Category: Vet

Thomas Tully, DVM

Webinar: Ask The Vet With Dr. Tom Tully

In this re-occurring webinar on the last Friday of each month, our special guest Tom Tully, DVM, DABVP (Avian Practice), DECZM (Avian) will discuss basic bird care and nutrition, and field questions from participants.

graphic of the COVID-19 virus

Webinar: “COVID-19 And Pet Birds”

Join us for a live, interactive webinar hosted by Laura Doering, former editor of Bird Talk magazine and Birds USA magazine. Our special guest Stephanie Lamb, DVM, DABVP (Avian Practice) will discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, how it pertains to pet birds, and how we can keep our pets safe and healthy.

African grey

Inside Pepperberg’s Lab: Vet Visits Are Essential

Dr. Pepperberg shares her experiences with taking African greys Griffin and Athena (and Alex before them) to the vet for their well-bird health checkups, which, with their verbal communication prowess, has led to some interesting vet interactions.

avocado, fried avocado, avocado fumes

Did Avocado Fumes Cause Bird’s Death?

As a healthy food for people, avocado is more popular than ever, and along with that comes an abundance of avocado recipes. Unfortunately, a recent bird death brings up the question, “Could fumes from frying an avocado be dangerous to pet birds?”

mini macaw, yellow collared macaw, macaw parrot

Inside The Mighty Avian Heart

A bird’s cardiovascular system must provide adequate delivery of oxygen to vascular beds that are taxed by extreme metabolic demands.

Blue fronted Amazon eating

What Is a Geriatric Parrot?

What exactly defines a “geriatric” bird? Discover the physiological signs of aging in birds and the steps to take to help ward off the afflictions associated with advanced age as well as see what studies reveal on birds’ secret to a long life span.

two cockatoos flying free in blue sky

Flight & Exercises To Keep Your Bird Moving

To truly be healthy and fit, our birds need regular exercise in addition to a wholesome and balanced diet. Of course, for birds, flying is the optimal form of exercise. But is free flight a safe option for every companion bird? Are there alternatives?

scarlet macaw flying in blue sky

Free Flight: Lessons from ExoticsCon

One trending topic among avian veterinarians is the correlation between flight and bird health. Specifically, having a companion bird fly can help maintain cardiac, vascular, muscular, and mental health.

Dr. Scott Echols stands with Drs. Nico Schoemaker and Yvonne Van Zeeland at the Lafeber booth at ExoticsCon in Portland, Oregon.

Bird Vets Flock To Portland For ExoticsCon 2016

Exotic medicine was in the spotlight recently when the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV) and the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) met in Portland for ExoticsCon 2016. One trend seen among avian veterinarians is an increase in pet birds presenting with metabolic bone disease, one form of which includes osteoporosis.

1 day old African grey chick with eyes close being held up by someone's fingers; no feathers but it does have fuzz

An Egg’s Incredible Journey

From the ovaries to ovulation, trace the path of a bird egg and what happens at each stage to result in the fragile casing of new life.

Sun Conure

A Healthy Year Ahead For Your Pet Bird

This is the time of year to make New Year’s resolutions and many involve fitness and health. So what about your bird friend? What type of resolution for them? We want them to be fit and healthy as well, so what are the bullet points to achieve that goal?

blue crowned conure

Protect Your Pet Bird From Mold

Ventilation, heat, humidity, cleanliness and other factors affect the possibility that your bird might suffer a respiratory infection caused by mold.

group of people at ExoticsCon 2015

Avian Vets Flock To ExoticsCon

Exotic medicine’s super powers — the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV) and the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) — gathered in San Antonio for ExoticsCon 2015.

A grebe getting cleaned

A Firsthand Look At A Seabird Rescue

When Internal Bird Rescue got the call that 50 seabirds were in distress in the San Francisco Bay, they were soon tasked with saving cold, wet birds that suffered from a mysterious feather contamination. See the life-saving tactics rescuers quickly enacted, including the feeding of a one-of-a-kind Lafeber diet that helped save the day.

African Grey Parrot

Avian Medicine Gets The Spotlight In Paris

Dr. Susan Orosz reports on some exciting developments in avian medicine at the second International Conference for Avian, Herpetological and Exotic Mammal Medicine (ICARE) conference recently held in Paris.

double yellow headed Amazon parrot

Healthy Gut, Healthier Bird

Good digestive health can hinge on the balance of good microbes vs. bad microbes, with a balanced immune system at stake. See what researchers at Texas A&M found when they compared the microbiome of wild parrots with that of companion parrots.

Blue fronted Amazon eating

Nutri-Berries vs. Standard Avian Diets

In the 25 years that Lafeber’s Nutri-Berries have been part of the food spectrum for parrots, more and more pet bird enthusiasts have offered them as a surefire way to get their birds on the path to good nutrition. You know your bird likes them, but are you curious to know how Nutri-Berries stack up against standard parrot diet offerings?

white capped pionus sitting on food dish

Is Your Pet Bird A Healthy Weight?

Ever stop to think what type of shape your bird is in? Is he or she underweight, overweight or within normal weight … not sure? Find out what you can do to check your bird’s muscle mass.

macaw standing with one foot lifted

A Veterinary Conference for the Birds

Imagine a gathering of veterinarians rubbing elbows, picking each other’s brains about their complex cases, sharing research and developing strategies to conquer avian diseases and conditions. AAV’s conference is a week of just that. See what hot topics avian vets were talking about.

Dr. Susan Orosz beside Dr. Giacomo Rossi

Pet Bird Research: PDD

Dr. Susan Orosz recently traveled to Rome, Italy for the AIVPA conference (Italy’s Association of Small Animal Veterinarians annual gathering). See what Dr. Orosz and her colleagues from both the U.S. and abroad are learning about PDD and how this “meeting of the minds” can lead to significant advances in treating this disease.

Green Parakeet

Psittacosis & Other Zoonotic Diseases

A zoonotic disease is a disease that can be passed between animals to humans. Zoonotic diseases can be caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi. As pet bird owners, we all need to know about the zoonotic diseases of our birds so that we can guard against them — to keep both them and us healthy and happy!

Green cheek Conure

Why You Need An Avian Veterinarian

Unfortunately, many people forgo taking their bird to the vet until it is too late, as in, “Now I should take my bird to the vet because it is down on the bottom of the cage.” When a bird is that sick, it is very difficult (for anyone, no matter their knowledge or expertise) to bring the bird back from the brink of death.

close up of face of senior orange-winged Amazon parrot

Amazon Parrot Still Going Strong at 100!

I have had a couple of old hens that have taught me a lot about birds. They were both orange-winged Amazon parrots. I am at the end of the generation of veterinarians on the first line where all of our patients were wild-caught.

AfricanGray

Why An Avian Vet ?

An avian veterinarian is critical to the health of your feathered friend, so use these tips to find out how to find a knowledgeable avian veterinarian.

Poicephalus

18 Ways to Drive an Avian Vet Crazy

The following list is compiled from experiences I had working for twenty years with avian veterinarians. Each is true. Bird owners drive their avian veterinarians crazy when they do the following.

Green cheek Conure

Why Is Avian Medicine So Expensive?

Yes, avian medicine is much more expensive than dog and cat medicine. Why is that? There are several reasons, which I will explain, but the main one is TIME.

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