Nervous but going to feed Zupreem to Timneh

Billdore

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I just had a chat with customer care over at zupreem and she answered all my questions. She was very knowledgeable about the situation which I was pleasantly surprised about. I left a message for them to call me back and it took about 25 minutes not too bad. And like I said she was ready to answer my questions in regards to my message. Still super nervous, Timneh has not taken to the other pellets very well so far. She has lost 4 grams now which isnā€™t too huge. But where she would take and eat the pellets from my hand now sheā€™s dropping everything on the floor and rebelling. I gave her a kaytee pellet that was very similar to zupreem and she took it ran to the top of my shoulder only to discard the imposter pellet looking not too happy with me. Anyone else in a similar situation? I realize asking someone else to tell me if itā€™s ok to feed my best friend a pellet that Iā€™m worried about is an unfair question. So I will state I am starting to feed zupreem fruit blend again. Just wanted to share my nervousness and we all know misery loves company. Thanks for reading guys hope you all have a good day.

Forgot to add that she was very friendly definitely confident in the zupreem product but very helpful and nice.
 
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chris-md

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It strikes me as odd that youā€™re terrified of the food, but decide to risk your birds life with the food anyways - your birds life means more to you than that. . If youā€™re so worried feed something else. Timneh will adapt.

Just trying to throw a bit of common sense in here.
 

SilverSage

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The scare about the pellet brands has been cleared up; all the pellets are safe :)


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SailBoat

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At this point, we only know what did not cause their deaths.

Please take the time to either visit the Manufacturers' Websites or FB Pages and read their finds -or- return to that Thread here on Parrot Forums and Read the last Post by Terry57, which provides, with clarity, the findings of all the Manufacturers and that of MSU's Lab.

In summation: The Dry Food, multi-Manufacturer mix, created and provided by the Rescue did not contain toxins or heavy metals, and was of an overall quality consistent with a Manufacturers Supplied Diet.
 

Scott

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RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
It strikes me as odd that youā€™re terrified of the food, but decide to risk your birds life with the food anyways - your birds life means more to you than that. . If youā€™re so worried feed something else. Timneh will adapt.

Just trying to throw a bit of common sense in here.

The scare about the pellet brands has been cleared up; all the pellets are safe :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am in the midst of attempting a conversion from ZuPreem Fruit Blend to Harrisons. Not going very well, but will persevere until either they adapt or the contents of a 5lb bag are tossed.

While pellets are a portion of their overall diet, they are healthy and thriving. My reasons for converting in earnest were sparked by the food scare, and opportunistically seeking a healthier pellet. If the conversion fails, I will continue with ZuPreem, as their production and testing protocol seems validated to my satisfaction.

We don't know what killed the rescue birds (and others in the area) but I am as comfortable as possible it wasn't the food, as produced and shipped by ZuPreem. Sadly, we may never know the culprit(s) as the investigation is rudderless and not accomplished with scientific rigor an all fronts.
 
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Billdore

Billdore

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I should of taken a video of how fast Timneh was eating her first pellets. I cut open the bag and as soon as I opened it she ran down my arm and flipped upside down to try and get into the bag. Then she ate almost too fast doing a strange head bop to push em down.
 

SilverSage

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Iā€™ve read a lot on the situation but I canā€™t find it now. However well respected Avian Vets have agreed that by the description of the deaths the toxin was much more likely to be airborne and almost certainly NOT ingested.


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Kentuckienne

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Iā€™ve read a lot on the situation but I canā€™t find it now. However well respected Avian Vets have agreed that by the description of the deaths the toxin was much more likely to be airborne and almost certainly NOT ingested.


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No, the opposite. The report indicated acute toxicity, with the GI tract being more damaged than the airways. Report mentioned organophosphate type poisoning, but didn't conclude that's what it was. All the tests have shown is no heavy metals, no pesticides, no out of whack levels of vitamins. Last I checked, it's been a couple days, there was still one bird preserved in formalin and they are waiting until there us some guidance on what to test for. There are other things that could be in food besides those three things tested for. And given the distribution of birds in the house an airborne toxin seems unlikely - the deaths were very closely linked to what birds ate what foods.

I just kind of quit using ZuPreem a long time ago because there was so much sugar in the colored pellets, and so much color in the colored pellets. I didn't trust a company that was willing to put sugar in food like that - I mean, these pellets are sweet - to get the birds to eat them. Good for sales, but is it good for the birds?

Here is an extract from the necropsy report:

---------
MICROSCOPIC: Lung: The parenchyma has congestion, marked hemorrhage, some edema, and varying degrees of atelectasis. Hemorrhage extends into the air sacs and between the fascial planes of the syringeal muscles. Blood vessels: Mural vessels of the heart have mild arteriosclerosis. Heart: The heart has numerous petechiae throughout the myocardium. Kidney: Mild tubular necrosis is noted. Brain: The white matter tracts of the cerebellum have mild perivascular hemorrhage and myelinic edema. Skeletal muscle: Acute moderate rhabdomyolysis is noted. The following tissues are histologically within normal limits: intestine, pancreas, liver, proventriculus, ventriculus, ganglia, great vessels, and adipose.

HISTOPATHOLOGIC DIAGNOSIS: 1. Acute pulmonary congestion, hemorrhage, edema, and atelectasis.
2. Petechiae, heart.
3. Acute renal tubular necrosis.
4. Acute rhabdomyolysis.
5. Mild perivascular hemorrhage and myelinic edema, white matter tracts of cerebellum.

COMMENT: Histologic findings are consistent with acute intoxication but are otherwise not particularly specific. Principal differentials include exposure to an aerosolized toxin or possible exposure to an ingested toxin, such as an organophosphate or organochlorine. Some mild arteriosclerosis was the only underlying chronic lesion and was considered incidental. This bird was in excellent nutritional status at the time of death.
-----------
 
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texsize

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it sounds to me like they (the birds that died) bleed to death in the lungs.
This sounds like the way rat poison works. I am sorry my spelling is not up to the task but the blood thinner that humans take (Cumidin) is based on rat poison.

The rat eats it and they bleed to death internally.

This would explain the copper color fluid they were (vomiting). it was blood that was filling there lungs.

I am sorry to be so graphic but these are the thoughts that keep going through my head.

texsize.
 
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Billdore

Billdore

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Itā€™s an unfortunate event which I donā€™t believe will never have a definitive answer. There needed to be more avian veterinarians involved in the testing of more than a couple of birds. This poor veterinarian seemed to be in a little over his head. Everyone did the best they could and I hope no one has to go through such and event again. But we all know how that goes. Good luck everyone.
 

YUMgrinder

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The day I heard about it was the day it happened. I immediately called zupreem as I feed mine a mixture of their products. The lady was very nice and assured me that all their products are tested thoroughly by an outside party. I had froze their last batch for a month and I think I will continue to freeze their food after buying it at least to give me some satisfaction that the freezer can kill a lot of dangerous contaminates. I am having a hard time getting harrisons in town so I decided to switch to zupreem undyed pellets and mix the colored ones in with it so it's not so sugary. So far so good. My 4 are doing great.
 

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