This show will focus on the obvious and not so obvious questions all bird owners should be asking when they are choosing a pet sitter or boarding facility for their bird. Dr. Laurie Hess and her guest, Dr. Lauren Thielen, both veterinarians who specialize in bird care, will discuss what to think about to be ready if you are going on vacation and leaving your precious feathered family member at home or at a boarding facility.
Questions or Comments? Send them to: DrLaurie@petliferadio.com or DrMichelle@petliferadio.com.
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Questions or Comments? Send them to: DrLaurie@petliferadio.com or DrMichelle@petliferadio.com.
More details on this episode MP3 Podcast - Vacation Time: What to Ask When Seeking a Pet Sitter or Boarding Facility for Your Bird on Pet Life Radio
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bird-s-eye-view-pet-life-radio-original--6670941/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thank you. You're listening to Petlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hi there, welcome to Bird's Eye View. This is doctor
Lori Hess. I'm a birden exotic animal veterinarian and I
have a guest with me today, doctor Lauren Thelin, who
also treats birds and exotics. And hey guys, he doctor Theolon.
Thanks for coming, Doctor Thelan He welcome. We're gonna have
a little chat with you today about one of our
favorite questions that we're asked very much this time of year,
(00:37):
and that's what to do when you're choosing a pet
sitter for your bird or a boarding facility for your bird.
So we'll bring up some really interesting points. We're going
to take a few minute break now and come back
with some really great questions for you to discuss when
you're looking for the sitter or the boarding facility.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Stay perched. We'll be soaring back right after these messages.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
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and overnight camp daycare, importing for dogs. Everything is included,
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even live campercams to watch it from a computer or smartphone.
(01:18):
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place to go where a dog can be a dog.
For locations and more information, visit campbow Wow dot com.
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to fifty percent commission selling our premium pet products. Advocate
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(01:49):
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Speaker 2 (02:11):
Okay, we're back now with Birds I View. I'm doctor
Lori Hes here with doctor Lauren Theeelen, and we're going
to talk today a little bit about something that many
of the clients that we work with ask us all
the time, which is what to do if you're going
to travel and you have to leave your pet bird
with either a sitter or you have to board your
bird in a facility. This is something we hear a lot, right,
Doctor Fiel, Yeah, we bored a lot.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
Of birds, and we also help people find the right
pet sitter for them.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
And it's really a little bit of a different kind
of process than if you're boarding any other kind of pet,
like a dog or a cat. There are lots of
places that do dog and cat boarding, but not so
many places that are really good with birds.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
And the same thing for the sitters too. There's a
lot of people who feel comfortable walking a dog, but
not necessarily getting that parrot out of the cage.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
That's true. Parrots have very unique requirements and they're very
very different. They're not quite as amenable to living in
different places as like a dog or a cat. So
it's often really hard for people when they want to
go away. And I know you've probably heard this a
lot of time, of feeling that people who own birds
can never go away because they're you know, they're stuck
at home because they don't know what to do with
their pets when they want to travel. So we commonly
(03:14):
are asked this question, and we have some advice if
this in fact is your situation, If you have a
pet bird and you're thinking about taking a trip this summer.
Warm weather's here and lots of people want to go away.
What do you do with that pet bird when you
know that bird's lived in your house for years and
has never traveled anywhere. So what kind of things do
you think about, doctor thelan when someone asks you.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
This, Well, I guess I think about the type of
bird it is, if they are amendable distress that they'd
ever actually left their house before, and then that kind
of helps us fit with if they're going to be
suited best at their home or best with a boarding
facilities such as a vetnay center that make sure that
they test their birds for infectious diseases, because whenever you
are bringing a parrot to an area where there's a
(03:55):
lot of other parrots around, you want to make sure
that those parents aren't going to get your birds sick.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
That's a really important point, and not a lot of
people think about that. I mean, most people bring in
their dogs and cats for regular checkups. Dogs are vaccinated,
you know, cats are examined fairly regularly, But most people
do not bring their birds in for examinations, so you know,
they're really not tested for disease. And many birds hide
their diseases because they're prey species and they're not really
have to show the signs of infection or disease, otherwise
(04:21):
they would get kind of picked off in the wild.
