Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine — Local services in Bothell

If you are like me, you are finding this review after filtering down to "rabbit." If you are also like me, you are seeing all the rabbit horror stories and are freaking out. I'm here to share a more positive story, thankfully.

My rabbit was exhibiting signs of GI stasis Saturday night, and since my regular vet wasn't open, I had to come here. I read the Google/Yelp reviews that had the word "rabbit" in them, that included awful stories about rough handling, exorbitant prices, and even rabbits dying in their care. I was completely terrified, but I didn't have much of a choice.

I called early Sunday morning and they scheduled me right away. The receptionist was nice and helpful, and I met Doctor Hess, the very friendly and attentive veterinarian on staff. My sick bunny was whisked into a back room and I was left in a patient room, and spent most of my 2.5 hours there waiting, visited every 20 minutes by the doctor or nurse who gave me an update. Over that time, I was informed that my rabbit was running a low temperature, had GI stasis, and was dehydrated. He did not seem to have a blocked GI tract but he needed an x-ray to be sure. They had him in the incubator to help his temperature, and while definitely sick, he didn't seem to be in the critical stages of GI stasis. (Phew! Always get your rabbit to a vet early!)

I was provided two options, overnight hospitalization ($1300+) or outpatient care ($300-800). I was brought an estimate sheet for both, and carefully read over each line item and asked the nurse lots of questions, which she was happy to answer.

Even though my experience was good at this point, my mind was still racing with all the bad reviews, so I chose outpatient care and rejected the most invasive treatments, figuring I could take care of him long enough to get my rabbit to my preferred vet on Monday. The nurse was understanding and strongly recommended subcutaneous hydration and a pain-reliever injection. That seemed reasonable so I agreed. She brought my bunny back wrapped in a towel, who was understandably nervous but didn't seem distraught.

Later the doctor gave me instructions for how to treat my rabbit at home: frequent syringe feedings and a prescription of Metacam (anti-inflammatory). He validated my choice of outpatient care because my rabbit was looking pretty good for having GI stasis, but also urged me to come right back if he showed any signs of worsening.

I left feeling much better, and I'm glad I went. My total bill for the emergency visit was $270 for the diagnosis, incubation, subcutaneous hydration, pain relief injection, prescription of Metacam, Critical Care food formula, and a whole lotta feeding syringes. I also received a very long and very informative email from Dr Hess with everything I ever needed to know about treating GI stasis at home. I really appreciated that! Best of all, after only two days of syringe feeding, meds, and careful observation, my rabbit has made a full recovery! I didn't even need to take him to my preferred vet office. Hooray!

I'm giving this vet office 5 stars because even though I was anxious about the bad reviews, the treatment that I agreed to let them do was all really good. The staff was patient and helpful to me even when I questioned them on every little thing. And most importantly, my little rabbit would not have survived without the treatments the vet recommended and provided. (I admit, I wouldn't trust them enough to do surgery or other risky procedures, but it wouldn't be fair to rate them based on other people's bad reviews, and I can't rate them on what I don't know.)

tldr: Daunted by bad reviews, I accepted a small amount of emergency vet care for my rabbit. The staff was great and my rabbit is healthy now. 🍌🐇

UPDATE: That previous review was on August 2019. Now, in August 2021 my same rabbit came down with GI stasis again. This time I had to leave him overnight (8pm-8am) but I'm happy to report that with their overnight care and my outpatient care, he's made a full recovery. It cost $900 this time & they were transparent...

After my experiences detailed below, I’ve been told by two board-certified avian vets that they do NOT recommend taking your birds here. They’ve killed two of my birds & there is a good chance they will do the same to yours. I have over 20 years’ experience with birds large & small. They do NOT have an avian vet in their emergency services, & they will tell you they are capable. They aren’t. This is very deceptive. I know it is long, but each story gets worse.

My 1st experience years ago was when we needed to take our green cheek showing signs of illness. To this day we are not sure she was ill, but it was a weird circumstance & we do not mess around when it comes to the first signs of illness. When she was discharged, the vet brought her to us outdoors, in the cold/ wind/ rain in an uncovered carrier. The vet (I assume) carried on an extended conversation that should have been over the phone. My wife picked up on me being too courteous, got out of the car, took the carrier from me while glaring at the vet, rightfully so, to take our bird to the running, warm vehicle waiting for her. That made the vet want some retribution & wrote some nasty comments in the chart about how WE were rough with her. You don’t keep a sick bird in the cold/wind/rain.

My 2nd experience was bringing our budgie Yella ~ 2 years ago. The first visit seemed to go fine. She was placed on medication, & we followed it diligently. Over 2 weeks, she vastly improved. They encouraged a follow-up visit & I thought since they had already seen her, we stuck with them. When driving to the follow-up visit, she was chirping & happy. The vet said she looked much better & had even gained a significant amount of weight. When she was discharged, her feathers looked abnormally disheveled. Her long tail feather was broken, & she looked terrible like she had been handled brutally. I never heard her chirp again & she died less than 48 hours later.

