Please read, many birds dead at rehab

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

More details from the rescue...people asked about the time frame. “We're not 100% because the food was fed (Zupreem and Nutriberries) Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we put the seed on top Sunday, and then it was mixed very well on Monday. We fed Monday from 5-6, and the first bird died around 10:10PM. So between 4-6 hours from feed.”

They hadn’t been feeding fresh food that week because the holidays were so hectic, so it probably wasn’t a fresh food contaminant. And all birds drank the same water, but only the birds on that particular food mix died.

She also said she thinks the Nutriberries are least likely to be the cause, as only three pounds of those were mixed into 50 pounds of food. Other commenters wrote about losing birds very suddenly in the last couple months, and the Zupreme was the common denominator. Other commenters discussed a bird food recall around 2013. One poster, a nurse, had a problem with a food, and the manufacturer asked her to send it back to them, said they had a malfunction with a piece of equipment that added the concentrated vitamin/supplement powder to the blend and they had added too much. There are nutritional supplements that are beneficial in normal doses but toxic in large amounts.

I keep an eye on the comments and as soon as there is more info will post it.

I switched from Zupreme way back, because the pellets tasted sweet, and I thought why do they have to put sugar in the food? It’s not good for the bird, but it gets them to eat it, which is good for sales. That’s not putting the health of the bird first. So it was a small thing, and it’s not like sugar is toxic, but I went back to Harrison’s even though he didn’t like it as well. Luckily I found out he used to like the pepper formula Harrison’s and he does, he loves it. But the Harrison’s is a lot more expensive.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Different responses from two of the companies. Lafeber is sending product out for retesting.
#############

Lafeber Nutri-Berries
8 hrs ·
Our hearts are with Birds And Beaks Rescue and Rehab and the 11 birds that passed on January 1. The rescue contacted us to say that the foods the birds consumed might have been involved with these deaths. Bird health is our top priority. Each batch of our food is hand-inspected and tested by an independent lab before leaving our facilities to ensure optimum quality. Dr. Lafeber’s family birds have eaten Nutri-Berries for the past 27 years. Upon learning of this tragedy, we have sent that batch of food to be tested again.
The rescue’s birds were fed Tropical Fruit Nutri-Berries (expiration date: 12/22/18) in combination with two other bird foods from other brands. This is the first complaint we’ve heard about this food. To the best of our knowledge, our food is safe and appropriate. We will update this post when we receive the second-round of test results.
As we have our own family birds, Dr. Lafeber included, we understand the heart-breaking pain the rescue is feeling right now.

#############
Jennifer Renee Are you aware of the bird poisoning’s possibly occurring from your fruit blend??? Please investigate quickly!!!
———-
ZuPreem
ZuPreem We are aware of every customer comment we get from our pet owners and take each one seriously and conduct a thorough investigation of each issue. All of our food is extensively tested twice before it is released to ensure product safety. Currently all of our testing indicates that we don’t have any issues. It’s easy for anyone to assume that the food is the problem when there is a pet health issue. As always we let the unbiased and independent testing occur to give us the conclusive answers to each situation. We respect anyone’s concern for the health of their birds. We feed our pet birds these products as well. Please be assured that our products are safe to feed.

————

 

[dhraiden]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I'd noticed the sugar thing too with Zupreem... I've got a bag of Harrison's mash powder I might sprinkle atop their Goldenfeast alone until this is sorted.

zupreem response seems generic vs lafeber...

 

[LordTriggs]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

my suspicion lies with the zupreem in this. Don't know why just my gut but that response is such an obvious copy paste reply from customer service, the test results will be interesting. Only other thing is could be infected water maybe?

 

[Tami2]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Oh my, how awful!! :smile016:
Thank you so much for sharing.
Levi eats all of those brands, not exactly the same products.
However, I did have the Lefeber's Tropical Fruit Nutriberries on hand.
Luckily, he rejected them every time I offered them.
Thank God!!

 

[Kiwibird]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Lafeber's response shows genuine sympathy and concern for birds lives. Wow @ Zupreem's response though. Very cold, defensive and not at all sympathetic towards the loss of ELEVEN precious lives. Even if they truly feel their product is not at fault (which it very well may not be) not even a "we feel sympathy for their loss" anywhere in that statement? WTF Zupreem corporate?

