~*Bithy's Personal Thread*~ Today was Beaker's first visit to the vet!

It's recommended that you take your parrot to the vet for a regular physical every year. Beaker was "hatched" last August, so I scheduled him for an appointment at a local animal clinic. I knew he would be very frightened by the whole situation, so I tried to calm him as much as possible, putting nesting fluff in his travel cage with lots of water and his favorite food.
He was very good on the drive there, tweeting regularly, and looking out through the bars to keep an eye on both of us. When we finally made it to the waiting room, he got his first glimpse of other animals... two dogs, ferrets, cats... he was frozen and hyperventilating.
I tried my best to calm his fears by singing to him, but it took alot to get him to settle down.

When we finally went into the vet's exam room, Beaker started to panic and tried to fly away right after I took him out of his travel cage. I felt horrible when I finally had to leave him so they could take him into the lab to get cultures and a blood sample....

When he was brought back to me, my little Beaky looked so disheveled, he was shivering, and the front of his neck was wet with alcohol where they had to tap his jugular to get blood. The vet was so kind and helpful, but I still thought I was going to cry, just the relief of having him back with me.

She said he was a wonderful physical specimen, very healthy and strong in appearance. His lab results will be back in a few days (hopefully they'll be normal), and they will have his DNA back in a couple of weeks, so I will know whether he is truly a little boy.

He did so well, my brave birdie... he started to liven up as soon as we were on our way home, and was his regular self as soon as we entered the apartment, and he climbed (with great relief) onto his cage. Though, he was very tired as the night wore on, and he is sound asleep right now.

He had such a big day.... is it normal for a person to love a pet this much?

I'd just like to say that if I was your pet, I would be a very happy bird.

You take very good care of him and you show him love. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

It's totally normal to love your pet that much! What a sad little story, though. I hate taking my Zoe to the Vet.

awww, that is such a sweet and sad story. i think it's awesome that you love your pet that much. beaker is one lucky parrot.

I'm glad Beaker is okay! I think this whole house would be in mourning if something happened to him.

My fish, Penelope is looking a bit grim. He won't eat anything and he's really high strung. I might have to get him a girl fish to calm him down.

Thanks guys... heheheh, hubby thinks I spoil him rotten. (I think he's just jealous)

Kerryn, your fish sounds like he has quite the personality!

BTW, Beaker's just fine ? he was his usual grumpy self when we accidentally woke him up while getting ready for work early this morning.

Glad everything went well, Meg. I'm almost as scared of the vet as the cats.

Wish Beaker all the best from me -- he sure is lucky!

Thanks, Casper!
We got a call back from the vet today... his labs results were in, and they are perfectly normal. *lets out sigh of relief*
Now, all I have to do is wait for the DNA results... I should start a pool so we can all bet on whether Beaker will be a boy or a girl.

He's such a sweet birdie!

I really like birds but I can't so much have one because of the cats, the dogs, and the fact that my mom doesn't like them.

Awww... well, you can always get one when you find your own place.

I highly recommend Quakers, but unfortunately they are illegal to own in some states.

An update:

We got a call from Beaker's vet today with his DNA test ? turns out he is a boy, just like I suspected.

Hooray for the boys!

He definitely acts like a little boy.

If your parrot turned out to be female, would you have started calling it "Beakette"?

No, I deliberately picked the name Beaker because it is pretty androgenous. However, Beakette is rather cute...

I have a cat named Odyssyus, but he wasn't always named that. When we first got him, he was named Delila. We didn't know until we tried to get him fixed.

My poor cat has issues.