Backstory:

So, I've been taking my birds to Dixie trail animal hospital for several years now because they supposedly have an avian specialist vet there. However, I'm pretty unhappy with the way they have handled the case of a toe injury in my cockatiel. First, the technicians ignored us for an hour while princess doggie had his nails cut and then when they finally got around to me, they exacerbated his injury to the point that the toe needed amputation (his toe was cut to the bone, but it wasn't until the technician started mishandling him that his toe broke, causing blood to fly everywhere from his previously staunched wound. the vet decided that the toe of a bird is not worth saving so they cut it off). so now he's got a bandage on there that has to be changed several times, under anesthesia (costing 50 bucks a pop!!) and they are jerking me around on getting the damn bandage changed.

I took him to have it changed on friday afternoon and it was pretty dead except for some Glaxo bigwig coming in with ratty jeans on and wanting to brag about how much money he made and saying how he just couldn't imagine living on the average worker's salary. The vet and technicians were busy brown nosing him so hard that it took much longer than necessary to change his bandage. They said "bring him back monday for another change" but didnt make an appointment. I called to double check today (ok, Monday) before I was gonna head over there with him and they claimed they were completely booked for both monday and tuesday. In addition, I was informed that I could not remove the bandage myself. Meanwhile, the bird has been trying to eat the bandage off his foot all afternoon. So now I have to have the feather butt at the vet at 8 am to leave him there all day, and he hates it there. I'm sure they are gonna charge me an additional fee for pet storage too.

Summary:

1. been going to dixie trail for a number of years, customer loyalty blah blah.
2. dixie trail additionally injured my bird.
3. treating other customers better than me.
4. can't get the gender of my pet right.
5. dicking me around on appointment times and charging me out the ass for something that shouldn't be so complicated.
6. in conclusion, i'm pretty fed up with them.


Query:

is there a vet firm that can treat birds in a (most importantly) competent and (secondly) professional and (thirdly) more budget-friendly manner?

kthx!

12/12/2006 3:39:39 AM

i've taken my birds to the birdie boutique in durham. he isn't the most personable guy, but he is an avian vet and he wasn't super expensive either. http://www.birdieboutique.com/

~skip

12/12/2006 6:20:14 AM

I'm going to take my rabbit to a place called Avian and Exotic Animal Care on Creedmoor Road. I don't know about prices and stuff, but I feel sure they're competent, and I would also think they wouldn't treat you like crap. It's something to look into at least.

12/12/2006 8:38:36 AM

a friend of mine works at avian and exotic, supposedly they do a pretty good job

12/12/2006 9:18:12 AM

the vets at mayfair animal hospital recommend Dr. Dan Johnson at Avian and Exotic, I believe.

12/12/2006 9:34:54 AM

Where's Sonia when you need her?...

12/12/2006 10:12:17 AM

i dont see why you couldnt change the bandage yourself. or atleast with the help of someone holding the bird....it cant be more than some tape and gauze on there.....so unless your bird is a complete freak and NEEDS to be sedated...i would do it yourself....

[Edited on December 12, 2006 at 11:29 AM. Reason : err]

12/12/2006 11:28:55 AM

the bandage is some sort of compression bandage-- the gauze is coated in weird plastic and it's really sticky. this time they want me to leave it on for a week and the current bandage is making him limp again-- he was able to get around with the other ones pretty well. i have taken a lizard to avian and exotic and unfortunately they also charged me a lot to put the animal into a state i believe made it worse off-- anyone have any experience taking their birds there?


come on bird people! or at least some vet students

12/13/2006 2:17:44 PM

Avian and Exotic Animal Care on Creedmoor Road. Dr. Dan johnson is the man.
unfortunately there just isn't a whole lot of vets around that give quality avian care.
You could also try the vet school. At least there you know that the majority of the people WANT to be there and would handle your pet with care.

12/13/2006 2:28:40 PM

I've been taking the fuzzbutts to avian and exotic for several years. They do have decent service, but it's not cheap, the front desk peeps have screwed up my bills a few times, and if you call with a medical question you get stuck with a technician who's as clueless as you and looking it up in a book. Seems the lesser of the evils though.

12/13/2006 3:48:19 PM

^^ heard great things about that place too

12/13/2006 4:53:23 PM