Description
Top ten tips for nursing the bird patient by Sean McCormack. Birds are unique in their anatomy and physiology from our mammalian patients, and are an extremely diverse group of animals in terms of their behaviour, biology, diet and temperament. For these reasons, they can make remarkably resilient and remarkably fragile patients in the veterinary clinical environment. In this webinar, we will try to equip nurses with the top 10 tips for nursing birds successfully offering practical tips and relating their treatment back to their unique biology. Case based examples will be used to illustrate how best to approach the bird patient ranging from songbirds, poultry, parrots, birds of prey and the more unusual avian patients that may present in clinic. Wildlife rehabilitation will also be discussed throughout. Reducing stress in clinic is an important consideration so we will discuss hospitalisation, handling, feeding, surgical considerations as well as analgesia and anaesthesia with attention to minimising stress throughout. After this webinar nurses should feel more confident recognising bird species, advising on captive care, discussing the importance of diet as well as hospitalising and nursing birds successfully. Sean qualified as a vet in 2010 from University College Dublin after studying an undergraduate Bachelor's degree in Animal Science. He started his veterinary career working in a domestic, exotics and zoo practice in Kent where he worked with a wide range of unusual species including birds, primates and big carnivores. After working in a domestic and exotic pet practice in West London, he joined the team at Richmond Vets where he set up a dedicated exotic pets service with a heavy reptile caseload. Having studied Animal Science in Essex before his Veterinary degree, he has a broad base of knowledge in zoology, anatomy and physiology of a wide range of animal species. During Vet School he completed Zoo Medicine elective modules, with placement at Dublin Zoo and over the years has kept and bred a huge variety of reptiles, amphibians and other exotic pets. He is a former member of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) and the British Veterinary Zoological Society (BVZS). He currently works in the pet nutrition industry, writes on exotic animal medicine and does regular educational work for vets and vet nurses.