Mittu was weak, nauseous and struggling to breathe when she was brought to Dr Rani Maria Thomas’s hospital in the coastal village of Thumpoly in Kerala’s Alappuzha district. Mittu’s panic-stricken caregivers had little hope as Rani and her team rushed her to the ICU for oxygen therapy. After Mittu calmed down, they took an X-ray, and found out that she had ingested a piece of lead. To avoid reaction between lead and gastric juices, they crop-fed her medicine via a tube. Mittu recovered gradually and was discharged within a week, after the lead was out of her system.
This was not a regular hospital case―Mittu is a grey parrot and Rani, 32, is an avian veterinarian. Her 2,000sqft veterinary hospital, Sara’s Birds and Exotic Animal Hospital, has facilities that rival many hospitals for humans. The hospital, located on NH66, is an oasis of rare plants and trees caressed by sea breeze. The air is filled with high-pitched shrieks of sun conures and rainbow lorikeets, chirps of finches, the coos of diamond doves and nun pigeons, the witty retorts of human-imitating macaws and cockatoos, the barks of golden retrievers and Labradors, the yawns of sulcata tortoises and the hermit-like silence of iguanas.
Rani’s parents live next to the hospital. It was there that she grew up along with her elder sister and ‘siblings’ from different species―just like Mowgli in The Jungle Book. The family runs Sara’s Exotic Pet Farm, a collection of 70 species of exotic birds and pets that is named, like the hospital, after Rani’s grandmother. Among the pets, Rani’s favourite is Ginger, a golden retriever who she says is her “brother”.
Besides the pet incubator ICU unit, diagnostic lab and pharmacy, the hospital has equipment to carry out endoscopy, X-ray, radiographs, microscopy, ultrasound scan, blood transfusion and inhalant anaesthesia. “For example, the serum machine can measure liver and kidney values. And the progesterone machine helps check calcium, thyroid and vitamin D levels in sulcata tortoise, monkeys and iguanas, while the CBC (complete blood count) machine can take RBC, WBC, haemoglobin and platelet counts,” she says.
The hospital also has a grooming centre and a pet spa for dogs and cats. Another attraction is a pet shop selling imported toys and accessories. The hospital also offers a boarding facility for pets whose owners are travelling. When Mittu was under treatment, her owner was in constant touch with her via video calls.
It was during her externship at the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital in 2016 that Rani was introduced to the state-of-the-art equipment and expert care provided to the raptors treated there. This inspired her to replicate them in her hospital. “The sheikhs would bring hundreds of falcons for checkup before they went out hunting. These birds of prey would undergo all sorts of tests to ensure they are healthy. I couldn’t lower my standards after the externship. If you ask me to use injectable anaesthesia on birds, I am not comfortable with it. Instead I use inhalant anaesthesia, which is the best way to sedate birds and it helps with speedy recovery,” says Rani.
The hospital was established in August 2021. It also conducts major and minor surgeries, avian DNA sexing, skin disease treatment, vaccination and anti-snake venom treatment.
Despite securing a rank of 2012 for MBBS admission, Rani traded the coveted seat for a bachelor’s in veterinary medicine at Kerala Veterinary and Animal Science University, Wayanad, in 2010. “I am glad I didn’t opt for MBBS, because this is a more relaxed and happy profession for me. I’m at peace now,” she says.
It was her father, K.T. Thomas, 67, who suggested that she become an avian veterinarian, pointing to the dearth of medics treating birds. Thomas and his wife, Beena, have been parents of exotic pets for about four decades. A former coir exporter, he had hoped that either of his two daughters would become a veterinarian and is glad that Rani has chosen the road less taken. “My inspiration and guidance comes from my parents,” says Rani. “And my husband, Mathan John, is equally supportive and is a pet lover, too. He is an applications engineer who was based in Kuwait, but is currently working from home. He accompanies me whenever I have to travel abroad and makes sure that I have all the help I need.”
