Avian & Exotics
Beecroft’s Avian & Exotics established in 2019 as the first specialty service that delivers advanced medical and surgical care for exotic pets in Singapore. Our dedicated team of consists of Exotics Companion Mammal Specialist and avian veterinarian, Dr Rina Maguire, Exotics Companion Mammal Resident Dr Athena Lim and, Exotics veterinarian Dr Andrew Vermeulen. The department is also supported by a whole team of exotics nurses that are experienced and trained in all facets of avian and exotic pet medicine.
Your exotic pets have unique needs that differ from traditional pets, and no one understands this better than we do. We value the importance of appropriate, honest treatment for all our patients, and education is an important part of what we do. The better you understand your pet, the better you can care for them. We cater to the needs of all exotic companion animals, great and small, and our mission is to deliver exceptional veterinary care with a combination of professionalism and empathy for a variety of pets, including birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, small rodents, and reptiles.
Our department is located within Beecroft Specialist & Emergency Hospital, located at 991E Alexandra Road, #01-27, Singapore 119973. The emergency and critical care department of the hospital helps provide 24-hour coverage for any walk-in emergencies as well as caring for animals receiving critical care hospitalisation overnight.
Our services to you and your exotic animal friends include:
Wellness exams including post purchase exams
Life stage care (including neonatal counselling and senior care)
Comprehensive diagnostics such as bloodwork, x-rays, ultrasound, Ct scan, MRI
Advanced dental care for rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas
Spay and neutering
Soft tissue surgery such as tumour removals, liver surgeries, intestinal surgeries, enucleation, abscess removals
Orthopaedic surgery such as fracture repair, hip luxation, amputations
Nutritional counselling
Medical grooming
24-hour emergency and critical care hospitalisation
Neonatal Counselling
Newborn animals need a lot of tender loving care. If you plan on raising newborns of any exotic species, come talk to us first. We can help you with the husbandry of the newborns and diet for babies and the mother. We will also explain what to expect as the newborns grow, and much more.
Geriatric Health Care
Older pets can develop age-related conditions and are also more vulnerable to disease and degenerative changes such as osteoarthritis. We understand the unique needs of aging exotic pets and highly recommend seeing them at least biannually for wellness exams and diagnostics. Catching illness as soon as possible is crucial for the health of your senior pet.
Diagnostics and Imaging
Diagnostic screening helps us better understand your pet’s overall health so we can prescribe the most effective treatment for them. We can utilise tools such as digital X-ray, endoscopy, ultrasound, CT, and MRI scans to create a detailed picture of organs, the skeletal structure, abdominal cavity, and more. These tools, when used appropriately, can provide invaluable information that aids tremendously in developing the proper diagnosis and effective treatment plan for your pet.
Comprehensive Laboratory Testing
Our in-house lab gives us a convenient and rapid way to assess your pet’s health right on the spot, which is crucial for coming up with the most effective treatment plan for all exotic pets visiting our clinic. We can perform a range of tests for both preventive screening and diagnosis of diseases.
Pre-export Health Check and Testing
It is not uncommon for pets to have to relocate out of Singapore. The requirements of exportation out of Singapore will depend mostly on the country receiving the animal. A health certificate will be required for travel. A quarantine period is mandatory and for birds viral testing and salmonella swabs will have to be done by a veterinary professional. Please check in with your vet on more specific requirements.
Commonly performed tests:
Bloodwork – Blood chemistries (to evaluate organ function), Complete Blood Count (CBC) and anaemia testing.
Viral screening (specific for each species) – including Psittacosis, Avian Bornavirus (PDD virus), and Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease testing.
Avian sexing.
Faecal testing to look for parasites, yeast & bacterial overgrowths, occult blood.
Cytology, including microscopic samples of masses, avian crop sampling, and other microscopic samples.
Routine blood work is often done at your pet’s annual wellness exam. By establishing a normal baseline when exotic pets are healthy helps us to evaluate any changes more accurately in condition when they are ill.
Exotic Pet and Post-Purchase Wellness Starts with You
A wellness exam is essential on a regular basis to ensure your exotic pet, whether reptile, avian, mammal, or amphibian, maintains good health. This is especially important if you have bought a new type of animal, you have never cared for previously. The information you may read about the care of the animal online and even in pet forums may not necessarily be accurate and cause detrimental mistakes to the care of the animal. Many exotic companion animals like hamsters, rabbits, chinchillas, gerbils, guinea pigs, and birds, are experts at hiding their illnesses because they must be constantly wary of predators to survive in the wild.
With our expertise and diagnostic capabilities, regular annual wellness checks can uncover underlying disease processes early. Our Avian & Exotics team are experienced in picking up subtle hints of illness and confirm them with diagnostic tests (where necessary) before a serious problem develops.
The screening starts with questions on your pet’s husbandry, socialisation, and nutrition before moving on to a physical examination. From there, we may recommend diagnostic testing if there are concerns for abnormalities. It is important to get a new pet checked out before allowing them to socialise with other pets at home and adhere to a quarantine period (at least 4 weeks for birds).
Wellness screening tests may include:
Routine blood work
Microbial (bacterial, yeast, fungal) testing
Faecal testing
Fish Health Care
It is common for fish to get external infections of the scales, gills, fins. Signs of infections would include white spots, frayed fins, redness of the scales and change in the swimming pattern and appetite. If your fish is exhibiting abnormal swimming, such as floating, sinking, or swimming sideways, it is usually a sign that severe infection has set in, and it may be too late to reverse the condition. To treat fish illnesses, it is best to consult a veterinarian early instead of relying on over-the-counter medications, which can sometimes do more harm than good. Maintaining good water quality very crucial to safeguard your fish.
When to call the vet for your fish:
Trouble breathing or gasping at the water surface
White spots on fins or body
Reduced appetite
Skin lesions and/or sores
Crooked back
Clamped fins
Bulging eye/s
Mucus on body
Long stringy or white stools
Flashing (scraping against objects)
For aquatic exams, we would initially recommend a zoom consultation with the Doctor to view the fish and tank set up. Depending on the diagnosis, we will dispense or prescribe treatments and medications for simple issues. If the situation requires a follow up; a house call or in clinic visit can be arranged based on a case-by-case basis. To minimise travel stress, house calls maybe better for your fish. If you have questions about fish health, please email helpmyfish@birdvet.com.sg
Gill fluke in koi fish