My 3rd experience was recent. I took in another budgie, Blue. He had been a little puffed up, & had loose stool. I called every avian vet in the area & they were all on vacation with no way for me to take her to a proper vet within 3 days. My thought here was to get him fluids & do a stool culture to get a jump start on diagnostics, saving precious time. No other tests. When I took him from his cage at home he was still flying well, & when admitted, he was standing on his perch in his carrier just fine & looked OK. The first thing a vet tech came out to say to me was that they were currently not doing anything with Blue. Stunned, I asked why & he said “he needs time to calm down”. RED FLAG. I waited for about 4-5 hours & got a call from the vet. She told me Blue’s condition meant the prognosis was bad & recommended euthanizing him. I was perplexed. I went in, asked some questions of the vet, where euthanasia was pushed again, & then asked to see him.

They wheeled in my sweet little man in an incubator! He looked so awful I was totally shocked. He was as puffed as he could be & COULD NOT STAND UP. In 4-5 hours my boy went from standing on his perch OK to looking like he was going to die any minute. He just kept falling over & wanted to be close to my voice. I had to choose euthanasia & I held him in my hands as he passed in total shock. I also got to listen to people laughing & telling jokes on the other side of the door as this happened.

After the shock subsided a bit, I called the vet. She said he looked that way when she first saw him & said she’d ask the vet tech what happened. Of course, she never called back.

Do your bird a favor & keep it away from this place. You are better off waiting for an appointment from a REAL avian vet no matter what.

I’m not much of a believer these days, but if I’m wrong, I hope these people rot in hell. I also hope that He makes sure that their path there is as awful as what they did to my birds. There are monsters that go bump in the night, & they are employed at Center for “Bird” & Exotic Medicine. I paid them to torture & kill my birds. Don’t do it,...

I am so sad to write this review. My 17-year-old cockatiel, Mr. Buttons, recently started limping, so I took him the the Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine (CBEAM) as a first-time patient. They asked me to leave him there for evaluation and said the vet would call me. When the vet called, she told me that Mr. Buttons had a hair wrapped around his toe that was cutting off his circulation and that she was recommending anesthesia to remove the hair, and if needed, to amputate the toe. I asked her if she was sure this was her reccommendation for him, and she said yes. She informed me that CBEAM had had several other priority appointments come in, so they wouldn't be able to operate for a while, but that would still operate on him that evening.

It grew pretty late, and I called twice without reaching a person. So, at 11:30 PM, on September 3rd, 2023, I went to CBEAM in person and sat in the lobby, expecting to bring him home by midnight. The office staff person was not happy that I was there and informed me that he was tired and was going home and I would have to wait outside in my car to hear from the vet. After an hour in my car, I received a text message from the vet saying that she was told I was in the lobby but she could not find me. I called her, and she confirmed that they hadn't operated yet on Mr. Buttons and that anesthesia was still her recommended course. She encouraged me to go home and told me CBEAM would call me when the procedure was finished.

A different vet called me around 2:55 am the next day, September 4th, 2023 to tell me that Mr. Button's little heart had stopped under anesthesia and that they were unable to revive him via intubation and CPR. She said that this was not what was expected for such a "young bird". I replied, "What do you mean, a "young bird"? Mr. Buttons is 17-years-old! She informed me that someone on their staff had saved his age as 4 years old in their system.

Prior to his death on the operating table, no one at CBEAM asked me the age of my parrot as part of new patient intake (a practice that is part of med and vet school 101). The vet said that no health history had been taken on Mr. Buttons prior to the operation, and had one been taken (which would have included asking his age), she would have recommended sedation and local anesthetic for him instead of anesthesia.

If CBEAM had done their job, my parrot and family member of 17 years would still be alive. It was wrong of me to trust CBEAM's expertise. Maybe this was another day, another mistake at the office for CBEAM. For Mr. Buttons and I, the world stopped and our hearts broke.

CBEAM insisted on charging me over $1,000 for this procedure, and they kept his expensive carrier. I am waiting now on the return of Mr. Button's ashes and the carrier. I also requested a refund on the procedure cost (it is the least they could do), but I am still waiting to hear back from CBEAM on this.

Knowing what I now know, I would not take my pet to this facility, even if their life depended on it, and I cannot in good conscience recommend CBEAM's services or expertise. I will update my review with how CBEAM handles this situation.

Update: I called CBEAM on September 6th to see when I could pick up Mr. Button's ashes and carrier, and the front desk staff told me that Buttons had done well in his procedure and was ready to go home. She confused him with another patient.

Update: September 13th, 2023: Two hospital managers called me and showed concern and empathy for my case. They apologized on behalf of CBEAM for the multiple lapses in communications and record keeping on the clinic's part, said they would hold multiple staff accountable to prevent this from happening again, and refunded my money. I picked up Mr. Button's ashes today. I wish I could...