Pet Insurance

**beautifulbudgies** · 07-12-2019, 02:38 PM

Hello all!
I've just purchased Nationwide's Pet Insurance for my three budgies. I was wondering if any of you have pet insurance as well?

**Pipers Mom** · 07-16-2019, 08:35 AM

I live in Michigan.. My auto insurance rates are very scary and astronomical . I don't have pet insurance for my tiel, but I did spend a small fortune on him this past year. Main thing is that the vet found out what was wrong with him and he is back to his old self...

Hope the pet insurance works out well for you.

**beautifulbudgies** · 07-16-2019, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by Pipers Mom

I live in Michigan.. My auto insurance rates are very scary and astronomical . I don't have pet insurance for my tiel, but I did spend a small fortune on him this past year. Main thing is that the vet found out what was wrong with him and he is back to his old self...

Hope the pet insurance works out well for you.

May I ask what kind of veterinary services and procedures you have seeked out in the past? I am taking my 3 babies for their first check-up soon.

**Pipers Mom** · 07-17-2019, 04:53 AM

In May of 2018, I discovered my cockatiel had very watery stools. So I took him to the vet and she first suggested that we try the Bene-bac probiotic. It either comes in a gel or powder. I tried that for about 2 weeks, no change. We had blood work done. All blood work came back normal. Tested for his kidneys and liver disease, test came back negative. Had him tested for giardia, came back negative. We even drove him to Michigan State University veterinary hospital where he ad more tests, had my vet with about 2 other vets totally stumped on what was going on with my bird. The vets including mine were convinced that it was giardia and I gave him additional meds and other supplements. The receptionist at our vet office were calling us the "Frequent Flyers" because we were at the office about every 3 - 4 weeks. Trust me, it was getting old.. Trying different supplements, meds, you name it.

His May 2019 visit to the vet, my avian vet asked me if I could bring in his cage.. Since it is tall and a bit cumbersome, my husband and I both agreed to do so. Since we changed everything in his cage except for the cage itself, we figured, why not.. She found an area where he was climbing around that was not powder coated properly. My tiel was exposed to zinc that is in galvanized steel. She asked me to take him home in another cage and see how he does. It was almost instant that my birds droppings were going back to normal. The cage that my vet let me borrow was stainless steel. After she took a sample from the cage and additional blood work from Tango, Tango tested positive for metal. The exact match to the cage.

We purchased him a new cage constructed in stainless steel. Mind you, he was in his old cage for about 6+ years before he got sick. Many coatings do wear off over time. I am happy my vet discovered the area in the cage where he grabbed the bars with his beak in his cage. It was in a corner where I didn't see it.

Now that my little guy is back to normal we do the annual avian checks and I do get his wings and nails trimmed about twice a year. The avian check up is usually about $75 and the wings and nails run about $25.. So about $100 at the vets office for the normal routine check ups..

The costs that we additionally spent when our birds droppings abnormal, the testing, the vet visits, medications, supplements, driving to Michigan State University in East Lansing for the specialist... We are talking just a little over $3K. It is a lot of money we spent, but we figured we adopted him, he is not only our pet, Tango is a member of our family.

**Pipers Mom** · 07-17-2019, 04:57 AM

I think it is very important that you are taking your budgies for a check up. I think its important that a history of birds health needs to be established. If something should go wrong, at least you have some record that you can go back on instead of guessing.

**beautifulbudgies** · 07-18-2019, 10:29 AM

Thank you so much for sharing! I'm grateful your fid came out of it alright. I've heard that zinc poisoning can be fatal.

Originally Posted by Pipers Mom

I think it is very important that you are taking your budgies for a check up. I think its important that a history of birds health needs to be established. If something should go wrong, at least you have some record that you can go back on instead of guessing.

Thats really my goal here, is to get a check up and make sure everything is okay and to establish a baseline 'norm' for each of my fids. If I ever were to have one of them get sick, then I'd know what they're supposed to be at to be healthy again.
I am kind of worrying about my cage now. I do not know what metal it is made out of; I got it secondhand from a cockatiel breeder. It is starting to rust so I'm in the market for a new flight cage. I know rust can be extremely detrimental to a birds health if consumed. I have made my first priority a vet visit and then my next goal is to get them a new cage.