The Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine

02/16/2025

🦷✨ February is Pet Dental Health Month! ✨🦷

This month, we’re highlighting the importance of dental health in exotic companion mammals! From guinea pigs and rabbits to ferrets and hedgehogs, proper dental care is essential for their overall wellbeing.

Did you know? Many exotic mammals have continuously growing teeth, making them prone to overgrowth, malocclusion, and painful dental disease. Signs of dental issues can be subtle but may include:
🔹 Difficulty eating or dropping food
🔹 Weight loss
🔹 Excessive drooling
🔹 Swelling around the jaw or face

Throughout February, we’ll be sharing educational posts for veterinary professionals, technicians, and pet owners all about preventing and managing dental disease in exotic mammals. Stay tuned! 🐰🐹🦔🐾

🔍 Have a specific topic or case you’d like us to cover? Let us know in the comments!

02/08/2025

During the last week of January, several of our doctors and technicians attended the Veterinary Meeting and Expo in sunny Florida. This educational meeting helped our team stay up to date on the latest and greatest that veterinary medicine has to offer.

01/26/2025

01/15/2025

Our own Dr. Porter-Blackwell contributed to this article!

https://be.chewy.com/how-long-does-a-bunny-live/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0BMQABHWz-suNVMz9Uf2e2EQY7jXemOj6g-Z1FyqCwCntWI7RBd-ZqNDeh4CWb7A_aem_3jzxMmaqV6X-aafFFJwzAQ

How long does a bunny live? Get the answer and tips to lengthen their lifespan.

01/13/2025

Can you guess:
1) what species this is, and
2) the method that was used to improve positioning for this radiograph taken without sedation?

To maximize their diagnostic value, radiographs must be taken with the animal positioned correctly, and animals must be still during the imaging process. For many exotic patients, sedation or anesthesia is needed to obtain good quality radiographs. However, for some disease processes, conscious/slightly crooked X-rays can still provide beneficial diagnostic information. Many zoos and aquariums train their animals to stay still for certain types of radiographs so that they don’t have to anesthetize them every time they need to take them. Even if animals are untrained, we can sometimes utilize creative methods to obtain diagnostic information.

01/13/2025

UPDATE:
As several of you correctly guessed, this is a sugar glider! She was placed in a small radiolucent plastic box with holes drilled into the sides. Our team then offered her yogurt drops through the holes of the box using metal forceps, and she was happy to sit still and upright to receive these favorite treats. 🙂 We used our horizontal beam setting on our digital radiography unit to capture this image.
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Can you guess:
1) what species this is, and
2) the method that was used to improve positioning for this radiograph taken without sedation?

To maximize their diagnostic value, radiographs must be taken with the animal positioned correctly, and animals must be still during the imaging process. For many exotic patients, sedation or anesthesia is needed to obtain good quality radiographs. However, for some disease processes, conscious/slightly crooked X-rays can still provide beneficial diagnostic information. Many zoos and aquariums train their animals to stay still for certain types of radiographs so that they don’t have to anesthetize them every time they need to take them. Even if animals are untrained, we can sometimes utilize creative methods to obtain diagnostic information.

01/11/2025

12/28/2024

UPDATE: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been found in raw pet food and is responsible for the death of at least one domestic cat.
https://apps.oregon.gov/oregon-newsroom/OR/ODA/Posts/Post/morasch-meats-voluntary-recall-feline-raw-pet-food-hpai

12/25/2024

12/22/2024

Our hearts go out to those dealing with losses from HPAI.

12/22/2024

12/11/2024

https://www.facebook.com/100069315215359/posts/887575083562991/?

12/09/2024

The IAABC offers a Parrot Communication Poster designed by renowned artist Lili Chin to help you better understand your feathered friend's body language and vocalizations! This resource is perfect for parrot owners, trainers, and enthusiasts aiming to strengthen their bond with their birds 🦜💖

Download the poster here: https://iaabc.org/parrot-posters

12/05/2024

We are delighted to share the breaking news that Dr. Porter-Blackwell is officially an ABVP Exotic Companion Mammal specialist! 🎉🥳👏🎊🙌🍾
We are so proud of her accomplishment and grateful to have her on our veterinary team. She is an amazing clinician!
❤️❤️❤️🐇🐇🐇🐹🐹🐹🐁🐁🐁🐭🐭🐭🐰🐰🐰🐀🐀🐀🦔🦔🦔