So often people don't even know if their birds are sick,
and then they're brought into other areas where their other birds,
and frequently these diseases are contagious. So if you're going
to bring your bird into a facility where it's going
to bord around other birds, you have to worry about
behavioral things, certainly, but you also have to worry about
infection absolutely. So certainly one of the first things you
want to ask, beside the obvious one, which is what
(04:42):
kind of experience do you have with birds? Again, whether
you're dealing with an individual sit or who are going
to come to your house versus a center like our
veter in our hospital where we regularly board birds. Is
you know obviously what kind of experience you have with birds,
but also who are the other boarders there? Who else
is going to be bording? I mean, are their cats
and dogs right near making lots of scary noise around
your bird? Other other birds you know, within breathing or
(05:04):
sneezing distance of your bird in its cage. You know,
is there chance for contamination and spread of infection?
Speaker 5 (05:09):
Absolutely, that barking dog next to a parrot who's never
seen a dog before. It would be very stressful experience
for it.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Absolutely, And that's one of the nice things about if
you're going to find a facility that does bird boarding,
that it be specific for birds, or at least that
they take the birds and they put them in one
area away from any other species boarding so that they
don't get stressed. You know, putting prey animals with predators
like dogs and cats can be very very stressful, even
if they just see them, it's very stressful, So that
(05:36):
would be a very important thing. Many places will board birds,
for example, pet stores will board birds without ever having
a veterinarian examine those birds. So those birds could be
carrying anything anything that your bird potentially could get and
take home and sometimes unfortunately, to get significant infections and
die of. So you really do want to choose a
facility where there is a veterinary exam and some health
(05:58):
requirements in advance of boarding, and it can't be like
two years before boarding. Ideally it should be within a
few months of boarding, So that's a really top question
to be asking. Absolutely, sort of along those same lines,
I think it would be important to ask, you know,
what happens if your bird gets sick, who's going to
look at it? I mean, don't we have that happen
here occasionally? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (06:17):
We actually do. Yeah, And that's why it's important to
have someone experienced, because they know what a bird's dropping
you're supposed to look like, They know, you know, how
much you're supposed to eat a day, and they'll be
able to catch that and bring that to you know,
we lark at a vet clinic, so they'll bring that
to our attention. And what's nice about bording at the
vet clinic is they'll get a medical attention right away.
But if you're boarding somewhere such as a pet store
(06:37):
or even in your own home, you do need to
make a plan what you're going to do ahead of
time and who needs to be contacted in the event
that your bird does get sick.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Absolutely, so you should have the emergency list on the
fridge if you're keeping your bird at home, and there
are certainly benefits to keeping your bird at home, you know,
being in his own environment with his own food, his
own toys, his own cage. Those are all really important things.
But again and if there's an emergency, you want that
sitter to be responsible and have that VETS number right
on hand to call, and you want to actually talk
(07:06):
about the situation and give that person's means by which
to pay for care, maybe leaving a credit card. You
may have to sign some authorizing that person or either
in hospital to care for your bird, often up to
a certain financial amount in case there's a problem or
they can't reach you if say you're out of the country.
So those are things that should be discussed in advance
of the boarding or of the pet sitting.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
Absolutely, and to know if pet sitting or boarding is
right for you, you can think about some things as
well as how handleable your bird is. Now, if your
bird is not used to people touching it, or it
doesn't enjoy a lot of activity, then maybe it's nice
to find a nice pet sitter for you. However, if
your bird is very social and enjoys company, you might
(07:47):
want to consider a boarding facility that's comfortable handling birds.
So you can ask how many times would my bird
be taken out of the cage You know, what would
you you know, how are you going to feed my bird?
What's actually going to go on? So that way you
both can feel comfortable while you're away and you can enjoy.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Yourself absolutely, and obviously making the bird feel as most
as home as possible is really ideal. Like when we
board the animals here in the Vettery Center, we encourage
people to bring their own food from home, their own toys.
