Bird Pet Feeding

Correct bird feed with proper nutrition is one of the most important factors for healthy and contented birds. In the case of seedeaters, the seed diet is straightforward. The soft bill fancier must take extra care, since the requirements of the many species of soft bill are more exacting than those of seed eaters.

It is always worth while to make a little extra effort to provide as wide a variety of food as possible. Additional nutrition and favored tit-bits make the difference between the average healthy bird and the specimen with excellent show potential eager to breed. In general, hot weather causes the problems with regard to following hygienic feeding routines. With nectar feeding soft bills, however, cold weather is a nuisance if severe enough to freeze the nectar mixture in its plastic tubes.

All birds require the following:

• Vitamin A promotes healthy skin and feathers and is essential for young birds.


• Vitamin B is needed for the central nervous system and vitality.


• Vitamin C prevents skin disease. Vitamin D aids formation of bones.


• Vitamin E prevents sterility and aids fertility.

Egg Shells – Birds especially female birds need good amount of calcium for strong and tough bones. To prepare egg shells as bird feed you have to first wash few egg shells and when they dry up. Bake the egg shell at about 200 degree to 300 degree celsius just before the egg becomes brown. Then grind the egg shells into powder before offering them to eat.

Fruits – Oranges, grape fruits, chopped raisins soaked in water and apples. Provide them fresh fruits to eat and clear the left over every day in order to avoid growth of bacteria. Birds like orioles, jay, tanagers love to feed themselves with orange segments and grape halves.

Mealworms – Several species of birdss love to have worms as their diet food. Birds like blue birds mostly prefer meal worms.

Seeds – Many of the species are of seed eating breeds. There are many seeds like milo that may not be popular among few bird breeds. So, it would be always wise enough to buy mixed seeds. While buying a bag of mixed seeds you should be careful that the mixture should not have large amount of milo seeds as one of the constituents.

The sunflower seed is a popular bird feed. The black oil sunflower seeds are highly preferred by birds. It is also quite easy to open and so it is ideal food for soft billed birds.

Suet – Suet is dense form of fat that is found around the beef kidney and loin regions. The suet mixed with sunflower seeds, peanut butter and chopped peanuts. Birds like woodpeckers enjoy having suets. Suets are ideal for birds of cold climatic regions. In the warm regions the suet has to be rendered with a hard substance so that it does not melt.

Provide your pet bird with fresh and clean water to drink. The water has to be changed regularly in order to avoid contamination.

Addison's Disease Dog

Addison's disease or syndrome is the counterpart of Cushing’s disease in that the body produces too little of a cortisone like substance. It appears to take some weeks or even months of insufficiency before a sudden attack of weakness, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting are observed. With Addison's disease the coat will be dry and straw like, with excess dandruff. A dog in this condition can progress quite suddenly from weakness to a coma and death. Hospitalization, tests, and treatment swill often save a dog's life if started soon enough.

Sterol cell tumor, which causes feminization in a male. He develops enlarged nipples and may not raise a leg to urinate.

In a small percent of females the loss of the estrogens from a spaying operation results in urinary incontinence. This is thought to be due to the pituitary gland's loss of influence on the sphincter muscles of the urinary bladder. The condition is corrected by administration of diethylstilbestrol (DES). Although this hormone has been incriminated in problems in humans, DES has to our knowledge caused no problems in dogs unless given in excess. An excess will produce heat signs even in the spayed female.

Information Addison's Disease Dog

The following information on addison’s disease dog would help you to know the symptoms and nature of the disorder in detail.

• The absence of mineralocorticoid steroids and glucocorticoids is quite fatal for your dog. Your dog may suffer from serious disease consequences if left untreated or not treated properly.


• A dog will be able to lead a normal life if the disease receives effective medical attention.


• The affected dog should be administered with blood work on a regular basis. Blood work is done to monitor the proper functioning of the electrolytes and the kidneys.


• In case of extreme trauma and stressful physical discomfort you may take your dog to a vet surgeon as many times under such conditions dogs are administered with Prednisone supplementation.


• Though not impossible but the incidence of the disease is quite rare in dogs and cats.


• The common symptoms of the incidence of the disease includes repeated spells of vomiting, weight loss, feeling of depression, lethargy, weakness, loss of appetite, increased rate of urination, dehydration and fast beating of heart.


• The affected dog may suffer from attacks of shock which can be quite scary and shocking to see.


• The blood work of an affected dog shows low level of sodium, increased potassium content and high kidney enzymes.


• The IV fluids are recommended by vet doctors in case kidney failure takes place. The IV fluids helps in controlling the electrolyte imbalance which ultimately makes the dog feel better.


• The addison’s disease is diagnosed when the Adrenocorticotropic hormone or the ACTH is tested to be positive.

The test of ACTH takes around two long hours. At first a sample of baseline reading is drawn and then the dog is then injected with synthetic ACTH hormone or Cortrosyn. After an hour a sample of blood is taken for testing. In case the dog is suffering from addison’s disease the reading would be unchanged as affected dogs have very low concentration of cortisol.

