Avian Obesity

[Lady Jane]

Linnies have a very high metabolism and have a tendency towards obesity if you feed them fatty foods. The other day my girl friend was here for the day and she has a GCC. Over the curse of the visit she was watching Kobe and Tango. They ate off and on for 3.5 hours. That was a lot of food in a little crop. This made me wonder if other birds eat a lot like mind do.

I know some species are prone to obesity so like us they need exercise and healthy foods, not so many seeds. Species at a higher risk of developing obesity are Budgerigars, Amazons, Galah cockatoos and lorikeets and cockatiels. I read that Linnies are too. Obesity does not depend solely on the food eaten, but also depends greatly on the energetic needs. Like a bird that flies outside who free flies has a higher energy need. Breeding birds need more food than if they were not breeding. Birds living in colder climates also have a higher energy need. So how do we avoid our captive parrots living indoors from being "fat birds"? Pellets are not the sole answer because they contain more fat and protein than our relatively inactive birds need. Sunflower seeds are a whopping 50% fat and the oils added to the pellets (sometimes palm and coconut oils) may predispose to atherosclerosis (fat deposits in arteries). It is important to discuss this with your avian vet to formulate a life plan for your bird. This would include healthy foods, low fat treats and lots of exercise. Our birds are totally depended on us to maintain their health and that is no small task for a bird guardian.

Do you measure the dry foods you give your birds? If you do how do you know how much to give them? I pretty much give a dry mix of pellets and goldenfeast blends with ground eggs shells sprinkled on top. The dry foods are 1 tbsp. each along with 1 tbsp. pellets per day. Then they get fresh chop most days. Linnies do not like to fly that much as they prefer to climb. I set up a small climbing area over the cage and they like to spend time there. I admit to not having a scale to weigh my birds but the girls will weigh them with my grooming trips to the vets office

Now keeping your cat slim and trim is another story. I have a sweet Maine Coon kitty and they are big boned cats who are usually heavier than other breeds. My girl was "obese" by some vet notes and not obese by other vets notes. She has always been just over 13 pounds. She carries her weight ( like us) in the belly. Not as active now due to arthritis so I have a feeling the scale is creeping upwards. Oh I should say she loves to eat. I give her 2/3 cup of dry food every day and 1 tsp. of wet food about 3 times per week. Vet says for me to cut back on the dry food to 1/2 cup and since I did this she is crying late at night for food. It breaks my heart.

 

[JLcribber]

IME most parrots are pretty good at "maintaining" the proper weight when given appropriate foods because the amount of nutrients in it is relative to how much they can actually eat. If you feed them salt, sugar or fat they will quickly acquire a "taste" for these forbidden things and start to crave them (to the detriment of eating healthy things). They only need to be eating small amounts of these things on a regular basis to be "eating too much" because of the high nutrient/protein content. Feed them lots of healthy lean food and let them eat until they are full.

You don't see obese parrots that fly and are given the space to fly.

 

[TWR]

Do you measure the dry foods you give your birds? If you do how do you know how much to give them?

measuring his dry food was part of the tactic for converting Tinga to fresh. At a parrot seminar, the trainer suggested starting off with a known amount of pellet and daily reducing the amount until you reached the ideal amount of pellet, where the bird was hungry enough to eat the fresh food. During this process, to ensure the bird wasn't starving itself, daily weighing of the bird is important.

For Tinga, any more than ½ a measured teaspoon of pellet is too much.

 

[Peachfaced]

Do you measure the dry foods you give your birds? If you do how do you know how much to give them?

The only real things I measure are the dry seeds before I start sprouting them. A heaping tablespoon lasts a couple of days and as I'm running low I start a new batch. I eyeball just about everything else based on what he actually consumes. Like @TWR mentioned, I gave him an amount and then reduced it slowly so I could figure out about what he needs in a day. He eats lots of veggies and sprouts. The only time he gets seed is from his foraging toys and before bedtime when I'm coaxing (read: shamelessly bribing) him to his sleeping perch.

 

[Pentameter]

So I found an article on the lafebervet website; unfortunately it's only available to vets, students and techs. However, I can share some of the info from it!

The article lists these as potential causes of obesity:
-high fat diet
-excess calorie intake
-insufficient exercise
-species predisposition

A big factor is definitely a sedentary lifestyle. No amount of exercise we can give in our homes is the same as what a wild bird would get. I would also add genetics to the list; we know obesity run in families in humans, so it's not too much of a stretch to think birds have some genetic influence there, too.

