Mug warmer toxic?

[Jcas]

Does anyone know if coffee mug warmers have a Teflon/non-stick coating that could be toxic to birds? Shortly after he came to me, JJ my Quaker had several seizures each about a month apart. I eventually put two and two together and realized that it maybe coincided with us baking bread once a month. I checked our loaf pans and to my horror found that two of them were coated. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I know. I can’t believe I missed that. Strangely, my budgies appeared completely unaffected, so maybe JJ is a little extra sensitive? Obviously, we got rid of those pans and have been super extra careful to check ALL our cookware. It’s been months since JJ had a seizure so I thought we had it figured out. Then at six this morning he had a seizure. Fortunately he’s back to his normal self now but I have been wracking my brain and the ONLY thing I can come up with is that we have been using a mug warmer to heat formula for an orphan baby bunny we’ve been hand feeding. It doesn’t get very hot and the last time I used it would have been about 10:30pm; 7-8 hours before JJ’s seizure. Does anyone know if mug warmers have a nonstick coating? Or if so, would using it at such low heat still be dangerous? Could it have accumulated in his lungs in tiny amounts each time I used the warmer over the last couple of days? Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated. (Oh, and of course I am no longer using the warmer just in case).

 

[wrench13]

So sorry to read that JJ is not feeling well. From what I understand about teflon/PFOS is that is like being a little bit pregnant. You either are or you are not. So I suspect JJ's problem is not related to the non-stick venue of illness. WHich means a CAV needs to be consulted.

FYI, teflon/PFOS coatings are only dangerous if they are heated beyond a certain limit. Like a pan left on the flame too long and nothing in it, or the self cleaning cycle of some ovens. Heating elements in things like a coffee warmer have electronic controls to assure they do not get too hot. Caveat: I dont trust modern manufacturing, especially from places like China, to make those controls robust enough to never ever fail and allow the element to burn up. Hence, we dumped anything with a heating element that has a non-stick coating. Teflon is often used on those as a corrosion preventative measure, since its inert to moisture.

 

[Jcas]

So sorry to read that JJ is not feeling well. From what I understand about teflon/PFOS is that is like being a little bit pregnant. You either are or you are not. So I suspect JJ's problem is not related to the non-stick venue of illness. WHich means a CAV needs to be consulted.

FYI, teflon/PFOS coatings are only dangerous if they are heated beyond a certain limit. Like a pan left on the flame too long and nothing in it, or the self cleaning cycle of some ovens. Heating elements in things like a coffee warmer have electronic controls to assure they do not get too hot. Caveat: I dont trust modern manufacturing, especially from places like China, to make those controls robust enough to never ever fail and allow the element to burn up. Hence, we dumped anything with a heating element that has a non-stick coating. Teflon is often used on those as a corrosion preventative measure, since its inert to moisture.

Thanks for the thoughts and info, wrench13!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

So sorry to read that JJ is not feeling well. From what I understand about teflon/PFOS is that is like being a little bit pregnant. You either are or you are not. So I suspect JJ's problem is not related to the non-stick venue of illness. WHich means a CAV needs to be consulted.

FYI, teflon/PFOS coatings are only dangerous if they are heated beyond a certain limit. Like a pan left on the flame too long and nothing in it, or the self cleaning cycle of some ovens. Heating elements in things like a coffee warmer have electronic controls to assure they do not get too hot. Caveat: I dont trust modern manufacturing, especially from places like China, to make those controls robust enough to never ever fail and allow the element to burn up. Hence, we dumped anything with a heating element that has a non-stick coating. Teflon is often used on those as a corrosion preventative measure, since its inert to moisture.

I would tend to agree that JJs health problem is unrelated to any Teflon coatings. A CAV may be able to determine the cause of the seizures but I suspect that some parrots, like some dogs, cats and humans, can have seizure disorders related to problems in the brain's electrical system. JJ may still live a long happy life despite his tendency to seizures so don't automatically take it as a death sentence.

 

[Jcas]

I would tend to agree that JJs health problem is unrelated to any Teflon coatings. A CAV may be able to determine the cause of the seizures but I suspect that some parrots, like some dogs, cats and humans, can have seizure disorders related to problems in the brain's electrical system. JJ may still live a long happy life despite his tendency to seizures so don't automatically take it as a death sentence.

Thanks DonnaBudgie! That’s one problem with knowing so little of JJ’s history; it’s possible he’s been dealing with this his whole life. The seizures have happened so rarely and He is perfectly happy and healthy otherwise. My uncle was my avian vet and he passed away last year. I haven’t found another vet I trust with my birds. We live very rural and all the vets focus mainly on livestock. Nearest avian vet is something like a three hour drive one way and I don’t know them. At this point, the stress it would cause JJ ( who freaks out at new people and places)is too much for me to want to risk it. JJ is currently smacking his dish around for fun and clearly feeling good. So we’ll roll with that for now 🙂