It is possible, literally, to stress the patient to death during restraint, physical examinations, and blood collection. The stress associated with any procedure must always be evaluated against the potential benefit to the patient. They must always be treated gently and with care during any procedure. Therapeutic decisions are developed after the veterinarian assesses the patient's mental and emotional condition, physical disorders, nutritional status, and environment. Birds are often not well understood by their caretakers.
Caretakers often are unable to differentiate abnormal behaviors from normal behaviors.
They often carry illnesses for extended periods before the disease reaches a critical point, so patients have been ill for months to years before the veterinarian sees them. All treatment decisions must include the assumption that most avian patients are quite ill by the time they are brought to the veterinarian. Nutrition Research into the correct diet to feed the various avian species has not been conducted. Research that is available relates primarily to poultry, and guidelines provided in the literature are extrapolated from general nutritional information. Until more information becomes available, we must follow the theory that feeding a large variety of different food items is sensible, while refraining from feeding food that we know is bad for birds.