Forum Topic

Vet recommendation for a Canary - Urgent!

I need a vet who knows about canaries!  Any recommendations?

Sarah Felstead ● 7437d12 Comments

Sarah:  What a sweet story...two lovebirds living in a cage....one singing to the other.  I can see now why my ex-wife and I only managed 9 years together..I should have kept her in captivity! She had far too much freedom!!

Jim Lawes ● 7436d

Sarah,Glad to hear about the canary's recovery.Two years ago, one of my two budgies developed a kind of tumoury thing at his rear end.  Took him to a local vet, who shall be nameless;  young vet and assistant were afraid to take budgie from cage for examination, so I took him out.  They recommended 'putting him out of his misery.'He was in no misery whatsoever, only had this unpleasant lump.  I took him back home to his buddy - another male - and to this day they are as happy as the days are long. He still has the lump, but it has reduced a little.Their cage is on a wide window sill all day, and is always wide open;  they fly around the living room three or four times during the day, and in the evening they are moved up to a corner table near the t.v., when the cage is closed. If I forget, they make such a racket, that I have to get up and shut them in.  A life of riley is what they have...So much for young vets.

Ann S. Allridge ● 7436d

Can i please say Sarah that as a fellow bird lover your news has made my day.Thank you.

Paul Fisher ● 7436d

We are very pleased to say that the bird is almost back to normal!  It turns out she had a bad stomach upset and had lost fluid and salts.  She is on a rehydrating liquid and an antibiotic and has been getting stronger all day.  We have them in separate cages and they have been chatting and singing most of the day, and sitting as near as they can to each other.  Thank you Mr Leggitt, The Vet.

Sarah Felstead ● 7436d

Almost certainly, we're going to try Tunisia in the Spring and then in late summer we're going to a family reunion in Singapore. What are your family's holiday destinations SARAH?  ;-o

Gerry Tan ● 7437d

We are back from the vet and we shall now have to wait and see.  Ken is in a separate cage beside her and she is reacting to him moving around albeit as if she has been swigging the gin! (very wobbly on her pins she is).  The vet was very nice and seemed to know his business.  Thanks again Paul.How are the holiday plans coming along Gerry?

Sarah Felstead ● 7437d

"...it would be better to have the male/female mix, and to go with the flow if anything came of it...!  I am talking about little Blunkett's of course - hey (she said, warming to the subject - oh no, groaned Jim & Gerry)..."No I'm not groaning SARAH - I don't mind little offspring or little Blunketts even, 'cos its natural - heing and sheing is OK by me! I only groan when its heing and heing, or sheing and sheing, or worse still if its meing and meing!Do hope your canary gets better soon.  ;-)

Gerry Tan ● 7437d

You get to know the animals and the way they behave.  We had the male first and thought he needed company.  We did some research and decided that it would be better to have the male/female mix, and to go with the flow if anything came of it...!  I am talking about little Blunkett's of course - hey (she said, warming to the subject - oh no, groaned Jim & Gerry ...) will that make next years dictionary do you think?My husbands Father had the male canary until he contracted pneumonia (birds carry the germs), so he had to give him and his budgies up.  Ken (ken-airy, get it?) had a number of tricks like sitting on your arm inside the cage and squawking at fingers, which he really disliked - he occasionally squawked at number 1 son's toes in his confusion.  After getting the female he settled down to her being in charge, we decided it was a nature thing.. I decided it was a nature thing..    ;-)She spent most of her time chasing him around the cage (definitely a nature thing..) and he just sat there ducking and moving out of her way.  She has changed her behaviour recently and I asked a friend to have a look at her yesterday to see if the skin around her neck was okay.  She has started sleeping a lot and it is then that he sits beside her singing to her.

Sarah Felstead ● 7437d

I have two budgies myself who seem to get on most of the time but the female does bully the male get quite a bit.Is that a bad thing though Sarah when just one bird is singing as they seem to have swopped over recently in their chirping duties.

Paul Fisher ● 7437d

We always used to have Budgies, before having kids and then lving in a flat and we went to a vet in Lampton Rd. then - we now go to Medivet top of Mogden Lane as we have moggies, when it first opened and prior to being taken over by a conglomerate outift we had a smashing vet whose prices were also reasonble. They are still very good practioners but oh boy! do they know how to charge or what? My beautiful British blue boy was very ill this year and needed his thryoid removed, he is a different cat now so I hope he lives for at least another 5 years as we need our money's worth! I do so agree though that you know your own pet best, the vet thought I was joking when I said I cured a cat's tummy upset by giving him yoghurt, and helped my black and white boy cheer up by giving him a good wash when he'd been a bit down. Works for me.

Vanessa Smith ● 7437d

Thank you Paul.  I have made an appointment to see him after ringing and asking if he knows about canaries!  We have 2 and it is the younger female who is not very well - the male has been sitting beside her singing to her which is also not a good sign (but oh so sweet!) as she normally chases him around the cage.  This morning she is acting as if she has had a stroke.In answer to your point about vets knowing about a wide range of animals, you are right but they tend to deal and specialise through the type of animal they see the most often. As with lots of things you rely on people knowing their limitations and being prepared to pass you on if they are really not trained or have the expertise to deal with something.  A friend of ours had been going back and forward with her third iguana, to the same vet.  He kept saying it was okay and was really saying she was worrying unnecessarily.  They went on holiday and asked me and my son to feed it.. I was never quite sure of what it might do if I did much else to it - its body language was a bit different to my experience of animals!  During the week I thought it wasn't well - how I thought that I will never understand but it was a sort of instinctive feeling.  I took it to the same vet to be told it was okay he even pinched the skin in demonstration that it wasn't dehydrated.  After they got back it suddenly deteriorated and they found another vet who had experience of the species and straight away he said HE was a SHE and the eggs inside her body were rotting as they had not been fertilised and she was dying!  It was touch and go but it survived.  I still see the original vet when I take a neighbour along with her cat for its annual check up.  His surgery is full of cats and dogs.

Sarah Felstead ● 7437d

I would have thought all Vets would be able to deal with birds of all kinds Sarah but this one by the Jolly Gardners (Triple Crown) on the Twickenham Rd has a very good reputation.Veterinary Health Centre, 250, Twickenham Rd, Isleworth, Middlesex TW7 7DT Tel: 020 8892 4432

Paul Fisher ● 7437d