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From: mary@dinorah.wustl.edu (Mary E. Leibach)
Newsgroups: rec.birds,rec.pets
Subject: Re: Sick birds issue
Message-ID: <748@dinorah.wustl.edu>
Date: 2 Jun 89 17:33:27 GMT
Organization: Washington University (St. Louis)
Lines: 37

I have been following the Sick Budgie issue here in rec.birds.
Blake's Birds(tm) send their condolences to the bereaved owner and
cagemate of the poor birdie.

Some advice I would offer to all bird owners whether their birds are
sick or not: GET AN AVIAN VET!  The store where I got Cally the
Precocious Cockatiel (tm) has an animal hospital attached, with two
avian vets.  They have a 24 hour emergency number, so if anything is
wrong, you can call, talk to a vet, and either make arrangements to
take the bird in the next business day, or in an emergency, have the vet
meet you at the store.  As soon as I notice something wrong with one
of my birds (I have three now!), I can be on the phone with my vet.  I
can also take new birds by for a check-up to know that they are
healthy and get good tips on how to improve my care of them.

If you don't have a vet, get ahold of the current issue of Bird Talk.
They have an offer that if you will send them something like a dollar
and a SASE they will give you their updated list of approved Avian
Vets.  Get it, and get a vet.  Sure you might have to pay a lot in vet
bills, but at least your birds might live longer.  Can you really look
your pet in the face and tell them they are not worth a $19 office
visit or a $27 physical?

I'm cross posting this to rec.pets to reemphasize this point that I
also made in a recent posting there.  This has been a service of
Blake's Birds(tm).

	-Mary, 
		and Cally the Precocious Cockatiel(tm), 
		and Vila the Cudly Conure(tm),

		And introducing Blake, the Beautiful Budgie(tm)!

	 Better known as      Blake's Birds(tm)!
	
	 Dedicated to the memory of the British SF show Blake's 7, and
	 the liberty and rights of pet birds!