Life of Pis

Django at the vet with Dr. Burkett and Fallon

Django: Going to the vet is a very important part of a pionus’ life. We both go to the vet every six months. We have our annual exam, which includes a “Complete Blood Count” (CBC) and a physical exam. Signs of papilloma are one thing our vet checks for in our physical exam. He recommends a papilloma exam every six months for South American species. That’s why we go to the vet twice a year. More information about papilloma may be found here.

At our annual exam, we also receive a polyoma vaccination. Some vets don’t recommend the polyoma vaccination for adult birds because polyoma virus is mainly only a threat to very young birds. Adults may carry it, however. Even if we don’t encounter young birds directly, Michelle might pick the virus up if we shed it and then travel with it to a place where it might encounter baby birds. For this reason, we receive our vaccinations. It’s a personal choice your human may discuss with your vet.

We went in to see Dr. Burkett a couple weeks ago. Gillie whimpered the entire time she was being examined. I had to reassure her a lot, telling her, “It’s okay, baby.” Someday she may learn to breeze through a vet visit with grace and style, as I do.

Gillie: Don’t let Django fool you. I may have whimpered, but he literally trembled the entire time he was there. For that reason, Michelle is starting to try to train us to be toweled without stress. (I’m doing much better than he is so far on that exercise,  by the way!)

Regardless, Django is correct! Even though visits are not our favorite days of the year, they are important! (And you get nutriberries and Macadamia nuts afterwords. At least, we do!)