For the Birds..
We’ve kept birds for almost 20 years now. Through most of that time, Fern Van Sant at For the Birds has been my avian vet. When our first cockatoo got sick, Fern worked her butt off (and the butt of almost every other vet in the Bay Area…) keeping her alive when there was no real idea what was going on, much less how to treat it (it turned out the bird, wild-caught, was a Polyoma carrier, a problem found only in necropsy despite a couple of tests for it…). she was an early and strong fighter for pelleted foods and rational avian diets. And when Tatiana got involved with a zinc poisoning issue a few years ago, she put a huge amount of time and energy into getting us through it (Tatiana, thankfully, is finally off all treatment and growing out her feathers again.. And I’ve been in the office, more than once, when she encouraged someone to find another vet, because they weren’t willing to accept the changes Fern felt were needed to ensure the health of their birds…
The running joke is that Fern’s listed as Pediatrician on my taxes; but to be honest, given Tatiana is "our kid", it’s truer than you might think. The thing that’s kept me going to Fern over the years is her willingness to do what it takes, and her committment to not just know what the current research says about treatment, but to work to improve and extend that knowledge. Many in the AAV still like to claim zinc isn’t a problem with birds, for instance. Having lived through it, I know better, and I’m very lucky to be with a vet more interested in health than the politics of dealing with manufacturers who don’t want to go to more expensive, non-galvanized products…
If you keep birds in silicon valley, Fern and her crew is an indispensible resource.
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