Obviously excess fat in the diet is bad and can lead to atherosclerosis. But not all fats are created equal. Animal fat is definitely bad for our birds (and not great for us, either), but plant fats (oils) are less detrimental in reasonable amounts. Omega-3s are from fat, after all, and we know they have beneficial effects on cardiac health. Here's an excerpt from another article:

"Omega-3 fatty acids include alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) along with intermediary fatty acids. ALA is found in large proportions in flaxseed, camelina, rapeseed, chia seed, and walnuts. The major source of EPA and DHA is fatty fish. Unlike humans, chickens can efficiently convert ALA into EPA and DHA. Most beneficial health effects regarding atherosclerosis have been contributed to EPA and DHA, though some benefits may result from ALA and other omega-3 fatty acid intermediates.

Increasing the amount of omega-3 fatty acids with respect to omega-6 fatty acids results in a shift in both plasma and platelet fatty acid profiles. When arachidonic acid (AA) is replaced with EPA this limits the amount of AA that can be incorporated into cell membranes or elongated to eicosanoids, which cause an inflammatory response. Therefore, EPA can reduce the risk of atherosclerosis.

Feeding diets with a high proportion of omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to increase antibody response when chickens were given Newcastle Disease vaccinations. Flaxseed has recently been shown to display a chemosuppresive characteristic against ovarian cancer in laying hens. Long term feeding of a diet containing 10% flaxseed reduces mortality rate in commercial laying chickens. The flaxseed diet also improves the ability of birds to maintain their body weight. The amount of ALA in the muscle of birds is negatively associated with the degree of atherosclerosis.

The effect of ALA on plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels is still debated, however other biological changes may prove to be more important than overall plasma cholesterol levels. Most species of birds can benefit from the addition of an ALA source in the diet. A source of EPA and DHA is recommended for carnivorous avian species as their ability to convert ALA to EPA and DHA is unknown.

References
Ansenberger K, Richards C, Zhuge Y, et al. Decreased severity of ovarian cancer and increased survival in hens fed a flaxseed-enriched diet for 1 year. Gynecol Oncol 117(2): 341-347, 2010.

Bavelaar FJ, Beynen AC. Atherosclerosis in parrots. A review. Vet Q 26(2): 50-60, 2004.

Garner MM, Raymond J. A retrospective study of atherosclerosis in birds. Proc Annu Conf Assoc Avian Vet; 2003. Pp: 59-66.

Gurr MI, Harwood JL. Dietary lipids: Implications for health and disease. In: Gurr MI, Harwood JL, Frayn KN. Lipid biochemistry: An introduction, 5th ed. New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell; 2002. Pp: 163-245.

Htin NN, Zulkifli I, Hair-Bejo M, et al. Effects dietary linoleic and linolenic fatty acids on immune response and resistance to infectious bursal disease (IBD) in broiler chickens under heat stress conditions. Arch Geflugelk 71: pp: 258-266, 2007.

Johnson J, Phalen DN, Kondik VH, et al. Atherosclerosis in psittacine birds. Proc Annu Conf Assoc Avian Vet; 1992.

Pees M, Krautwald-Junghanns ME. Evaluating and treating the cardiovascular system. Clinical Avian Medicine. Harrison-Lightfoot. Palm Beach, FL: Spix Publishing, Inc.; 2006. Pp: 379-394.

Petzinger C, Heatley JJ, Cornejo J, et al. Dietary modification of omega-3 fatty acids for birds with atherosclerosis. J Am Vet Med Assoc 236(5): 523-527, 2010.

Pilny AA. Retrospective of atherosclerosis in Psittacine birds: Clinical and histopathologic findings in 31 cases. Proc Annu Conf Assoc Avian Vet; 2004. Pp: 349-351.

Ross R. Atherosclerosis-An inflammatory disease. N Engl J Med 340(2):115-126,1999.

St. Leger J. Avian Atherosclerosis. Zoo and wildlife animal medicine: current therapy. Fowler and Miller. St. Louis, MO: Saunders-Elsevier, Inc.; 2008. Pp: 200-205, 2008.

To cite this page:
Petzinger C, Heatley JJ, Bauer JE. Omega-3 fatty acids and atherosclerosis. June 30, 2010. LafeberVet web site. Available at Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Atherosclerosis in Birds | LafeberVet"

As for the kitty, the scales may vary between veterinarians because there are a few different scales used (some use a 5 point scale, others a 10 point). Trust me, if she was starving, you would know. They are experts at manipulating our emotions Just because she is begging for food, does not mean she is malnourished. I'm pretty sure my cats/dogs would eat themselves into a coma if I let them. Have you tried catnip toys? Those can be good for stimulating activity, but if she's arthritic, it might be harder. Is she on any kind of medication/supplement for the arthritis?

 

[Lady Jane]

Appreciate good reading on this subject. Thanks

People with Amazons, Greys, Macaws and Cockatoos this is especially good reading for you. Your birds come predisposed to hardening of arteries.