There are some people who actually really like to set
the bird's cages up with the toys in a specific
way to mimic the way it's set up at home
so the bird is comfortable. And for some of the
(08:23):
smaller birds that live in smaller cages, we actually will
allow people to bring their own so the bird is
really at home. Can't always do that for the big birds,
but we do what we can to make them feel
comfortable and that does really help, I think absolutely. And
you do want to make sure, as doctor Thilan mentioned,
that the bird is taken out of the cage, that
individual attention is given to him during the time that
he's boarding. Otherwise, birds, you know, they'll survive, but they
(08:46):
may not have a great time. And what we like
to say is, you know, when you're on vacation, your
bird should be on vacation too, so it should be
a pleasant experience for your bird, and that way the
bird isn't afraid the next time you have to go
out of town. Right. One nice thing also that we
do here, which is great for any sitter or boarding
facility to do, is to actually take a picture and
send you a text message when you're away, so you
(09:07):
can actually see that your bird is thriving, doing well,
very happy, and then you can really enjoy your trip
too because you're not worried so much. It really makes
people very happy.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
And when we do that, I know, when I go
out of town, if the pet sitter doesn't text me
a panic a little while, so I definitely really appreciate
that interaction absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
I mean, we all like to see pictures of our
pets and will feel much better if we see that
they're being cared for properly. And care has to extend
to the weekends too, that's something you know. Many facilities
are not open every day. Ideally pet sitters are coming
at least once a day, but you might want to
ask what happens on a Sunday, Who's checking in on
your bird. You know how many times a day is
that cage being cleaned. You don't want to leave around
(09:46):
moist food like fruits and vegetables, particularly in hot weather,
where they can get rancid and actually can be a
problem for the bird if he or she ingests them.
So you want to make sure that that cage is
being cleaned the same way you would be cleaning it
if you were home. Something you might not think about
is what happens during a power outage. You know, if
it's really hot and you have air conditioning in your house,
or if it's really really cold outside and you have heat,
(10:08):
what happens if the power goes out. That's something you
might not think about, but you might want to be
asking your sitter or your boarding facility in advance, like
what would happen if that where the caves have a
plan absolutely.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
So I think you know, all in all, it's just
it's individual for each bird and each owner. But just
making sure that you find the right environment for your
bird so that they don't ugo undue stress and make
them feel as comfortable as possible with people that are
knowledgeable working with your bird and this species is very
very important and it is a big take home today.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
So we have a couple more points we want to
bring up, but we're going to take a few minute
break now and then we'd be back to just finalize
our discussion about what to look for in a pet
sitter for your bird or a boarding facility when you
go away for your birth. We'd be right back.
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Speaker 8 (12:02):
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of on our shows are available on demand. Go to
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Speaker 1 (12:25):
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Speaker 2 (12:42):
Hi again, We're back at birds Eye View here on
doctor Lori hes here with doctor Lauren Thielen, and we're
talking today about selecting a pet sitter or a boarding
facilitium for your bird when you go away. And one
thing that might be really obvious that we haven't touched on,
which probably should be the first thing you think of,
is is this facility or is this pet sitter licensed?
(13:03):
Is it just someone who says that they know what
they're doing, or do they actually have insurance? You know
what happens if there's a big flood and your bird's
cage gets damaged, or god forbid, your bird gets injured
and it's the fault of the sitter. You know, you
do want to find somebody reputable who has experience and
who has taken the time to take out insurance and
has some kind of professional license to be caring for
(13:24):
this bird.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
And also in that note, make sure you keep the
carrier of your bird next to your bird's cash. In
the event that the bird does need to go to
the veterinarian or out of the home for whatever reason,
the sitter can feasibly do that.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, and absolutely we talked a little bit before about
you know, having a plan if the bird gets sick
and contacting your veterinarian. I think in advance of your leaving,
you should call your vet and let that vet know
that your sitter is going to be caring for a
bird between this time and that time, and that you
get you actually have to provide with us at least,
And I would think legally for most places, a written letter,
whether it's an email or actually handwritten letter or something
(14:00):
that's in writing, giving permission to XYZ person to care
for your bird and to make decisions regarding the care
of your bird in case of an emergency, it's really important.
And again, providing that person a credit card or a means,
authorizing a means for which they can pay for the
care if it's necessary in an emergency and they can't
reach you, is very very important. So those are a
(14:21):
lot of great tips. You know, traveling is very common
with birds. You should not be afraid if you're going
out of town to leave your bird at home. Birds
are homebodies and probably most of the time they'd love
to just stay in their homes when you're away. Many birds, though,
actually love coming to our facility because they meet other birds.
They don't touch them, but they might talk to them
(14:41):
from across the way. I know we've been here late
at night sometimes and we have a couple of African
gray parrots who are very chatty. One likes to make
a ringing noise with the phone sounds just like a telephone,
and his buddy across the way answers hello, and it's
actually kind of funny because they play off of each other, so.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
They definitely enjoy the company. And again, it just gets
to know knowing your bird and what your bird would
best suit. But I know a lot of Amazons and
even you know, even the so called high stress African grays,
they do enjoy the company and the surroundings. They even
enjoy the staff walking around and interacting with them, offering
them little bites of food every now and then. I
(15:19):
know here at the Vetinary Center, we actually each bird
gets their own private DVD player. They watch movies or
cartoons or whatever they particularly like. And I know it
sounds funny, but they actually do particularly like certain things.
