The biggest mistake in avian medicine is doing nothing at all

Laila Proença, DVM, PhD, MV, MSc, DACZM shares advice on avian medicine from her session at Fetch dvm360® Conference in Kansas City.

The following is a partial transcript of the video.

Laila Proença, DVM, PhD, MV, MSc, DACZM: I think what majority people do that is a mistake is actually not doing. It's actually not attempting to do because they get bombarded so much with [people saying] "Don't touch; it's gonna die," then they actually don't practice medicine. And I think it's just sitting and watching the bird in an oxygen cage and giving antibiotics. If you stop to think, it's almost impossible to treat everything with an antibiotic and oxygen. It's just not the way it works, right? They have organs just like any other animal; they have a heart; they have a liver; they have a lung; they have a kidney. Therefore, all of these can get sick, right?

And I think the biggest mistake is not doing; it's being afraid, which is understandable. It doesn't come from a place of judgment, but I all I want to give [veterinarians] the ownership to try...because if you try, you're gonna accomplish way more than you think. And it's just a small learning curve. Once you try...We are afraid of what we don't know, so try to know. Give it a chance. It's not that hard.