This place is definitely for the birds
By Shari Kaplan
Every day, Fern Van Sant and Hilary Stern deal with many flighty individuals--including some who get their feathers ruffled at the slightest thing. It's no surprise then, that the women often think to themselves: "This place is for the birds!"
And they'd be right, since that's also the name of the place at which the two veterinarians work. For the Birds, which shares a building with the Los Gatos Dog & Cat Hospital, 17480 Shelburne Way, fills two uncommon niches.
Not only is it a full-service hospital for all companion birds--parrots, parakeets, cockatoos, cockatiels, conures, macaws, lovebirds, canaries and finches, along with domestic poultry, such as chickens, ducks and geese; it's also a lifesaver for local rehabilitators, trying to save the lives of wild birds that are seriously ill or injured.
Both graduates of the UC-Davis veterinary school, Drs. Van Sant and Stern are both avian aficionados who say their love of birds led them to where they are today. "I've had birds since I was in college and I think they're just amazing, beautiful, intelligent creatures!" says Stern, who, like Van Sant, was disappointed to find a scarcity of good bird-related classes in veterinary school. Stern did get some experience with wild birds, while working on a raptor project at Davis.
To hone their skills of feathered, rather than furry friends, both women worked at various bird clinics as interns and apprentices. Van Sant originally worked for Dr. Kyle Frandle's Los Gatos Dog and Cat Hospital, at its 1980s location near University Avenue and Roberts Road.
"There were so many birds, that we had to separate," says Van Sant, who was grateful when the clinic moved to Shelburne Way, which gave For the Birds a chance to hatch. Although still under the same roof, the two veterinary practices operate independently of each other.
"It [bird care] is a very time--and cost-intensive--service to provide, and a lot of veterinary clinics don't want to deal with that," Van Sant says. "With birds, there's commonly a sudden onset of symptoms. Birds have a fast metabolism and small body size, so they might seem fine for a while--and then its an emergency."
"Both of us are prepared to do all things," adds Stern, referring to the surgeries, x-rays, infectious disease tests, medicine prescriptions, wing-clippings, nail-trimmings and other services they do daily. Both doctors' schedules overlap on Tuesdays and Thursdays; on other days of the week, one or the other works on her own.
For Van Sant, one of the most rewarding aspects of working with companion birds is working with their owners to remedy problems and achieve happy, healthy birds.
"We see many birds who come in after so many years, in situations far from ideal--usually malnutrition from improper diets. People will see their birds just come alive," she says, smiling. "They'll go from dowdy, dumpy and unhealthy to beautiful, active and happy."
It's not always that easy when the patients come from the wild. Picking their memories of past clients, Stern and Van Sant say they've seen almost everything, including hawks, crows, ravens, owls, herons, egrets, loons, seagulls, pelicans, shearwaters, marbled murelets, hummingbirds, doves, mockingbirds, bluejays and "birds where we don't even know what they are!" Van Sant laughs.
The main reason the doctors see wild birds is to do things that rehabilitators cannot, such as giving x-rays, biopsies, deep-wound stitches, or conducting tests to see why a bird which should be recovering, isn't. Sometimes this is due to bacterial infections or environmental toxins. The doctors provide services free of charge for any wild bird brought in by a credible rehabber.
Los Gatan Kappy Sprenger is a volunteer for the nonprofit Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley who has been nursing and rehabilitating wild birds--especially waterfowl--since the 1985. Sprenger first met Van Sant in 1987, when she was caring for Ichabod, a sandhill crane with an avian form of tuberculosis. Even when it meant after-hour house calls with her then-baby son in tow, Van Sant came to see Ichabod. He died after three months, but not for lack of trying. Sprenger says Van Sant and Stern are the same today.
"They work just as hard for us [rehabbers] as they do for their paying clients. There are so many birds alive out there today, because of them," Sprenger says.
"Sometimes its hard for doctors to listen to their patients, but they both have learned to listen to us rehabbers, because we know our birds. They do everything they can to allow us to do everything we can, to help birds get better."
For information about wild bird rehabilitation, call the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley at 408.929.9453.
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