Our birds (we have, presently, eight...) know and like Simon Starkey, the avian specialist at Whitestone Vet Care, for several years. They like him, and so do I. I also like Whitestone Vet Care. Let me tell you why for both.
The Whitestone Vet Care part is easiest and shortest and clearest. This is a small storefront facility, but get past the front door and you quickly find that it is a very full-featured vet clinic, efficiently organized to deliver top care effectively.
Add to this, the staff is clearly on top of things. I was last there in an emergency situation; I had texted in to the doctor that I was coming. Sharon, on the desk that morning, was expecting me. Things happened smoothly -- what I expect in a top facility. Ashley (I think I have that right...), the vet-tech assisting, was right there when she needed to be, and then moved on to her next chore. What I saw, in short, was clockwork precision.
That does not, however, mean clockwork thinking. Clearly each of the people I have encountered at Whitestone Vet Care was concerned with my little birds and that concern continued after the visit, to follow-up calls and so on.
So, a well run operation tucked away in an unpretentious little spot in Flushing. Add to this, they have a top avian specialist.
At the top of the I-like-Starkey, reasons-why list: Dr. Starkey really likes our guys and gals. One can see this in the way he handles them.
Next on the list: Dr. Starkey understands the triage issues at play in little critters. As an example, one of our guys was out of the cage, and decided to play hide-and-seek -- and got stepped on (not full on, but no near-miss either). We're way downtown, and given time of day and so on, Whitestone Vet Care really was the closest, in terms of driving time. Dr. Starkey had a full calendar, but our little guy was inserted with zero waiting time, to make sure than anything critical was found fast. In birds and small animals, this is crucial; they just don't have the reserves of larger animals.
Working on down: Dr. Starkey is extraordinarily well qualified, in a field that is small and select. Board-certified avian vets are rare, even in the Greater New York area, and one correctly considers them an elite group; the test is hard, and keeping certification is hard. Dr. Starkey is board-certified. Dr. Starkey also has two terminal degrees: He has his veterinary degree from Sydney in his native Australia; he then took his Ph.D. at Cornell. While taking the second doctorate, Dr. Starkey completed his residency in avian medicine, and also was the resident in charge of day to day operations at Cornell's top-rated wildlife medical center. The result is a remarkable wealth of knowledge.
That knowledge is both intuitive and learn?d. Dr. Starkey the vet, when allowed to function at the intuitive level -- that I've-seen-this-before-and... level -- functions with much the same certainty and flair as people with longer experience (and just plain older). I consider mastery of a fund of experience vital in time-constrained circs.. Simon Starkey, PhD, is a good scientist; I am qualified to judge and I have read his papers. I have also seen some remarkable evidences of the two sides coming together in unique and effective treatment plans.
I have taken our birds to see several avian specialists over the years. I have not yet encountered one that struck me as anything but top-notch. However, my experience has also been that many cannot function at the top of their form because of ""vet shop"" constraints. Whitestone Vet Care seems to understand this, and appears dedicated to being an effective support system for its professional staff.
This is a winning combination.
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