Avian Blood Workup

[Saemma]

I'm wondering how many of you provide annual or regular blood workups for your parrots.

Please indicate what species of parrot you have, what type of tests are done and how often if possible.
Thanks.

 

[lotus15]

I don't with the budgies, but with the Hahn's Macaw we get a CBC done annually along with our wellness check (usually twice yearly).

 

[luvsgreys]

When we first brought Em home they did the whole nine and a half yards. She did a cbc, gram stain and cultures, fecal, Giardia test, pbfd test..I think that's it. He was polyoma vaccinated before we got him. I know some people would think that it's overkill, and I probably wouldn't do that every year. I will do yearly cultures and cbc though to make sure everything is ok. Em is an african grey and is almost six months old!!

 

[magni]

I do the blood work up ounce a year for all of them.

 

[evsrin]

I'm wondering how many of you provide annual or regular blood workups for your parrots.

Please indicate what species of parrot you have, what type of tests are done and how often if possible.
Thanks.

I just spoke with my Vet about this, and she told me in her honest opinion that she didn't think it was necessary to have a blood panel done unless you have reason to believe something could be wrong. She actually recommended against it for now. I trust her with all my pets, and I know her very well, so I trust her on this too. I have Parakeets and a Green Cheek Conure.

 

[Riley's mom]

I don't have a cbc done every year on most of mine. Only the 2 over 20 birds. I do periodically take in fecal samples and have them run through the lab. There is just some things that an inhouse gram stain is not going to pick up, but they've all come back negative.

 

[Skyler]

I had the whole gamut of tests--major diseases, CBC, gram stain, fecal etc. - done on each bird when I first acquired them. I was trying to at least get a full scale yearly checkup on each of the five but after this last time when i took Rika in and had just blood work and fecal check and the bill was almost $400 I'm reconsidering if it is really necessary. I wonder if it is better in the long run to bank that money for the "far off"(I hope) time that there is something actually wrong.

 

[evsrin]

I had the whole gamut of tests--major diseases, CBC, gram stain, fecal etc. - done on each bird when I first acquired them. I was trying to at least get a full scale yearly checkup on each of the five but after this last time when i took Rika in and had just blood work and fecal check and the bill was almost $400 I'm reconsidering if it is really necessary. I wonder if it is better in the long run to bank that money for the "far off"(I hope) time that there is something actually wrong.

I think it's a good idea for the gram stain & fecal when you first get a bird, because then you at least know what their droppings look like when "normal". My Vet said that is usually the 1st indicator that something is off, a change in droppings, so I wont be doing blood work until they think it's necessary.

 

[lotus15]

I also get the whole gamut of tests run for the first vet visit too-- the big P's, gram stain, etc. alongside what I said above, the CBC and wellness.

The reason why my vets and most breeders as well as people who own rescues/sanctuaries I spoke to suggested getting a CBC for the first visit and to continue to do so annually is because it gives you a good base line for what is normal for your bird. A lot of the times there is a big range of what could be considered healthy in general, but for your specific bird if it consistently tends to be at the high end for any one number and suddenly drops to a number that would have been considered healthy in general, but in the context of your bird and relative to your bird is very low, a CBC is incredibly helpful in detecting problems early on, and most other tests won't catch these.

 

[MommyBird]

I do the whole shebang of tests when I first get a bird, then it is a yearly fecal and exam. My avian vet only wants bloodwork every two years if everything seems fine.

 

[crzybrdldy]

When I got all my fids they had everything done, my BCAV has said unless there is something going on, it isn't necessary to do blood work every year, as it only causes undo stress.

This works for me and it helps with keeping the cost down some.

 

[Saemma]

Thanks for everyone's feedback!!

 

[avianantics]

Not only does it cause undue stress, it also exposes your birds to things they would not otherwise come in contact with.

Mine get a full workup about every 3 years, but we don't go to the Vet. I was an Avian Vet Tech for some years, thus I draw the blood and collect cultures from both ends at home, and then take the samples to the vet for processing.

In addition, my birds do not come in contact with other birds or even people that own birds. I do not attend bird shows and I stay out of pet stores that sell animals.

 

[Saemma]

Thanks for the feedback Shelly.