Avian medicine is the branch of veterinary practice that cares for birds. In Singapore, where the AVS approves most bird species as pets, the patient population in avian practice ranges from budgies and cockatiels to larger parrots, finches, canaries, and the occasional chicken kept on private property.
Vets with a clinical focus in avian medicine manage conditions such as respiratory disease, feather-destructive behaviour, egg binding and reproductive conditions in hens, nutritional deficiencies from seed-only diets, crop and proventricular disorders, and beak and claw problems. Tools of the trade include avian-appropriate anaesthesia, interpretation of imaging for hollow-boned skeletons, crop feeding and supportive care, and structured dietary counselling.
While most general-practice vets are trained primarily to treat cats and dogs, an avian-focused vet is the practitioner who understands why a fluffed-up, quiet bird is already seriously ill, or why a parrot's respiratory anatomy makes routine anaesthesia anything but routine.
Birds are prey species and hide illness well. By the time a bird visibly looks unwell, it is often in advanced disease. For bird owners, knowing where to take a sick bird and making the journey quickly are frequently the single most important clinical decisions in their pet's life.
