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It started friday, taking both Sparky and Mika to the vet for their annual check up and polyoma booster, except the vet's vaccine had just expired so we'll do that next month. Sparky turned all his charm on for the vet as usual and was absolutly no problem. He is bulking up for Spring again though, up to a wopping 198 grams this year. He got off easy this time but it is Mika's year for blood work. The poor girl was terrified, even after calmly watching Sparky happily lay there and get handled by the vet. As soon as it was her turn she started clinging to Brian's collar and they almost couldn't hold her still in the towl. I'm glad its not just us. The funny thing is as long as she knows nothing is going to be done to her she will happily play in a towl. They even had to put her in a box to get her weight. She's up for spring too, 175 grams. It also turns out the pattern that she is pulling her leg feathers in and how ichy she is may indicate a possible giardia infection and may not just be nerves. I now feel terrible for not taking her in sooner. So we spent the weekend collecting stool samples to test for it and started treatment today as it won't hurt if she doesn't have it.

Then Sunday morning, as we were all having breakfast, a quaker flew onto our deck. It didn't have a band and from its behavior I think it has been out for a while. It spent the day in trees near the house and at our feeders. We put Sparky's old cage back together and put it out on the deck with some food and water in it hoping maybe to catch it but we didn't have any luck. It went to bed down in a thicket at the edge of the woods and we almost netted it but missed. I hope we didn't spook it too much. I think I caught a glimpse of it this morning but nothing positive. Of course we have a couple blue jays around today that are scaring all the other birds so who knows. I checked DJ Feathers lost & found page and with our vet and no one has reported a missing quaker recently so hopefully this guy is aclimated to the cold and manages to avoid all the hawks and cats.

What a weekend. I'm beat and its only monday

WOW! You really did have a heck of a weekend!! That stinks you couldn't catch the quaker.

Lola is a beast at the vet. I just took her for wings and nails. She happily stepped up onto the vets hand and she let him pet her all over! I was surprised she didnt try to bite him! lol Then she saw the vet tech grab the towel... well OFF she flew! I had to grab her and literally put her into the toweled hand of the vet tech. She was PISSED! lol She SCREAMED the entire time she was getting her nails dremmeled and her wings clipped. They let her go and I've never seen her scramble so fast back to me! ha ha ha.. her feathers were all messed up and she was just all scattered! lol Then she stepped back up to the vet! I was SHOCKED! lol She forgives fast apparently!
Then as soon as I opened the carrier to put her back, she DOVE in. She never does that! ha ha.. it was funny!

Poor guys - going to the vet. Don't you sometimes wonder if they tell each other (in their little birdie language) about how awful it was.

I hope you can maybe catch the little quaker if he stays around your house. He might hang around if the food there is too good to leave. I would think the blue jays might be mean to him too.

michelle..i have to take bailey for his first yearly visit come june...since you live not far from me i was wondering what vet you took lola to? and what do they charge for a visit? and do you really like this vet?
thanks...(i've been toweling bailey to get him used to it so when he does go it won't be so traumatic..i hope).

sweetpeaches wrote:michelle..i have to take bailey for his first yearly visit come june...since you live not far from me i was wondering what vet you took lola to? and what do they charge for a visit? and do you really like this vet?
thanks...(i've been toweling bailey to get him used to it so when he does go it won't be so traumatic..i hope).

I take Lola to Toms River Animal Hospital on Rt 37...its on the east bound side just past Mule Rd, The Quality Inn. Here's the #: 732-349-4599

When I started there I took my birds to Dr. Mcgonigal. LOVED her!! When I called, I was told she left there to further her education. Now Lola has Dr. Levine and he's great too. He's certified Avian vet and there's another one there too.. a woman, but I forget her name. All the staff is great too!

Lola's annual visit in June 2007 cost : $146.18
Gram stain: $59.85
Physical exam: $67.00
Nails/wing trim: $14.95
biohazard waste management fee : $4.48

Let me know if you decide to take Bailey there!

thanks michelle,

that's not too far for me at all...actually closer than the other 2 vets that some people recommended me to. the others were in cherry hill (i heard very expensive) and collingswood (not too expensive, but quite a drive). toms river is just down the road for me...i'll take 70 east. and the prices sound reasonable, but must of all your recommendation means alot.
i will make an appt. for him in june when he's a year old.

sweetpeaches wrote:thanks michelle,

that's not too far for me at all...actually closer than the other 2 vets that some people recommended me to. the others were in cherry hill (i heard very expensive) and collingswood (not too expensive, but quite a drive). toms river is just down the road for me...i'll take 70 east. and the prices sound reasonable, but must of all your recommendation means alot.
i will make an appt. for him in june when he's a year old.

You're welcome!

and if there's EVER an emergency and the vet isn't open, they recommend the Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls.
It's like an ER... no appointment needed.. just walk in. I had to take Lola there once on a Sunday. They were great. and emergency exam was 95 bucks tho! But, obviously, it was worth it.
They take all animals... they have a full sugrical center on site.

WOW, l98 grams! I think Beaker is good at 167. Sparky must be a 'bigger boned' boy. LOLOLOL

I so hope you can catch the quaker. You have to wonder about how long it's been out... If nothing else, it's probably very hungry.
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Yeah, I know how it feels. My poor little BHC pulled a bunch of his "fedders" out when he had an infection diagnosed a bit late because I didn't realize what was happening.

Hope yours is better and all is well now. What's the latest and what kind of medication, if any, are you using?

Thanks for the vet stories and the well wishes with the catching the quaker. Thought I'd update you guys on both.

First we haven't seen the quaker since that day. I think it had been out a long time since it knew to go to a thicket to sleep and how well it ate out of our tube feeder even though it is designed for much smaller birds. We are keeping an eye out in case it comes back this way.

We still haven't gotten Mika's test results back yet but the ronisol (sp?) they gave us to treat them didn't work out very well. You have to put it in thier water and they can't have any other drinking supply. Our little ones are used to having some juice with pellets in it in addition to their water. The change really upset Mika. Neither one wanted to drink the treated water and they were both barely getting enough to drink even with me feeding it to them off my finger every time I could. And, either Mika is allergic to it or the change upset her so much she started chewing her breast and shoulder feathers too and she was at it almost all the time. By friday we stopped giving the meds to them and gave them their juice back (and had called the vet twice!). when they got their juice back you would think they hadn't had anything to drink all week. They both put their beaks in and drank. Things are more or less back to normal after a weekend of much love and attension. Mika is still shredding her feathers a bit but not all the time. She looks like such a rag-a-muffin well, I guess we live and learn, no more meds in the water! I hope we can get her to stop barbering her feathers though. I know the hormones are kicking in, she turns 2 tomorrow, and the vet thinks that may explain it.

Wish us luck!

beakerskyler wrote:WOW, l98 grams! I think Beaker is good at 167. Sparky must be a 'bigger boned' boy. LOLOLOL...
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Yeah, Sparky is the biggest caique I've seen. The funny thing is he's not fat. He's got more muscle because he's flighted and right now he is carrying a little extra because it is spring and he thinks he's going to get lucky! LOL! But his head is huge compared to Mika's and he's wider through the shoulders with a longer body. Just a big boy.