 

[BirdCatLady]

Interesting topic. I just took Brodie to the vet's for a wellness check -- he weighed in at 479 grams, and Greys can average between 380 and 550 grams I believe, and still be healthy. I'll also admit to not having a scale at home (although eventually I do want to get one). He is fairly active, and since I live in PA, it's a somewhat colder climate (at least in winter! ha). I give him probably in between 1-2 teaspoons of pellets (although he doesn't eat that much -- I'm testing to see if he prefers Harrison's pellets over Roudybush pellets so he'll get a small portion of each per day), and then about a tablespoon (or two) of other foods. Examples include 1-2 in-shell pistachios, a few shelled almonds [I'm getting in-shell almonds soon and am excited ], some of MSBS Parrot blend, and a variety of other stuff that I'll toss in for, well, variety. Some dried fruit once in awhile, some freeze-dried veggie mix, a sesame stick here or there, some pine nuts. All in small quantities, just to liven up his food so it's not the same thing every day.

(I'm still working on figuring out how much to give him so he has foods to choose from but so I'm not wasting food. Aiiii...)

Every day he also gets apple slices, sometimes banana slices, and I've been trying to get him interested in other fruits/veggies like tangerines, green peppers, carrots, pumpkin, broccoli, cooked carrots/corn, etc. So far, to no avail. But he loves loves LOVES his apples. And he loves the bananas as long as they're at "just the right" ripeness (and what he considers to be the "perfect ripeness," I still haven't figured out).

I also limit his sunflower seed consumption because when I first got him, he was on a 90% seed diet and out of those seeds, he would mostly pick out the sunflower seeds. So now they are treats for him. I still haven't found anything aside from cheese that he really, really loves that would work as a treat/incentive, though. He does get a tiny bit of cheese every now and then but it's definitely not a staple of his diet.

ETA: I'm also trying to introduce him to the Lafeber products. So far he's not a fan. I've tried a couple of different kinds of Nutriberries; I have some avicakes to try as well as parts of the "meal bars" as I think of them. I don't know why he's not interested, though, because they smell good enough for me to want to try them! lol.

He can't fly, but he is pretty active. Every morning he'll do (what I call) "laps" around his cage before he settles down to have breakfast. This involved him basically doing an oval from his "main perch" (one that extends the length of his cage) up one side, across the "roof" of his cage (upside down bat-bird!), then down the other side. Rinse and repeat about 5 times per morning, more if I'm watching. Then when he's out of the cage, he'll flap his wings, play "attack bird" and run around the top of his cage, or do other active stuff. He seems to be good at not eating constantly. He always does have some food in his dish but he mostly eats at 9am, 2pm, and then again around 6pm or so (at least, those are the times when I know I hear him crunching on his pellets and other food). His fresh food is something he gets at a time separate from those times.

 

[Lady Jane]

I will often remove the dried fruit from bird food because of the sugar content. Do others do this?

 

[BirdCatLady]

@Lady Jane -- I would if I noticed that dried fruit made up the bulk of the food I'm feeding Brodie. Currently, it doesn't. He gets a pretty good mixture of pellets, seeds (which he tends to ignore unless they're sunflower seeds), nuts, and dried veggies. For treats (or for variety once in awhile) I'll give him a quarter of a chunk of dried pineapple. He still refuses dried apples, and banana chips are something he likes but he gets those also in moderation. The blends that I've gotten for him tend to be pretty good with not being terribly stuffed with dried fruit (although the definition of "stuffed" may vary per person -- I'd estimate that dried fruit makes up less than 10% of his overall diet -- in between 5 and 10% anyway, probably closer to 5%).

I did, for a time, pick out the sunflower seeds from a seed blend I had for him. That was painstaking, lol, since that blend was almost 50% sunflower seeds. So I stopped doing that. (And he stopped getting that seed blend...)

BTW, does anyone else with a Grey have the "issue" that I do -- Brodie won't eat any seed smaller than a sunflower seed. I'm guessing it has to do with his ability to crack it...? but I don't know. The Nutriberries that I have that are specifically for medium/large parrots have tiny little seeds in them (red millet or rapeseed I'm guessing, looking at the ingredients list?) and although the ingredients say that they're already hulled, he doesn't eat those. I'm kind of at a loss about that -- that's one reason why I've stopped buying seed blends for him and am instead planning on making my own -- the smaller seeds make up the bulk of seed mixes, usually, and I'm not okay with him wasting 50% of a seed mix. (I mean, it's not like I'm going to force him to eat the seeds he won't eat, but I don't want to spend money on a seed mix when he'll only eat half of what's in it.)