32 replies to this topic

[frenchiemama]

Here is a list of some:

http://www.dogaware....ing.html#TopDry

Each website should have a store locator as well as a nutritional analysis and ingredients list.

My dogs are all around 20#, and with Purina they were getting twice the amount that I feed them now. It's almost unbelievable.

[tarnalberry]

My bird's food (primarily a specially formulated pellet) has wheat in it, but birds can do grains just fine. Interestingly enough, there is a WIDE variation in the fat and protein needs of various species of pet birds, and a few avian food manufacturers have been catching on over the years and building species specific foods. (Lories, of course, subsist primarily on sugar water. Ok, it's got some vitamins, but it's primarily sugar water.)

Seed mix is definitely NOT a healthy option for making up the bulk of a birds diet, as it is not nutritionally balanced. You can do it with freshly cooked food yourself, but I haven't done the math to figure out the correct bits yet so that his whole diet consists of fresh food. The no-no list for birds is short and sweet (alcohol, chocolate, avocados, fruit seeds/pits), so it's not too difficult to feed them the same food you do, provided you don't put a lot of salt in the cooked food and balance the proportions and variety of what they get.

Ironically, cooked chicken bones are a great treat for birds, and the fact that they can shatter isn't a problem, because the bones are ground away with the beak. It's good exercise, good trimming for the beak, and the bone and marrow provides good nutrition as well. (And one leg bone can last my little conure quite a while!)

[VydorScope]

My bird's food (primarily a specially formulated pellet) has wheat in it, but birds can do grains just fine.  Interestingly enough, there is a WIDE variation in the fat and protein needs of various species of pet birds, and a few avian food manufacturers have been catching on over the years and building species specific foods.  (Lories, of course, subsist primarily on sugar water.  Ok, it's got some vitamins, but it's primarily sugar water.)

Seed mix is definitely NOT a healthy option for making up the bulk of a birds diet, as it is not nutritionally balanced.  You can do it with freshly cooked food yourself, but I haven't done the math to figure out the correct bits yet so that his whole diet consists of fresh food.  The no-no list for birds is short and sweet (alcohol, chocolate, avocados, fruit seeds/pits), so it's not too difficult to feed them the same food you do, provided you don't put a lot of salt in the cooked food and balance the proportions and variety of what they get. 

Ironically, cooked chicken bones are a great treat for birds, and the fact that they can shatter isn't a problem, because the bones are ground away with the beak.  It's good exercise, good trimming for the beak, and the bone and marrow provides good nutrition as well.  (And one leg bone can last my little conure quite a while!)

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Brid food I understand, and the one thing about bird food thats commonly over looked, while a peleted diet is great as a BASE, in most cases with most birds you need to suplement with fresh real food, somthing speices apporait of course. Just about all the seed mixes you see in the stores are bascily bad for birds and killing them off well before there time.

[frenchiemama]

Brid food I understand, and the one thing about bird food thats commonly over looked, while a peleted  diet is great as a BASE, in most cases with most birds you need to suplement with fresh real food, somthing speices apporait of course. Just about all the seed mixes you see in the stores are bascily bad for birds and killing them off well before there time.

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Wow, I had no idea about that. I've never had birds, but my mom keeps birds and I think that she just feeds them seed mix food from the store (she has finches and parakeets).

Do you guys have any resources about this? I would really like to read up on it, I hate to think of her birds being unhealthy.

Isn't it just sickening how the big companies market these foods as the be-all end-all and best thing for your pet, when in reality it's probably killing them?? Horrid.

[tarnalberry]

Brid food I understand, and the one thing about bird food thats commonly over looked, while a peleted  diet is great as a BASE, in most cases with most birds you need to suplement with fresh real food, somthing speices apporait of course.

I don't know if oatmeal (my husband's) is considered species specific for conures, but man does my bird love the stuff. ;-) Not only is it important to supplement with fresh food (when I board him, I send a baggie of pellets, and a baggie of nuts/dried fruit/dried veggies), but it's socially important to get some time in with the pet and food's a good way to do that (in part).