You find that out, so and that's also important to
make sure you do find a facility that's going to
accommodate all those special little needs that your bird may need,
(15:40):
because it is very stressful. Remember, birds are highly social animals,
and you are their flock and you were it, and
so when you go away, it's a really big deal
to them. And that's why sometimes birds get sick, just
because they're stressed and they miss you so much. So
making sure that you're very comfortable with where your parent's
going to be is gonna is really going to be
(16:00):
worth it to do the research.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Absolutely having those DVDs or movies playing, whether it's in
a center like ours or at home, having that TV
on and making sure someone can turn that TV off
and even turn the lights off so that the bird
can go to sleep. You know, we take that for granted,
but would you want to sleep with the TV and
lights on twenty four to seven. No, of course not.
It will interrupt the normal pattern of the birds. So
you do ideally have to have someone if they're coming
(16:24):
to your house, to come twice a day. Certainly at
the Ventery Center, we're doing things all day long with
the animals, and even on the weekends, we make sure
that someone is here to feed, change cages and provide
entertainment for the birds. So you know, boarding a bird
can be a little more complicated than boarding a dog
or a cat. There's lots of questions that need to
be asked, but when done properly, you can enjoy your vacation.
(16:45):
Your bird can enjoy his or her vacation too, and
everybody can benefit and no one has to worry, and
there's a plan for everything. So I hope that you
enjoyed our little talk today, that you learned some important
things to be focusing on when looking for a boarding
facility or pet sitter for your bird. Thank you doctor
Theelen for coming in today and helping us out. It
was great and we're going to come back at some
(17:06):
point soon and tell you things to think about when
you are traveling with your bird, if you're actually taking
your bird with you, and what you might want to
be prepared for. So thank you very much. This is
Bird's I View Doctor Lorihus and doctor laurencelot Us.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on Petlife
Radio dot com
Thank you. You're listening to Petlife Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hi there, welcome to Bird's Eye View. This is doctor
Lori Hess. I'm a birden exotic animal veterinarian and I
have a guest with me today, doctor Lauren Thelin, who
also treats birds and exotics. And hey guys, he doctor Theolon.
Thanks for coming, Doctor Thelan He welcome. We're gonna have
a little chat with you today about one of our
favorite questions that we're asked very much this time of year,
(00:37):
and that's what to do when you're choosing a pet
sitter for your bird or a boarding facility for your bird.
So we'll bring up some really interesting points. We're going
to take a few minute break now and come back
with some really great questions for you to discuss when
you're looking for the sitter or the boarding facility.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Stay perched. We'll be soaring back right after these messages.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
It's hard to find time for your fury family member.
That's where Camp bow Wow comes in. All day play
and overnight camp daycare, importing for dogs. Everything is included,
large play areas for fun and exercise, spacious cabins, comfycots,
even live campercams to watch it from a computer or smartphone.
(01:18):
Camp bow Wow offers the best care and is the
place to go where a dog can be a dog.
For locations and more information, visit campbow Wow dot com.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yuppie Puppycitykitty provides pet lovers an opportunity to earn up
to fifty percent commission selling our premium pet products. Advocate
Gina Bricks says, the opportunity to share such a quality
product line with other pet lovers is amazing. The support
of the Yuppie Puppy Citykitty family while working the business
is a true gift mention special code pet Life when
(01:49):
you enroll today and receive three additional products free. Find
us at www dot ypckpets dot com. That's ypckpets dot com.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Okay, we're back now with Birds I View. I'm doctor
Lori Hes here with doctor Lauren Theeelen, and we're going
to talk today a little bit about something that many
of the clients that we work with ask us all
the time, which is what to do if you're going
to travel and you have to leave your pet bird
with either a sitter or you have to board your
bird in a facility. This is something we hear a lot, right,
Doctor Fiel, Yeah, we bored a lot.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
Of birds, and we also help people find the right
pet sitter for them.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
And it's really a little bit of a different kind
of process than if you're boarding any other kind of pet,
like a dog or a cat. There are lots of
places that do dog and cat boarding, but not so
many places that are really good with birds.
