HEAD: Preventative Health Care For Birds
Birds make wonderful, fascinating companions—but they do require consistent care to keep them happy and healthy.
The single most important thing you can do to maintain your avian friend’s health is to make sure you keep up with regular veterinary exams. While twice per year is optimal, at minimum they should see the veterinarian annually to:
- Check body condition and weight
- Inspect skin and feathering
- Examine the eyes, ears, nose, and throat
- Palpate the abdomen
- Listen to heart, lungs, and air sacs
- Discuss diet and socialization
- Test alertness
We may also recommend routine testing for parasites, inflammation, bacterial infections, anemia, nutritional health, immune system function and disease.
Birds are fragile and their health delicate; they tend to hide symptoms from us as an instinctual defense mechanism. The fact is, if you think something might be wrong with your bird, chances are you’re right and an examination today could allow us to prevent a problem tomorrow. You should never miss an opportunity to have your bird examined.