Your First Visit To Our Hospital

Dr. Marshall and his nurses know how you feel about your pet bird because they also love their own pets. We all enjoy their work at Carlingford Animal Hospital and are passionate about providing you and your unwell bird with the very best care, knowledge and service. Please don't hesitate to ask us if you are unsure of any aspect of your bird's care or if you would like further information.

On your first visit (and any health check visits thereafter) to our veterinary hospital with your bird you will need to provide a dropping sample from your bird so that Dr. Marshall can begin unraveling its health problem. The staining procedure of the droppings takes only 5 minutes. The dropping sample should always be fresh and collected from the darkest part of the dropping (none of the white droppings).

Why Is A Dropping So Important?
The microscopic analysis of the droppings gives Dr. Marshall an immediate overview of the health of your bird. He looks for worms and other parasites on the wet smear and for bacteria and yeasts on the gram stained sample. When he examines the dropping, you too can see everything Dr. Marshall is looking at by viewing the TV video monitor above the microscope. At this time, Dr. Marshall will explain what the results mean.

The dropping results are the first step to identifying your bird's problem.

Dr. Marshall even takes a dropping sample from a bird with a sore foot, injury or long beak, because often these conditions begin with a health imbalance.

Dr. Marshall's ultimate aim is to identify both the cause of the illness and also the reasons why the health problem has occurred. This knowledge allows you and Dr. Marshall to work together in preventing reinfection after the medicines have done their job.

The cost of the wet smear is $24.00 and the gram stain is $28.00.

High humidity is a common cause of fungal problems in pet birds. High humidity comes after rain, but also occurs in the bathroom and laundry areas after use. Fungal diseases also occur when stale foods high in moisture (this includes seed, seed bells and seed sprays) are eaten by the bird. Fungus is rarely seen with the naked eye and a culture of a dropping or mouth sample is used to determine whether a fungus is the problem. Fungus may be a problem in birds where the dropping smears and stains are normal.

"Culture of the droppings or mouth..." What does this mean?
The microscopic examination of the droppings lets Dr. Marshall know if there is a bacterial, yeast or parasite problem and what medicine should be used, but it does not tell Dr. Marshall how to prevent or manage this illness in the long-term.