Speaker 5 (02:46):
And the same thing for the sitters too. There's a
lot of people who feel comfortable walking a dog, but
not necessarily getting that parrot out of the cage.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
That's true. Parrots have very unique requirements and they're very
very different. They're not quite as amenable to living in
different places as like a dog or a cat. So
it's often really hard for people when they want to
go away. And I know you've probably heard this a
lot of time, of feeling that people who own birds
can never go away because they're you know, they're stuck
at home because they don't know what to do with
their pets when they want to travel. So we commonly
(03:14):
are asked this question, and we have some advice if
this in fact is your situation, If you have a
pet bird and you're thinking about taking a trip this summer.
Warm weather's here and lots of people want to go away.
What do you do with that pet bird when you
know that bird's lived in your house for years and
has never traveled anywhere. So what kind of things do
you think about, doctor thelan when someone asks you.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
This, Well, I guess I think about the type of
bird it is, if they are amendable distress that they'd
ever actually left their house before, and then that kind
of helps us fit with if they're going to be
suited best at their home or best with a boarding
facilities such as a vetnay center that make sure that
they test their birds for infectious diseases, because whenever you
are bringing a parrot to an area where there's a
(03:55):
lot of other parrots around, you want to make sure
that those parents aren't going to get your birds sick.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
That's a really important point, and not a lot of
people think about that. I mean, most people bring in
their dogs and cats for regular checkups. Dogs are vaccinated,
you know, cats are examined fairly regularly, But most people
do not bring their birds in for examinations, so you know,
they're really not tested for disease. And many birds hide
their diseases because they're prey species and they're not really
have to show the signs of infection or disease, otherwise
(04:21):
they would get kind of picked off in the wild.
So often people don't even know if their birds are sick,
and then they're brought into other areas where their other birds,
and frequently these diseases are contagious. So if you're going
to bring your bird into a facility where it's going
to bord around other birds, you have to worry about
behavioral things, certainly, but you also have to worry about
infection absolutely. So certainly one of the first things you
want to ask, beside the obvious one, which is what
(04:42):
kind of experience do you have with birds? Again, whether
you're dealing with an individual sit or who are going
to come to your house versus a center like our
veter in our hospital where we regularly board birds. Is
you know obviously what kind of experience you have with birds,
but also who are the other boarders there? Who else
is going to be bording? I mean, are their cats
and dogs right near making lots of scary noise around
your bird? Other other birds you know, within breathing or
(05:04):
sneezing distance of your bird in its cage. You know,
is there chance for contamination and spread of infection?
Speaker 5 (05:09):
Absolutely, that barking dog next to a parrot who's never
seen a dog before. It would be very stressful experience
for it.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Absolutely, And that's one of the nice things about if
you're going to find a facility that does bird boarding,
that it be specific for birds, or at least that
they take the birds and they put them in one
area away from any other species boarding so that they
don't get stressed. You know, putting prey animals with predators
like dogs and cats can be very very stressful, even
if they just see them, it's very stressful, So that
(05:36):
would be a very important thing. Many places will board birds,
for example, pet stores will board birds without ever having
a veterinarian examine those birds. So those birds could be
carrying anything anything that your bird potentially could get and
take home and sometimes unfortunately, to get significant infections and
die of. So you really do want to choose a
facility where there is a veterinary exam and some health
(05:58):
requirements in advance of boarding, and it can't be like
two years before boarding. Ideally it should be within a
few months of boarding, So that's a really top question
to be asking. Absolutely, sort of along those same lines,
I think it would be important to ask, you know,
what happens if your bird gets sick, who's going to
look at it? I mean, don't we have that happen
here occasionally? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (06:17):
We actually do. Yeah, And that's why it's important to
have someone experienced, because they know what a bird's dropping
you're supposed to look like, They know, you know, how
much you're supposed to eat a day, and they'll be
able to catch that and bring that to you know,
we lark at a vet clinic, so they'll bring that
to our attention. And what's nice about bording at the
vet clinic is they'll get a medical attention right away.
But if you're boarding somewhere such as a pet store
(06:37):
or even in your own home, you do need to
make a plan what you're going to do ahead of
time and who needs to be contacted in the event
that your bird does get sick.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Absolutely, so you should have the emergency list on the
fridge if you're keeping your bird at home, and there
are certainly benefits to keeping your bird at home, you know,
being in his own environment with his own food, his
own toys, his own cage. Those are all really important things.
