The Avian Annual Exam

The Avian Annual Exam is a very important tool for the continued health of your pet bird. Birds have body and organ systems that were designed for flight. They are very lightweight and do not have the same storage capacity that land mammals have. This means when a bird starts to have nutritional or physiologic problems, it usually becomes a life-threatening crisis a lot sooner than our cats and dogs. So, what does all this mean to you and me? Well, simply that it is critical that we realize there is a problem as soon as possible, and be able to correct the problem as quickly as possible.

That is where the Avian Annual Exam comes in. It gives the veterinarian important baseline information on what "your" bird's system looks like when he/she is healthy, so that we have a reference that is not just the average of somebody else's bird. With this, we are often able to prescribe appropriate treatment or antibiotics much sooner when your bird is sick.

What is an avian annual?

It includes the following:

1. Physical Exam - heart, lungs, and air sacs are listened to, abdomen is palpated, body condition is scored, skin, feathers, eyes, ears, beak, claws are all checked.

2. Throat and Vent Bacterial Cultures - these cultures are sent to the laboratory, if Gram negative bacteria are found (these are usually the bad guys when birds get sick) they are identified and their susceptibility to an array of antibiotics are tested. That's how we avoid wasting time with ineffective antibiotics when your bird is sick.

3. Complete Blood Count and Blood Chemistry - this is how we see if your bird's internal organs are functioning normally and can catch some problems before they actually show up visibly. Also, the white and red blood cells are checked for appropriate numbers and distribution of each specialized type.

4. Fecal Examination - here we look for internal parasites that can run down your bird's physical condition and put a strain on a healthy bird's body. And, some of these parasites can and do infect people, I am sure we all want to avoid that.

All of this usually takes 20-30 minutes to collect the samples and examine the bird, sometimes slightly longer if we need to discuss nutrition or management, and to answer your specific questions. We usually have lab results within 3 to 4 days. All in all, this could be one of the most important investments you can get for your bird's health.

All the above is included in the price of the Avian Annual Exam, but the vaccines are an additional cost. During the Avian Annual Exam, we often can give the annual Polyoma vaccine.

For more information, or to schedule your bird's Avian Annual Exam, please give us a call at (425) 775-0121. We'll see you there!