Do you guys have any resources about this? I would really like to read up on it, I hate to think of her birds being unhealthy.

Mostly, you'll want to google it. A few sites include: Animal Forum, Pet Care Tips, Norfolk Animal Hospital, It's a Grey World, Parrots Online (good listing of toxic plants).

Birds are not easy pets to keep if you want to keep them happy and healthy. They need a wide variety of healthy foods, lots of social interactions with humans, plenty of time out of their cage, appropriate behavioral teaching, and a healthy house. (That last one is harder to get to than you'd think, and involves not only the bird cage/food/toys, but also the area they are in - no drafts, no high-heat on non-stick pans, no aerosols, no gas/chemical fumes, no leaded wicks in candles, etc.)

[frenchiemama]

Thanks Tiffany.

My mom LOVES those birds. She actually had a small aviary built for them (in the dining room of all places). I know that she wants to do anything that she can for them.

[tarnalberry]

No problem! If I'm going to go on and on about one of two things, at any given time, it's likely to either be celiac or birds! ;-)

[frenchiemama]

No problem!  If I'm going to go on and on about one of two things, at any given time, it's likely to either be celiac or birds! ;-)

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Oh gosh yes. I'm like that, only with me it's either celiac or dogs. I'm suprised anyone IRL even talks to me anymore.

[Matilda]

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[Matilda]

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[CeliacMe]

IAMS has several lines of dog foods (I use the "Chunks" in the green bag) They use rice meal as a filler instead of wheat. I had my dog (Brutus the Boxer) on a raw BARF diet, but all was lost when I sent him to my parents' house for the weekend. I had made him raw meat loaf, raw veggie puree with plain yogurt and chicken wings for the weekend. The meatloaf was yummy, his favorite, it had egg and yogurt added and of course BARF supplements. Well, my dad decides that Brutus wants cooked meatloaf and chicken gizzard soup with rice instead. So, upon returning home with Brutus I thought all was well until later on in the week- I found him rummaging through the trash. I was thinking "he seemes hungry." So I put the trash away in the cans in the garage and went to gardening. I found a pile of chicken leg quarters in a bush that he was supposed to have eaten, chicken wings too (raw of course) and I suppose all he ate all week was his meatloaf and veggie puree. So, he must have been very hungry. I tried to feed him his usual dinner, and supervised to ensure that he ate, he didn't. I ran to walgreens and got the IAMS because that was all they had that seemed decent and I was desperate for him to eat something. He loved it. He's been eating it ever since. I felt bad until the vet told me that her dog ate the same thing and she had a similar problem with him not wanting to eat BARF. After being gluten-free, I checked the bag out of curiosity and realized that they used rice instead of wheat. Which made a lot of sense because he hadn't been gassy as he was when he was a puppy eating NUTRO.

[frenchiemama]

My little Sheba had allergies last summer, that's when I did the elimination diet on her. Doing an elimination diet didn't help at all. Turned out the allergies were pollen related and they disappeared by the end of summer. Dogs who are allergic to pollen and molds, show it in their skin rather than the usual symptoms that humans get. Sheba had licked and chewed herself raw.

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One of my dogs is allergic to grass (among other things) and it makes her have terrible skin problems.

[frenchiemama]

We had a horse allergic to grass ... well, it's what's in the grass. White clover!! Those pretty little white clover that you see in almost any field of grass, a lot of lawns that don't use a herbacide and anywhere that's mowed.  I suspect that Sheba's feet licking allergy comes from there, because she quit as soon as the clover quit flowering.
Anyway ... our horse had a rash all the way up her legs and along her belly because she would lay down that way. It really was a problem trying to keep her comfortable.  So, keep an eye out for those pretty little flowers.

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Well that's interesting. I just assumed it was grass, because she gets hives on her little legs and belly, and her sides if she is out laying in the yard. You can pretty much see where her body contacts the lawn because of the hives. We do have those clovers all over, I wonder if that's it. I should treat the lawn next year and see if it makes a difference.