But again and if there's an emergency, you want that
sitter to be responsible and have that VETS number right
on hand to call, and you want to actually talk
(07:06):
about the situation and give that person's means by which
to pay for care, maybe leaving a credit card. You
may have to sign some authorizing that person or either
in hospital to care for your bird, often up to
a certain financial amount in case there's a problem or
they can't reach you if say you're out of the country.
So those are things that should be discussed in advance
of the boarding or of the pet sitting.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
Absolutely, and to know if pet sitting or boarding is
right for you, you can think about some things as
well as how handleable your bird is. Now, if your
bird is not used to people touching it, or it
doesn't enjoy a lot of activity, then maybe it's nice
to find a nice pet sitter for you. However, if
your bird is very social and enjoys company, you might
(07:47):
want to consider a boarding facility that's comfortable handling birds.
So you can ask how many times would my bird
be taken out of the cage You know, what would
you you know, how are you going to feed my bird?
What's actually going to go on? So that way you
both can feel comfortable while you're away and you can enjoy.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Yourself absolutely, and obviously making the bird feel as most
as home as possible is really ideal. Like when we
board the animals here in the Vettery Center, we encourage
people to bring their own food from home, their own toys.
There are some people who actually really like to set
the bird's cages up with the toys in a specific
way to mimic the way it's set up at home
so the bird is comfortable. And for some of the
(08:23):
smaller birds that live in smaller cages, we actually will
allow people to bring their own so the bird is
really at home. Can't always do that for the big birds,
but we do what we can to make them feel
comfortable and that does really help, I think absolutely. And
you do want to make sure, as doctor Thilan mentioned,
that the bird is taken out of the cage, that
individual attention is given to him during the time that
he's boarding. Otherwise, birds, you know, they'll survive, but they
(08:46):
may not have a great time. And what we like
to say is, you know, when you're on vacation, your
bird should be on vacation too, so it should be
a pleasant experience for your bird, and that way the
bird isn't afraid the next time you have to go
out of town. Right. One nice thing also that we
do here, which is great for any sitter or boarding
facility to do, is to actually take a picture and
send you a text message when you're away, so you
(09:07):
can actually see that your bird is thriving, doing well,
very happy, and then you can really enjoy your trip
too because you're not worried so much. It really makes
people very happy.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
And when we do that, I know, when I go
out of town, if the pet sitter doesn't text me
a panic a little while, so I definitely really appreciate
that interaction absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
I mean, we all like to see pictures of our
pets and will feel much better if we see that
they're being cared for properly. And care has to extend
to the weekends too, that's something you know. Many facilities
are not open every day. Ideally pet sitters are coming
at least once a day, but you might want to
ask what happens on a Sunday, Who's checking in on
your bird. You know how many times a day is
that cage being cleaned. You don't want to leave around
(09:46):
moist food like fruits and vegetables, particularly in hot weather,
where they can get rancid and actually can be a
problem for the bird if he or she ingests them.
So you want to make sure that that cage is
being cleaned the same way you would be cleaning it
if you were home. Something you might not think about
is what happens during a power outage. You know, if
it's really hot and you have air conditioning in your house,
or if it's really really cold outside and you have heat,
(10:08):
what happens if the power goes out. That's something you
might not think about, but you might want to be
asking your sitter or your boarding facility in advance, like
what would happen if that where the caves have a
plan absolutely.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
So I think you know, all in all, it's just
it's individual for each bird and each owner. But just
making sure that you find the right environment for your
bird so that they don't ugo undue stress and make
them feel as comfortable as possible with people that are
knowledgeable working with your bird and this species is very
very important and it is a big take home today.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
So we have a couple more points we want to
bring up, but we're going to take a few minute
break now and then we'd be back to just finalize
our discussion about what to look for in a pet
sitter for your bird or a boarding facility when you
go away for your birth. We'd be right back.
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(11:27):
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Speaker 8 (12:02):
Begging to hear more of your favorite show. Full episodes
of on our shows are available on demand. Go to
petlife Radio dot com to vedo our entire lineup of
possom pet podcasts. Also dig us up in iHeartRadio, talk
and iTunes. Let's Talk Past live and on demand only
from pet Life Radio.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Let's Talk Past, Let's Done pet on a pet Life.
