Under the auspices of the Private Engineering Office, Souq Waqif Falcon Hospital is preparing to open a new building of the Falcon Clinic in Al Khor soon, it is learnt.
It is one of the largest modern, specialised medical centres in the field of falcon medicine and surgery. The clinic will provide an opportunity to falcon owners in Al Khor and the northern areas to benefit from more than 120 services as well as medical and laboratory examinations.
Dr Iqdam Majid al-Karkhi, director of Souq Waqif Falcon Hospital, explained to local Arabic daily Arrayah that the new clinic will provide many important services to falcon owners. These include the examination of the digestive and respiratory systems, X-ray, orthopaedic treatment and the flossing of feathers and surgical operations for wounds, among others. Also, the use of radiosurgery to treat pathological injuries, laboratory blood tests to measure the functions of body organs and level of immunity, diagnosis of
pathological infections and detection of poisoning cases will be carried out. Also, laboratory examinations will be conducted to identify effective drugs to treat pathological conditions, besides the detection of fungal diseases of the digestive and respiratory systems, and the detection of parasites.
Dr al-Karkhi said the clinic will also provide services such as PCR examination, and the diagnosis of some 17 viral, bacterial and fungal diseases. These include Newcastle disease (epilepsy), bird flu, viral hepatitis, viral enteritis, pseudomonas bacteria, salmonella bacteria and mycobacterium tuberculosis, among others.
Further, the clinic will providing services such as a veterinary pharmacy, printing of falcon IDs, approval and issuance of health certificates, printing of leg rings, laser printing on falcon patches and burqas. Besides, Newcastle disease (epilepsy) vaccination, smallpox vaccination, electronic chip installation, tail whistle installation and cleaning of the nostrils will be done.
The director of Souq Waqif Falcon Hospital said between 80% and 90% of examinations done in the Souq Waqif clinic will be available in the new Al Khor facility. The new clinic can receive more than 10,000 birds annually, while the current clinic has a capacity of about 8,000 birds.
He noted that after the opening of the new clinic, the owners of falcons in Al Khor and the northern areas will not have to travel all the way to the Souq Waqif hospital.
This will be a major benefit especially with regard to emergency cases, as the presence of a clinic near them will relieve them from
that burden, and at the same time ease the pressure on Souq Waqif Falcon Hospital. The vast majority of tests will be available at the Al Khor clinic.
Dr al-Karkhi gave some advice to the owners of falcons and stressed the need to follow up on the birds' condition periodically and
provide them with a variety of healthy food free from diseases. They should also conduct checks at regular intervals and keep an eye on their weight. A bird should be promptly given sufficient fluids in the event of dehydration, besides nutritional supplements, amino acids and minerals periodically.
He said falconers should not mix infected birds with healthy ones in one place and isolate all their tools, pointing out that developing a medical culture is an important issue for falcon owners.
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