Stressful vet visit

[LilacCrownMom]

Today I took my five year old lilac crowned amazon to the vet for a check up. The vet gave him a thorough exam and said he's in good health.

However, I could sense the exam in itself had proven to be extremely stressful for my poor baby. Being restrained in a towel while being proded and poked at (as well as having his nails trimmed) for a long period of time made him scream and screech. Worse than that, after it was over, he was panting so bad (beak open, tongue out of his beak and very rapid heartbeat). It scared me to death to see him this way. The vet and the assistant assured me all was fine, he'd be perfectly ok. But then he said something which shocked me. He said that some birds actually 'pass out' from the stress of being examined, and have to be given oxygen.

I'm feeling very uneasy - and worried about my bird. It's been 7 hours since we got home and he's so exhausted - sleeping, and hasn't even eaten anything. Is this normal for a bird to become so stressed after a vet visit? Has anyone else experienced this?

He seems so stressed that I'm hesitant to ever take him back again.

Any thoughts?

[shellbeme]

I know, when we visited my old vet, he warned that sometimes greys get so freaked out by the exam that they have tears that look almost bloody-that never happened with chico, and the vet said it was an extream fear response. Some birds handle it better than others. Heck now days, chico tries to give them kisses durring exams, but in the past when we'd get home, he'd sit puffed up on a perch, his droppings would be watery for the first while after we returned home and he just looked completely violated. It sounds normal to me, but keep a close eye on him.

[Greycloud]

He is just over stressed right now. Sleep is the protection against that. He will come around. At leasy he won't have to go back for a while unless he is sick. Knock on wood.

[Franciscus]

It's nice to have a vet that's quick about thiese check-ups. It's a good idea to practice towelling birds at home, doing so on a regular basis so when the time comes for vetting the bird is accustomed to at least that aspect of it.

[Kiwi08]

I recently took Kiwi and Marvin to the vet for their annual exams, and when we got home the slept the rest of the day. They were definitely ruffled afterwards...not panting that I can remember, but they were totally worn out until the next day. Its just stressful for them - something new and something you can't prepare them for.