Cape Cod Veterinary Specialists
Zoological & Exotics Medicine
Veterinary Services
Zoological & Exotics Medicine
Our zoological and exotic pet medicine department provides advanced specialty care as well as routine wellness care for the most common (and some less common!) non-traditional pets. Whether you have a referring vet sending you to us for a complicated problem, or you have never been to the vet with your exotic pet and want to have a health consultation, our team is dedicated to providing you an exceptional experience.
Starting January 2, 2025, we will be expanding our emergency services at both locations to include small mammals. Our experienced emergency staff is prepared to evaluate and treat small mammals in the event of an emergency. At this time, reptiles and avians will only be seen by our Zoo/Exotics Team on regular scheduled days by appointment, and are not included in emergency services. Dr. Kyra Berg, DVM, DACZM and another ACZM specialist will be available on-call for our emergency department for specialty advice as needed 24/7.
The Zoo/Exotics team at CCVS provides services including:
- Wellness exam
- Referral care exams
- Post-purchase exams
- International and domestic health certificates
- Behavior consultations
- Nutrition and husbandry consultations
- Medical grooming (nails, beaks, wings)
- Advanced imaging (ultrasound, radiology, computed tomography:CT, endoscopy)
- Surgical services (routine and complicated spay/neuters, orthopedic repairs, chelonian shell repair, soft tissue surgery, mammalian laparotomy, avian and reptilian coelomic procedures)
- Routine dental procedures (reptiles, ferrets, hedgehogs)
- Advanced dental procedures (Rabbit and rodent)
- Vaccinations for ferrets and other exotic small mammals
- 24/7 emergency services for small mammals
The following is a list of some conditions we provide care for in exotic and non-traditional pets:
- Gastrointestinal diseases such as ferret foreign body ingestion, rabbit and rodent gastrointestinal syndrome, Macrorhabdus ornithogaster (avian gastric yeast) in small parrots and others.
- Upper and lower respiratory tract disease such as avian airsacculitis, pneumonia, tracheal obstruction, and others.
- Cancer, with surgical treatment options for reproductive, soft tissue, bone cancer, or the latest chemotherapeutic options.
- Liver diseases such as hepatic lipidosis of birds and reptiles, liver torsions in rabbits, and others.
- Renal and urogenital conditions such as chronic or acute kidney failure, dystocia (egg binding) in birds and reptiles, and others.
- Parasitic diseases such as ringworm in chinchillas, fleas and ticks, trichomoniasis in chickens, and gastrointestinal parasites, and others.
- Dermatologic conditions such as fungal infections, wound care, feather destructive behavior, shell disease, and others.
- Endocrinopathies such as adrenal disease in ferrets, pituitary tumors in rats, hypothyroidism in birds and guinea pigs, and others
- Infectious diseases such as bornavirus in birds, epizootic catarrhal enteritis in ferrets, snake nidovirus, chlamydiosis in birds, sepsis of all species, and others.
- Hematologic conditions such as anemia, lymphoma, and others.
Species we treat: All avian species, all non-venomous reptiles, ferrets, amphibians, fish and pond health, rabbits, rodents, fennec or domestic foxes*, pet skunks*, pet opossums*, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, primates (please call first), invertebrates, and bees (apiary health).
*permit required
Species we don’t currently treat (but may in the future): large non-domestic felids (cats), large farm animals (horses, cows, pigs, sheep, alpaca, llama), venomous animals, pot bellied pigs, and goats.
Zoo/Exotics Medicine will be taking appointments primarily at our Dennis location, and one day a week at our Buzzards Bay location.
For all pets, we highly recommend having pet insurance. For more information on pet insurance and how it works, click here. At the moment, the only insurance that covers exotic pets is Nationwide. Feel free to visit their page to learn more or get a quote.