Babesiosis in Dog

Four species of babesia have been identified with the tick-borne protozoan disease, asbestosis: Babesia can is, B. gibson, B. vogel, an dB. Ellis. The first three affect dogs and the fourth, cats. These organ-isms are so tiny that they live in the red blood cells. From one dog to the next the transfer is made by ticks, especially the brown dog sickbays is more prevalent in some places than in others. There are places where dog owners have never heard of it because it apparently doesn't exist in that locality. There are other areas where it is present, though rare, and still dog owners have never heard of it. In the southern part of the United States especially in Florida it is a seri-o us disease. The British Isles have been virtually free of it. Some sec-t ions of South America report it. Wherever ticks are prevalent, the protozoan organism causing asbestosis may be present.

Asbestosis can be very serious when it is acute. When it is chronic it may simply keep a dog feeling miserable for a long while and afford splendid opportunity for ticks to replenish their supply of the infecting organism and spread it further. In other words, the chronic cases are carriers.

In the acute form it may be difficult to distinguish the outward symptoms from those of other diseases. The dog's temperature rises;the third eyelid looks redder than usual; the pulse and respiration both increase; the appetite diminishes; the urine may be reddish brown. But unlike dogs with distemper, and like dogs with explosions, about half the dogs afflicted with asbestosis develop jaundice. In the acute form,even with adequate treatment, mortality is high.

In chronic cases the mucous membranes, such as the third eyelid,gums, and lips, all become pale instead of a healthy pink; the temperature rises and falls intermittently; the dog's appetite is poor and picky.The dog refuses to play, preferring to lie about.

How can you be sure that your pet has this particular infection?First, your veterinarian, becoming suspicious because of the reddish brown urine, can detect the organism in the red cells from a small sample of blood.

Diagnosing the chronic form is not too easy, so in kennels the veterinarian draws a little blood from a suspected dog and injects it into one or two puppies known not to have been exposed previously to the disease. If the dog has the disease, the organism will show up in the blood of the puppies in from four to seven days. Then the veterinarian can cure both the adult dog arid the puppies.

PREVENTION: The best prevention is to keep the dog free of ticks.

TREATMENT: A series of injections of various drugs is used to rehabbers. Your veterinarian knows and will tell you what needs to be done and how you can cooperate. Even with blood transfusions and good supportive treatment mortality is high.

Dog Cough

Dog cough is the most common cause of persistent coughing in dogs. In the early stages it occurs only after considerable exercise, but as the problem progresses it becomes more pronounced no that even moderate exercise and excitement bring on a coughing spell.



The dog with certain heart problems coughs because the weak heart cannot profuse the lungs with blood adequately, resulting in an excess of carbon dioxide. The excess carbon dioxide in the blood affects the cough reflex center in the brain, causing the cough. When the cough stops or is markedly reduced, this is in one sense helpful to the veterinarian who had prescribed drugs to strengthen the heart: the cough becomes a barometer of the heart's condition. There is also commonly a fluid buildup in the lungs of dogs with some heart problems and coughing helps clear some of it.

As with humans, coughing dislodges phlegm when necessary, which dogs usually swallow. Persistent coughing is a good reason to seek veterinary help.

The following are the types of dog cough that commonly occurs.

Types of Dog Cough

Kennel Cough – The kennel cough is an acute form of respiratory disorder which is characterized by dry hacking cough in dogs. This disease generally occurs among dogs who are in the habit of staying together in a confined kennel. The disease is characterized by serious irritation in the tracheal and bronchial area, due to the development of mucous formation leading to pneumonia. The dog should be given proper medication as soon as the dog owners come to know about the fact. To save dogs from the high contagious disease Bordatella vaccination is injected in the pet.

Distemper – Most dogs are vaccinated to stay away from the disease. The disease is accompanied by the incidence of cough, very high fever and thick discharge from the eyes and the nose. The disease mainly occurs in young puppies, old dogs and those having a poor immune system. Adult dogs with strong immune system if affected suffer from mild form of distemper.

Internal Parasites – The presence of parasites may also trigger the incidence of coughing. This occurs when the parasites like the round worm travels from the intestines to the heart. Heart worms are also responsible for cough. Young heartworms are transferred from the circulatory system. The heart forms can turn out to be potentially fatal for the dog if left untreated. The can cause severe cough if in case it the parasites travels to the lungs of the affected dog.

Allergies – the intrusion of pollen grains or other minute particles of irritants may also cause the excess secretion of the mucous lining along the respiratory tract. The affected dogs suffer from the wet cough due to the incidence of the disease.

Dogs may also suffer from cough due to the occurrence of tracheal collapse or any injury in the neck. The dog while coughing produces a honk like sound. Suffering from fungal infections is also a reason behind the development of the dog cough. Especially dogs that are staying close to live firm or poultry firm or an environment having huge bird dropping get infected with fungal spores.

