First Vet Visit!

[AYA]

Today Lawrence went on his first trip to the vet

He went for a general check-up, look at his feathers, and to get DNA sexed (I've just been assuming he was a boy this whole time lol, can't wait for the results in the next few weeks). I was really nervous about how he'd go, but he did really well and didn't even bite the vet when she toweled and manhandled him-- just squealed quietly, the poor thing

The end result was a few feather shafts removed (he'd barbered the inner-half of his primaries down to the shaft, and their removal should promote new feather growth... either way, his wings fold a lot better now, small mercies), some blood as well as some poo sampled, a course of anti-inflammatires to take, and a new brand of pellets to try (to rule out them as being a cause for his feather issues)!

He was very worn out by the end of all this, nodding off the whole way home, but he's back to his usual self now after a little quiet-time and snacking on his new pellets. He was so well-behaved in the car and while we waited for our appointment, I'm so proud of him

What about you guys, what was your first trip to the avian vet like?

 

[sunnysmom]

I'm glad your vet visit went well. My first vet visit was horrible. And I blame myself for choosing the wrong vet. The vet I wanted to go to but hadn't yet scheduled a wellness check up with him when we first got Sunny doesn't have weekend hours. I took Sunny in a panic to a vet on a Saturday who said he treated birds because I saw bubbles in Sunny's droppings. The vet didn't run any tests. Just said Sunny was fine. We got into a disagreement because I refused to let him clip Sunny's wings or trim his beak. (The vet actually said to me- you know he can fly, right? ) I did let them trim his nails because they needed done but they were too rough with him and rubbed raw his little leg. It was horrible. I cried the whole way home. Sunny wouldn't come out of his cage for 4 days he was so traumatized. And I felt like the worst bird parent ever. We now go to the vet I originally wanted to go to and he's wonderful. Sunny is completely unphased by going- and I think actually likes it (well until they have to trim his nails or what not), flirts with the vet techs, talks to the other animals, etc. An entirely different experience than the first time. Which really shows how important it is to find the right vet.

 

[AYA]

Oh no, that's terrible! I'm so glad that you found a great vet after that-- my parents wanted me to take Lawrence to our local vet, because someone said that they 'did birds' (pretty sure that what was meant by that is that they'll do grooming services), and I considered going because I couldn't find an avian specialist nearby, but then I came across a bird clinic that was only 40 minutes away. At first I was really nervous about how much everything would cost since birds are such a niche market around here (more specifically, birds that get taken to a vet), expecting it to be super expensive, but it wasn't much different than what we've been charged when we've taken our dog in to the regular vet, so that was great.

That's great that Sunny isn't phased and talks to the other animals

Poor Lawrence just wanted to get out of his carry cage and hide in my hair

 

[Yoshi&Reza]

Glad the vet visit went well! Hopefully, the feather issues get worked out!

 

[AYA]

Boy, do I hope they do too! I was (still kinda am) really worried that they were a result of something else being wrong, but the vet concluded that Lawrence is otherwise very healthy, and if his condition doesn't get any better in the next few weeks, then she wants to do some more tests to be absolutely certain (and if he goes back to barbering, then he's going to have to wear either a bird vest or cone of shame) that there isn't some more nefarious underlying cause

 

[nm0710]

I need to get Zazu to the vet but I absolutely dread it! I've had her for about three weeks and I'm hoping that one day she'll wake up and not be so dang sassy! Boy does she have quite the beak, I truly feel sorry for the vet when he tries to touch her! I've had my vet picked out even before I bought her but it'll be an interesting trip for sure!

 

[AYA]

I'm sure both you and Zazu will be fine-- vets are used to uncooperative animals who really don't want to be there, so they should be able to handle her without sustaining too much damage

Had to take Lawrence back today, since he'd decided that red and yellow were terrible colours and that having a grey, downy chest was far more fashionable

(really not sure what brought it on this time-- I thought that it must have been because I didn't pay him enough attention or something when it first happened, but I've caught him barbering when he's taking a break on my shoulder. Oh Lorrie, what am I to do with you...)

Got given a spray to see if it's due to skin irritation, was told to add more small seed and fruit to his daily diet (rarely gave him seed and have been giving him fruit every other day when he's not having veggies), and to up the anti on forraging activities. Will be reporting back to them in a week, hopefully Lawrence will improve

 

[Lodah]

I was fairly lucky with my first visit to the Vet with Pilo. She was very confident about handling him and always asked questions before hand about his nature! Pilo loved her... and didn't seem too upset about the whole procedure!
I was more nervous, worried and upset about the whole scenario than Pilo was! Go figure!

