Well..long story short, I spent $1200 on 3 cockatiel in a span of 1 year. I'm a student/part-time worker so that does not work with me! I am just now paying off that credit card, and the last time I saw that vet was April of last year!
Longer story..first everything was great with the local vet. Saw the doctor after owning my birds for a couple months because one passed away. So she tested Kirk for chlamydiosis; he tested positive and was treated. Then Luna went in for a general check up during quarantine and was also tested for chlamydiosis as a precaution (there was a break out in Texas about 6 years ago). So those bills probably came to about $360. So I could handle that. It was pricey, but I assumed the clinic was for the animals rather than their pockets.
Then, in February I adopted a malnourished bird while her owner was in the process of moving to Florida. Well the bird was extremely skinny, was going through a heavy heavy molt, and you could tell that her body was not coping well. She had been on an all-seed diet her entire life and she was 13 years old. We took her in and I got a different doctor this time. He made me feel like I was about 3 inches tall, didn't know what I was talking about, and acted like I was stupid for taking in a sickly bird. Anyway, we took her in for an exam ($80), did a CBC on her ($70), he decided an xray was a good idea ($250), and prescribed her an oil to help with adding weight to her. Then I did my own testing through Avian Biotech and she tested positive for Aspergillosis. It isn't exactly the most definite test, but I made a second appointment for her to review the results I received from biotech. So that was another $80. The only thing we got out of her vet visits was knowing that she was malnourished and had liver disease. The last money I spent with the clinic was $70 for a necropsy. Krissi passed away from an enlarged heart, probably a combination of genetics and malnutrition.
Overall, I spent $800 on Krissi and then almost $400 on my other 2. $1200 is a lot to diagnose chlamydiosis in 1 bird, liver disease, and malnutrition in another. It was too much for me, and the second vet I saw at that clinic really did not make me feel like he cared about me or my pet. I was paranoid after having recently lost a bird in October of the previous year, so the vet took advantage me..I feel like any experience vet who is not in it for the money would have been able to look at a malnourished bird knowing its history of diet and say "that's a malnourished bird."