Source: http://www.petcaregt.com/dogcare/dogcough.html

Dog Constipation

Difficult evacuation, constipation, is difficult usuallybecause the fecal mass is too large or too hard to pass through the anus,because its consistency is such that it causes pain, or because of ineffec-tual peristalsis, weakness in the muscles that effect evacuation. Unlessthe dog is greatly overweight, an impacted mass in the rectum mayeasily be felt through the abdominal walls.

One of the most common victims of constipation is the overfat,undcrexercised city dog. For this condition there is little excuse. It iscaused more frequently than not by feeding an unbalanced mixture ofdog biscuits, meat, and bones. Biscuits are usually made principally ofsecond-grade white flour. Meat has very little residue. Bosses have a drymineral residue. When the three are fed together without other mate-rial, the stools resemble a kind of modified concrete.

Enlargement of the prostate gland frequently causes constipationwhen the diet is not regulated accordingly. The prostate, being justbelow the rectum in front of the pelvis, when enlarged will present aformidable obstruction which leaves a very small space for the passageof the feces through the rectum.

A dog whose pelvis has been broken and has healed in a partiallycollapsed position is likely to be constipated again and again. The dogmay have no more than half the natural pelvic orifice through whichthe stool can pass. Special attention must be given to its diet.

As a matter of fact, diet is related to all forms of constipation. Ifowners would simply feed their dogs properly, the bowels could be easily regulated, unless actually affected by a tumor. Too often, how-ever, owners are willing to resort to drugs rather than take the troubleto regulate the dog's diet to relieve constipation. The addition of anitem of food or the elimination of one is usually all that is needed.Certain types of food cause increased taxation: the coarse, raw fibers inbran or alfalfa meal; milk sugar in skins milk, buttermilk, or whey; rawegg white; and fruits such as pears, apples, and peaches. Other foodsare constipating: bones; muscle meat; hard-boiled eggs; boiled whiterice; barley water; and dog biscuits. If a dog's diet is regulated to in-clude the proper amounts of the right types of food, constipation caneasily be prevented or relieved.

Cure for the temporary condition is to give enemas, and if they donot enable the dog to expel the mass, the veterinarian will have tocrush it with the aid of instruments until it is small enough to pass out of a disagreeable experience for any dog.

Accidents. The intestines are less often affected by accidents thanare the other orgasms. It is not often that crushed or ruptured intestinesare found in a postmortem examination of even an dog that hasbeen run over by a vehicle. The liver and spleen may be split open andmashed, and the pelvis broken in many places, but unless the intestinesare filled with a constipated mass they are usually unharmed.It is true, however, that they can be punctured by bullets or birdshot, but sharp objects that penetrate the abdomen generally push theintestines aside. It is amazing how resistant they are. We once had thejob of replacing a yard of intestine in the intestinal cavity of a dog thathad received a four-inch tear in the abdomen. The intestine hadworked out and had been dragged through dirt and hemlock needles inthe woods. The owner brought in his pet wrapped in a blanket, withlittle hope that anything could be done. The dog was anesthetized, theintestines were washed, and the soil and needles flushed out of theabdomen. After the intestine was replaced, the wall was sutured andthe dog recovered.

Source: http://www.petcaregt.com/dogcare/dogconstipation.html

Pet Bird Care Tips

You must be very cautious in taking care of your pet birds. If you happen to notice any deformity you must bring it to the notice of the veterinarian at the earliest. Unlike pet animals pet birds will not be able to show that they are not well. Even if they show you may not always comprehend it rightly. You must not allow small children to approach them because if they may not always handle the bird softly.

Other tips for pet bird care are as follows:

Right Nutrition

You must supply a balanced diet for the pet birds. You must also give adequate amount of freshwater and milk. You may give some non vegetarian items like pieces of chicken and egg. The major component of the diet should be fruits and fresh vegetables. You must also serve it at regular intervals as it is not easy to identify if they are hungry.

Signs of Illness of Pet Birds

Most of the birds look serious if they fall sick. If you’re pet bird suddenly drops feathers in large quantity (either by its own action or automatic) or if there is a reduction in the food intake or if its eyes look strange or

if the feathers are tangled instantaneously it shows that your bird is not well and that it has to be immediately rushed to the veretranian.

Safety

As majority of the pet birds are killed by animals like cat and dog. Therefore while designing the cage and deciding to shelter the pet bird you must see to that it is not accessible to those animals. Since the birds are weak by nature they may not bear the smell of pungent gases or noxious substances. You must keep it away from them.

You must be careful in choosing a pet bird. You must check whether the environment is absolutely conducive to it and if it will gradually fall in love with the place and enjoy the company of the people as far as possible. You may also avail the services of the trainer as and when necessary. You can also consult the veterinarian should you require more information. They will be able to guide you with pet bird health and pet bird care.

Source: http://www.myhappypets.com/pet-health-articles/pet-bird-care.htm