Talking about her professional struggles in becoming a doctor for winged patients, Rani says, “In the vet school, you don’t study much about birds or exotic [animals]. Whether it is anatomy or physiology, it’s just two pages. In India, we don’t have courses focused on avian veterinary, but there are places where we can work with birds. And now there are lots of veterinary associations that are providing online courses. In my clinic, too, we are conducting an avian orthopaedic training course in March. So, I am also doing what I can to contribute to this field.”
Rani completed her masters in veterinary epidemiology and preventive medicine in 2019. She also has postgraduate diplomas in One Health (an integrated approach to optmise health of people, animals and ecosystems) and the therapeutic management of pet animals and birds. “It’s a continuous learning process. Even now I am doing online and offline courses to keep myself updated,” she says.
Rani is irked by veterinarians who just click photos with birds and call themselves avian doctors on social media. “I have seen some vets who just prescribe antibiotics without proper diagnosis. Whether it’s an infection or internal injury or even flu, birds display similar symptoms like getting fluffed up and not eating food. So if you administer antibiotics indiscriminately, the bird may not survive. That’s one reason I got all this equipment, so that I can ensure proper prognosis.”
She says that only those who specialise in avian endoscopy can be a complete avian doctor. “Endoscopy allows breeders to find out if a bird is a male or female at a young age. It can also help understand if the bird is ready to breed. The technique also helps in assessing the conditions of internal organs, including heart, lungs, air sacs, liver, kidneys, spleen and intestine. So, if one wants to be an avian vet, they should be well-versed in endoscopy,” says Rani, who practised avian endoscopy at the Dubai-based sports club F3 Falcon, where raptors are bred for falcon racing. She also practised orthopaedics at Vet Plus Centre in Sharjah.
Her future plans include setting up a CT scan and laser treatment facility for birds. She is also considering opening a facility near Kochi, which has a strong community of breeders of exotic animals and a high density of pet population.
Becoming a pet parent, says Rani, is like having a baby. “Don’t buy an exotic bird because your neighbour has one, or just because you can afford it. This is not just about those who buy exotic birds, but about pet parents in general. Buy pets only if you have time to invest, if you can take them to a vet, or a grooming centre or for a walk. It is like having a baby. Research a lot before you buy them.”
When Rani decided to become a veterinarian, she was determined to set up her own hospital. Rani says she had to shell out around Rs60 lakh for facilities and equipment, most of which were procured from Delhi. “The endoscopy machine alone cost around Rs15 lakh, and the X-ray equipment Rs10 lakh. I paid around Rs7 lakh each for the CBC and serum machines,” she says.
Many people were pessimistic. “Alappuzha is a slow town,” says Rani. “Some said I won’t get enough patients and will have to wind up in a few months. But I was confident, and so were my parents. I was ready to run the hospital without profit for the first few years. But we soon started getting patients from all over Kerala. Now, we have birds and animals being brought from Coimbatore, Salem, Hogenakkal, Chennai, Bengaluru and even Kolkata.”
Momo, an umbrella cockatoo with deformities on upper and lower beaks, was couriered from Kolkata via Chennai, while another breeder couple and their children drove down from Kolkata to get their three macaws treated.
Rani says she does not charge exorbitantly. For example, Mittu’s one-week treatment cost Rs5,000, while Momo’s surgery cost Rs15,000. Rani holds monthly consults in Delhi and Kolkata and she often volunteers in Jaipur during the kite festival and takes classes for students and local residents. In 2017, while volunteering with the Jaipur-based NGO Raksha during the annual kite festival in 2017, she recalled how she encountered thousands of birds injured by glass powder-laced manja strings during Makar Sankranti.
“As a child, I was surrounded by happy birds. But when I went to Jaipur, I came across thousands of suffering birds cut by manja. It was January and cold. Those birds were bleeding, and it was really stressful for me. For three weeks, we would start the surgeries early in the morning and continue till midnight,” she says. “That was a sad experience. But in the end, I feel fulfilled that I could travel there and help those birds.”