 

[AYA]

That's great to hear-- Pilo seems like a real sweetheart

Oh, and just an update, Lawrence's DNA results have come in, and it turns out that my little buddy's a little lady! Haha, probably still going to call her a 'he' out of habit, but I'm glad that I know so that I can work to avoid female-specific problems in the future

 

[Percy&Ivan]

Great job lawrence

 

[Percy&Ivan]

For making it sorry it was such a bad experience for him though

 

[Charlie Ching]

 

[webchirp]

So glad you were able to get her to a vet...and congrats on your little girl. I love my girl cheekies! Love my boys but many times they let me have it with chomps...lol. I think I missed age? How old is she? Wondering if this is hormonal?

 

[AYA]

I think I missed age? How old is she? Wondering if this is hormonal?

She's just hit 18 months, and the vet wondered if the feather chewing could be hormonal/maturation related too, but he believed her to be too young for that to be the case (she first started messing with herself early in the year, then stopped and grew some more feathers and seemed fine, before starting up again a month ago and really going to town ... she also seems to be stuck in a very drawn out first-non-baby moult, so her new feathers are taking their sweet time coming in, which I think annoyed her)

She is doing a lot better now though, as she hasn't chewed off any more of her belly feathers and her new primaries and secondaries are coming in slowly-- she'll be able to fly again soon!

 

[webchirp]

Oh no...def not too young. I've had some start at around 9 months.

 

[AYA]

Oh no...def not too young. I've had some start at around 9 months.

Huh, wow. Well, she hasn't shown any other signs of being hormonal yet but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be what's up with her. I'll take some pictures of her later, after she's dried off from her bath, so that you can see what she's done to herself, since the extent seems to be too much to be hormonal, what with her no longer being able to fly

 

[AYA]

Okay, so here are some pics (put a glove on in that last one because she was not happy about being on her back with my phone near her and was putting her beak to very good use):




(btw, she has yet to moult any of her covets-- they're still her first set, and she's only recently stopped having any pins around her head and neck... she's very slow, and I have tried to make sure that she's eating what a moulting conure needs, but I guess this is just the pace she goes)

(note: she hasn't plucked any of her belly feathers-- you can feel their shafts/uncoloured halves amongst her down-- just chewed off the ends)

I wasn't able to get a picture of her wings, but they basically looked like this, only with a few more primaries

(this is a photo of a conure with horrendously clipped wings... which my vet actually thought I'd done to Lawrence, before I explained how she'd done it to herself and how I wanted her to be flighted and had been working on recall training with her)

So yeah, that's how little Lorie looks at the moment...

 

[Lodah]

Lorie looks like a real charmer! Very pretty! I can see how you are concerned about her feathers! Hope you find your answers soon!

 

[AYA]

Lorie looks like a real charmer! Very pretty! I can see how you are concerned about her feathers! Hope you find your answers soon!

She's generally very sweet, and I really do miss seeing her in all her fully-feathered glory and she worries me deeply-- though she is doing much better, as I haven't seen her chewing apart feathers nor have I found any discarded barbs anywhere since taking the vet's advice and changing her pellets (to zupreem fruity), feeding her more fruit every day (I cut up a mix of raspberries, blueberries, pawpaw, mango, and fig, as well as some sweet potato and a tiny bit of kale for her that I divided into portions and froze) in place of mostly veggies with little fruit, adding more small seed to her daily diet (about half a teaspoon or so-- just enough to cover the base of her food dish) as I previoulsy only gave it to her every few days, more forraging opportunities, and her meds of very mild anti-inflammatries (she'll be on them until her flights finish growing back in) and an anti-bacterial spray (on the off chance of her having a mild skin infection of some variety or if something fungal is causing some of the feather damage and she's reacting to that with overzealous grooming).

All in all, things are looking up, since at least she's stopped, but I guess I won't really know for sure until she goes through her next moult and hopefully goes back to being her rainbow self and leaves this all behind her

(really can't wait for her to be flighted again... even if she doesn't seem to give a toss-- she's always been a crawler lol)

 

[Charlie Ching]

Aya, my green cheek looks exactly like that and has for almost a year. The pet store that I adopted him from said he moulted from stress. He is about 2 years old now, and is regrowing his feathers, but he always loses them again. Im not sure what is happening, but he acts just the same, so its okay with me!