How to choose an avian vet

All of us that share our lives with a companion parrot have one time or another needed to seek the advice of an avian veterinarian. The biggest problem that we all face is the fact that there are only 130 board certified avian vets in the world. There are many veterinarians that advertise that they do “work on birds”. Our job is to discover if the person we are trusting to care for our parrots is truly qualified and experienced to deserve our trust.

There are some very good avian vetsthat are not board certified and at the same time there are also some board certified avian vets that should NOT be seeing birds.

In order for a veterinarian to be avian board certified they must follow one of two options. The first route they may take is the academic route. This means that after a student graduates from vet school, they do a one year internship, usually in a small animal clinic, preferably one that consists of bird patients. They are then required to go through a 2 year residency in an avian and exotic medicine program. Once the residency is completed they must apply to take the “boards”. If the application process passes, then they are able to sit for the boards. The boards take entails three days of grueling testing.

The second option is to go through a private practice. The board has strict guidelines and requirements to do it this way. A veterinarian has to be in practice for 5 years. They must see a minimum number of birds per week; perform a minimum number of surgeries, endoscopic exams, and other procedures. They also have to submit two case reports, and sit for the three days of testing.

Here are a few guidelines to take into consideration when looking at a potential “avian veterinarian” during the interview process. If these questions are offensive to the vet, then he or she may not be the right one for your birds. The potential avian vet needs to be proud of the answers to the questions you ask and not act as if they are ashamed or offended.

• Do they have a bird.
• Ask how many birds they see.
• Ask them what they recommend feeding and why.
• Ask if their technician has experience handling birds, and how long they have been doing it.
• Ask what services they perform.
• Do they do only wing clips and grooming?
• Do they do surgery?
• Who sees their emergencies?
• What other experiences do they have? Breeding birds? Hand feeding birds?
• If they do not have experience breeding, or hand feeding, or even owning a bird, how can they give advice?
• Find out what conferences they attend. If it has been two years since they went to an AAV or an avian continuing education program, then they may not be a good choice.
• Ask if they can work up the bird in the exam room instead of taking the bird to the back so you can witness their technique.
• If they come in the room with gloves, then run – run very fast!
• Observe how they interact with your bird.
• How many avian patients do they see in a week? If they see less than one per day, then that is probably not going to give them enough experience.
• How long have they been seeing birds?

It will be very difficult to find an “avian only practice”. There are less than eight strictly avian practices in the whole country. The majority of good avian vets see a variety of exotics. The more dogs and cats they see, the less likely they will be good at birds.

Avian veterinarians that are truly interested in birds as a species will attend continuing education conferences that are about birds. Every state is different, but they all require some amount of continuing education each year to be able to renew their license to practice.

What makes a good avian vet are many things. How many birds they see in a week is a good gauge. Bird ONLY practices see anywhere from 30-40 cases per week, sometimes more. Avian Exotic practices might see 5-10 per week. Small animal clinics might see 0-2 per week. The more birds a vet sees the better they are going to be at it.

In Conclusion

It is a very good idea to be established with an avian vet before you technically need one. Take the time to interview those in your area that advertise their practice as including avian pets. If the vets you interview seem to take offense to your questions, then you need to keep on looking. Choose carefully and cautiously and keep looking until you find an avian vet you can trust.

Please visit www.aav.org to learn more about Avian Veterinarians.

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