Speaker 7 (12:27):
Radio netline radio at live radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Hi again, We're back at birds Eye View here on
doctor Lori hes here with doctor Lauren Thielen, and we're
talking today about selecting a pet sitter or a boarding
facilitium for your bird when you go away. And one
thing that might be really obvious that we haven't touched on,
which probably should be the first thing you think of,
is is this facility or is this pet sitter licensed?
(13:03):
Is it just someone who says that they know what
they're doing, or do they actually have insurance? You know
what happens if there's a big flood and your bird's
cage gets damaged, or god forbid, your bird gets injured
and it's the fault of the sitter. You know, you
do want to find somebody reputable who has experience and
who has taken the time to take out insurance and
has some kind of professional license to be caring for
(13:24):
this bird.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
And also in that note, make sure you keep the
carrier of your bird next to your bird's cash. In
the event that the bird does need to go to
the veterinarian or out of the home for whatever reason,
the sitter can feasibly do that.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, and absolutely we talked a little bit before about
you know, having a plan if the bird gets sick
and contacting your veterinarian. I think in advance of your leaving,
you should call your vet and let that vet know
that your sitter is going to be caring for a
bird between this time and that time, and that you
get you actually have to provide with us at least,
And I would think legally for most places, a written letter,
whether it's an email or actually handwritten letter or something
(14:00):
that's in writing, giving permission to XYZ person to care
for your bird and to make decisions regarding the care
of your bird in case of an emergency, it's really important.
And again, providing that person a credit card or a means,
authorizing a means for which they can pay for the
care if it's necessary in an emergency and they can't
reach you, is very very important. So those are a
(14:21):
lot of great tips. You know, traveling is very common
with birds. You should not be afraid if you're going
out of town to leave your bird at home. Birds
are homebodies and probably most of the time they'd love
to just stay in their homes when you're away. Many birds, though,
actually love coming to our facility because they meet other birds.
They don't touch them, but they might talk to them
(14:41):
from across the way. I know we've been here late
at night sometimes and we have a couple of African
gray parrots who are very chatty. One likes to make
a ringing noise with the phone sounds just like a telephone,
and his buddy across the way answers hello, and it's
actually kind of funny because they play off of each other, so.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
They definitely enjoy the company. And again, it just gets
to know knowing your bird and what your bird would
best suit. But I know a lot of Amazons and
even you know, even the so called high stress African grays,
they do enjoy the company and the surroundings. They even
enjoy the staff walking around and interacting with them, offering
them little bites of food every now and then. I
(15:19):
know here at the Vetinary Center, we actually each bird
gets their own private DVD player. They watch movies or
cartoons or whatever they particularly like. And I know it
sounds funny, but they actually do particularly like certain things.
You find that out, so and that's also important to
make sure you do find a facility that's going to
accommodate all those special little needs that your bird may need,
(15:40):
because it is very stressful. Remember, birds are highly social animals,
and you are their flock and you were it, and
so when you go away, it's a really big deal
to them. And that's why sometimes birds get sick, just
because they're stressed and they miss you so much. So
making sure that you're very comfortable with where your parent's
going to be is gonna is really going to be
(16:00):
worth it to do the research.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Absolutely having those DVDs or movies playing, whether it's in
a center like ours or at home, having that TV
on and making sure someone can turn that TV off
and even turn the lights off so that the bird
can go to sleep. You know, we take that for granted,
but would you want to sleep with the TV and
lights on twenty four to seven. No, of course not.
It will interrupt the normal pattern of the birds. So
you do ideally have to have someone if they're coming
(16:24):
to your house, to come twice a day. Certainly at
the Ventery Center, we're doing things all day long with
the animals, and even on the weekends, we make sure
that someone is here to feed, change cages and provide
entertainment for the birds. So you know, boarding a bird
can be a little more complicated than boarding a dog
or a cat. There's lots of questions that need to
be asked, but when done properly, you can enjoy your vacation.
(16:45):
Your bird can enjoy his or her vacation too, and
everybody can benefit and no one has to worry, and
there's a plan for everything. So I hope that you
enjoyed our little talk today, that you learned some important
things to be focusing on when looking for a boarding
facility or pet sitter for your bird. Thank you doctor
Theelen for coming in today and helping us out. It
was great and we're going to come back at some
(17:06):
point soon and tell you things to think about when
you are traveling with your bird, if you're actually taking
your bird with you, and what you might want to
be prepared for. So thank you very much. This is
Bird's I View Doctor Lorihus and doctor laurencelot Us.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on Petlife
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