How Ready Are You?

[spiritbird]

How prepared are you for a bird emergency? I bought a first aid kit. I live within 5 miles of a 24 hour shock trauma animal hospital. As a nurse I am trained to handle emergencies. Will I panic????? Most likely because birds are so very fragile.

[Turquoise]

well I have a human and a bird first aid kit. When it comes to vets that is where my emergency preparedness is lacking in a big way. I live 65 miles form the only "Exotic Animal Vet" who will see birds. I don't particularly like her and will only use her in an emergency. I live over 200 miles from the closest "Certified Avian Vets" in the Dallas/Ft Worth areas. I have not been to any of them as it is more than a 400 mile round trip through nerve wracking (for me) traffic.

In an emergency I dare say I could get to one in time to do any good. Therefore, I am in a 'Dead Zone' should I ever be in need of a good vet for my birds. I feel I am quite selfish for keeping expensive exotic parrots with no way to save them should they encounter a serious emergency. So my best emergency plan is to try my best to keep my birds as safe and healthy as possible to avoid needing a certified avian vet. :(

[spiritbird]

That is a tough one De'Andrea. Our country in general needs more certified avian vets. I am sure you do a good job of keeping them healthy and safe.

[Debra]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as De', although I do have my vet who I trust. Even then, it's a 30 minute trip one way to get to her if she's open. The emergency vet office (she works there on occasion) is also about 30 to 45 minutes away. I just try my best to take good care of them and prevent any disasters as best as I can.

[spiritbird]

Guess I am lucky to be so near an all star 24 hr. pet ER.

[ShellyBorg]

4 hour trip for a vet here. But I have first aid on hand and like yesterday when Boomer lost a blood feather I know what to do with it. There are some great tutorials and articles on how to treat injured birds out there.

[mrgoogls]

I dont have a "first aid kit", but i have everything that would really be in one. the vet is also maybe a 10-20 min drive from me. they have an avian certified vet, and are open 24/7.

[spiritbird]

Kenny sounds like you are in good shape there. How are you and fids?

[Maddy]

I have an CAV, which is about a 30-40 minute drive away. There are no 24 hour emergency vets that have bird specialists, so I'm not sure what I'd do if we had an emergency at night. ):

[kendrafitz]

I have a few things in case of emergency. I am very lucky that a NorthStar 24 hour vet just opened in the last 2 years or so that is less than 2 miles from our house. Rosie's vet is there, the closest ACV is about 45 minutes away. We haven't seen him, but I've heard great things. So if we ever have a situation that I feel needs more than my avian vet can offer I will take her there.

[Mare]

My bird's vet is over an hour away and if there was an emergency, which we've endured before, it would take that long to get to an avian vet. My go to bible has been "Parrots for Dummies" manual. Google, in times of question, has also worked for me.
Your question, Dianne, "How ready?", ALWAYS READY!

[spiritbird]

Mare that book is excellent for any bird person. Glad to hear you are always ready!

[Minamommy]

Well I am losing my avian vet in about 4/5 months. She is not staying in this area😩. So it's back to the other guy. Since she is not staying that means no 24hour ER care now either. I always have her wingabego ready to go with a bag that has 1 gal water and 3 weeks of food and a bunch of toys as well as a fleece blanket. I don't have a bird first aid kit, my husband is a critical care nurse so we have a bunch of stuff in a box as a kit. I'll have to check out parrots for dummies.

[Lady]

I really think this is a good thread and in case you are interested in making up your own kit instead of buying one here is a link that I found that could get you started. It is from birdsnways. If you have additional information that you think we should include please add a post to this thread.

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