens or under the skin (lipomas). Fatty foods (for example Cockatoos who love their sunflower seeds and corn) accelerate the growth of these. Pelleted diets are balanced and though not their natural diet, are much better than seeds. 20% of their diet should also consist of vegetables and fruit.
We see many reproductive problems in many birds, and often changing the food is part of the treatment for these. In terms of housing, we often see injuries and heavy metal poisoning (lead, copper and zinc). Many cages are galvanised or have soldering exposed which means that curious birds are inevitably going to be slowly poisoned over time. The metallic parts of many toys are also poisonous such as mirrors and bells. There are some diseases that birds spread to other birds such as a respiratory disease called chlymadophilosis (otherwise known as psittacosis), beak and feather disease, worms and mites.
What can Wilston Vet offer? There are many diseases, injuries and problems that we can treat here. If your bird requires intensive care/hospitalisation or has a complicated behavioural problem then we recommend seeing a specialist bird hospital. We are happy to see birds for annual health checks ($60) that includes nutritional and husbandary advice, a physical examination, weight check and faeces examination under the microscope. We do wing clips under general anaesthesia to ensure less stress for your bird ($50). This also allows the veterinarian to do an appropriate clip in such a way that promotes safe landing if your bird falls from a height and the edges of the feathers don’t damage the skin.
Many owners are beginning to microchip their birds as you never know how far they will go if they end up flying out of the house (or for more expensive birds – if they get stolen). We scan every lost bird that comes into our clinic for a microchip. These are placed into the muscle under a general anaesthetic ($95).
Birds generally don’t show signs of illness until they are very sick and so if you are worried about your bird at all, or just want a general check and advice, please telephone the clinic and we will be pleased to help you.
For specialist avian care on Brisbane's northside we recommend Brisbane Bird Vet www.brisbanebirdvet.com.au
or on the Southside, Brisbane Bird and Exotics Veterinary Service www.bbevs.com.au
Dr Amisha's Red-Collared Lorikeet "Miki"
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Useful Avian Links
Brisbane Bird Vet www.brisbanebirdvet.com.au
Brisbane Bird and Exotics Veterinary Service www.bbevs.com.au
The association of Avian Veterinarians www.aavac.com.au
Bird Munchies www.birdmunchies.com.au
(Bird Munchies is the largest selling brand of bird treats in Australia and the second largest branded bird seed sold in supermarkets.)
Happy Feathers Bird minding www.happy feathers.com.au - Have peace of mind when you go away to make sure your feathered friends are well cared for
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