Managing your vet: VERY IMPORTANT

[p3rr4n]

When dealing with your avian vet, it is very important that you manage the situation very thoroughly and carefully. Don’t make this mistake of giving him/her blind trust.

A few weeks ago, Karen and I took Trixie to a local avian vet for a wing clip, because we just couldn’t get to the breeder's store that Trixie came from (he’s awesome and we trust him 100%).


I was very specific about what I wanted the vet to do with the wing clip. Trixie's breeder had been managing Trixie’s wing clip so that he couldn’t free fly, but could get out of trouble if he had too.


I was quite specific with the vet's assistant AND the vet. I said and I quote "Follow the lines that the breeder has been doing regarding the clip. Don't cut any feathers that haven’t been cut before"

When it came time for the clip, the vets assistant held Trixie and he did the cutting. At first it looked like the vet was going to follow my directions, he was holding the scissors in such a way as to avoid the feathers that hadn’t been cut and would only line up with the ones that had been being cut, then without warning, in a flash of an eye, he moved the scissors and cut ALL of Trixie’s feathers!

By the time I saw what had happened, it was too late (this all happened in less than a second).

Now Trixie cannot fly AT ALL. All of his flight feathers and the other ones (I forget what Linda called them, maybe she will chime in) are gone and if I did a good job telling Linda what happened, it may be 6 or 7 months before he regains his ability to fly at all. As it is now, he can barley jump from my shoulder to Karen’s when we are sitting next to one another at our computers (we are maybe 10 to 15 inches apart.)


The morale of the story is this. Unless you have a LONG standing relationship with a vet, make the vet repeat your instructions exactly as you give them, if you have anything specific you need done.

I would even do it in small steps. “Mr/Ms. Vet do this, now repeat back to me what I said to make sure I did a good job of articulating my wishes... Ok good now the next step” and so on.

You should do this with a kind and polite demeanor, but FIRM and CLEAR too, or you too could be betrayed. I never ever would have thought that an avian vet could screw up something as simple as a wing clip, and yet it happened. Be very careful when dealing with your vet, and never make an assumption that your wishes are being carried out.

I felt angry, betrayal and most of all, a sadness for my little Velcro buddy I cant articulate. I feel like I let him down, even though I did make a sincere attempt to manage it correctly. I learned a lesson that day, and I hope that this information is able to help some of you avoid a disaster in the future.

[Angelwing]

That's terrible. What did you say to the vet, and how did they respond? Poor little Trixie.

[Janie]

Perran, :eek:, I am sorry!!!! Does Trixie glide or thump to the floor?

I just experienced two bad wing clips from my dog vet. She is also avian but not board certified and I don't use her except for wing clips since she's only a couple of miles from my house. My bad clip was kind of the opposite of yours. She left the first 3 or 4 feathers and clipped behind them. They can fly....oh boy, they can fly just as well as they did BEFORE the clip. My dilemma is that they were flying too well (right over to Oliver's cage) but if I clipped the longer feathers in front, would they THUMP to the floor??? Well, I called my breeder, Rubygem, and she said to take just a little off of the longer feathers and that has helped. I'm going to have to wait now, till a lot of feathers grow in on both of them and then I'll go to my favorite specialty store or to their avian vet for a proper clip. My dog vet actually did this same clip on Big Boi and Shy back in September and it worked like a charm that time. Don't know what the difference was this time. She didn't go against my wishes, just followed the same clip she'd done (successfully) before.

Let me add, your post is important reading! I think that we know our birds better than anyone else can and it is very important to be their advocate when they go to the vet (for any reason) or somewhere else for a wing clip. I ask my vet every single thing she's doing when Oliver is in her care. It might drive her nuts that I do that but he is MY bird, MY love and no one cares more about his health than I do. I did the same thing when I took my kids to the doctor and I would do no less for my animals. It's a shame that your vet did not "hear" what you wanted for Trixie. I can't imagine what more you could have done to make it perfectly clear and as you said, it's over in the blink of an eye and too late to correct it. Fortunately, those little wing feathers will grow back and very soon, I hope!

[Robin VZ]

Janie,
I think some groomers and vets think it's more aesthetically pleasing to leave the first couple of flight feathers undisturbed. Unfortunately, with lovebirds, this leaves them too much lift and also leaves those feathers more vulnerable to injury. I agree with Perran, you need to be very specific about what you want even with an avian vet. Their main experience may not be with lovebirds and that leaves you at a disadvantage. If Perrans bird forgets he's clipped and tries a familiar move, it could dump him rather abruptly to the floor. Perran's bird will also be more vulnerable to injury when the new flights start coming in because there won't be any feather structure to protect them. :eek:

[Janie]

Janie,
I think some groomers and vets think it's more aesthetically pleasing to leave the first couple of flight feathers undisturbed.

Robin, that is exactly why she did that type clip. I didn't know any better but I DO now! Funny thing though, with Oliver, she followed his previous clip and did not try this new "thing" on him. I won't use her again. It was cold and she was close and I figured less time in the car for the boys. Not worth it.

[butterfly1061]

Perran,

This is a very good topic to discuss with all our members. I had the samething happen to me with Molly. I asked for a modified clip and Molly got a full wing clip. He was only 9 weeks old and had only been flying for a few weeks. I was soooooo mad and never went back. Molly was so afraid to fly once his flights had grown back. It took me a while to get him to fly to me from very short distances to regain his confidence. Poor baby. I will never let this happen again to any of my birds.

[mjm8321]

I'm glad you posted this Perran, but I really feel sorry for poor Trixie. It makes me angry that people don't always listen carefully. I would have told the vet they weren't getting paid....jerks.
I was terrified of clipping wings the very first time (and a few times after that) however in doing the clip yourself, you have full control. Even if someone says "yes, I understand exactly what you want" those scissors or clippers can quickly take a wrong turn.

Our vet suggested a new way of clipping wings and we have begun doing this clip for our birds. It's actually done with toenail clippers (for birds, dogs, etc...not humans) and it has worked great for us. It's the clip shown about halfway down the page http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/clip.html

[Janie]

MJ, I have looked at that link before (I've looked at SO many, ) and that looks like a very good clip and what is written about it makes sense, too. I'm sure I could buy that type clipper from my vet. I do have toenail clippers for my dog but what I have would definitely not work on a birds wings. I'll check that out and then drink some "brave juice!" (Let me be clear, I am only kidding about the juice and would not dare drink anything stronger than water before I clipped my birds! AFTER the clip, I would! ) It really is crazy not to do my own clips since my birds are easy to handle. Do you do the clip w/o help? I know Jackie has but I feel like I would have to have a partner to keep the feet/toes out of the way. Thanks for the link!

[mjm8321]

Janie, you can get the clippers at most stores, here's what the last pair I bought look like http://www.petsalley.com/petnailscissor.asp I think they are also used for cats and dogs. It does take a bit of time to get comfortable with clipping, though I'm still not 100% comfortable with it, but it's probably best that way as I am very careful (to the point of being anal ) about wing and toenail clipping.

[sdgilley]

Perran,
I'm so sorry for poor Trixie. A bad clip like that sounds horrible. My vet is more likely to underclip than overclip, so we discuss it and check it afterwards. But I'm lucky for that. I'd really like to clip my birds' wings myself... maybe one of these days.