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Parrots passing in Michigan....so far.....

As a precaution, I had provide our Certified Avian Vet (CAV) with the body of this Thread. As a consideration for care in your area, you may want to consider the same action.

Good idea. I will do that.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

The rescue operator did say that she had contacted all the companies involved, and they were all being responsive and helpful. But the Zupreme public response inspires less confidence than Lafaeber’s. The foods left in the bowls has already been sent to MSU. I hope they find the problem soon.

 

[itzjbean]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Wow, just read this and so heartbroken. I feed the Zupreem fruit blend to my cockatiels, going to go home over work and check the batches.... on top of that, the rude response from Zupreem really churns my stomach.

 

[Terry57]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I also think it's horrible that these birds died, and hope she will post everything about the findings. I hope they can figure out what happened, there are thousands of worried people everywhere.
That Zupreem message was a post from their FB page in response to a comment someone made, I haven't seen their response to the actual rescue. I wish the rescue would post their communications with the companies and the replies.

 

[Terry57]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Here is Higgins FB post:

Higgins Premium Pet Foods
10 mins ·
There has been concern over a Facebook post attributing the death of birds to three different food manufacturers including Higgins. There has been no evidence presented to The Higgins Group Corp. to substantiate this claim nor any reports of similar incidents occurring. We were surprised yesterday evening when this post was brought to our attention by concerned pet parents.
While we sympathize with sad loss of these special pets and the author’s intent on trying to help others, we do not agree with the method. Even if unintended, the author’s post has caused a frenzy of anxiety over an unfounded conclusion and before contacting us. Some have even written that they are immediately changing brands. We want to assure you that the Higgins food and lot the post refers to, Vita Seed Parrot, was produced in October 2017 and has been in the marketplace since with over eight lots being made after.

Higgins takes great pride in the bond we share with our pet parents. A bond built on the trust that we have your pet’s health and safety as our number one concern. We are a family owned and operated company that considers our customers as part of our extended family. We take pride in the high end ingredients we use and in our quality control procedures which have led to a perfect record of zero recalls since our inception 45 years ago.

We intend on contacting the author and investigating, to the extent we now can, what occurred. We can again state that there is no evidence that Higgins Vita Seed is unsafe to feed and we are sorry for the concerns this unsupported claim has caused.

A. Dean Reyes
Director of Marketing & Sales

https://www.facebook.com/HigginsPremium/

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I stopped feeding ZuPreem a while ago, but I still have some leftover bags of it. Now I know NEVER to use them. I do give them the ‘Rewarding Treats’ and ‘Smart Selects’ occasionally though. But the Fruit Blend pellets, I will never touch again. I’m sorry to hear your birds died

 

[Terry57]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Zupreem FB Post:

ZuPreem
15 mins ·
Message from Dr. Laurie Hess, DVM, Diplomate ABVP (Avian Practice) & ZuPreem Director of Pet Health and Nutrition:

I and the entire ZuPreem team share in the sadness of the loss of the birds mentioned in a recent post from Birds And Beaks Rescue and Rehab. We became aware of this situation on Tuesday afternoon, January 2. Our team has been open and will remain cooperative to provide this pet owner with information and support during this period of inquiry.

Please be assured that ZuPreem has very strict and disciplined quality control procedures. All of our food is thoroughly tested before it is released to the public. We do have retained samples of the batch codes and date codes of the food in question and we have again reviewed the analytical testing and are confident that the food is safe to feed.

The ZuPreem products in question are sold throughout the United States and in 46 countries around the world. To date, this is the only health concern that has occurred related to these batches.

To clarify, the post from the pet owner states that her veterinarian has conducted a “gross necropsy”. Please understand that this is only a visual observation without any clinical testing. Assumptions should not be made that these deaths are the result of any ZuPreem food. I remain available to all the veterinarians that are working to determine the findings of this situation and to answer any questions they may have.

We understand the concerns that have been raised over this issue and whenever a pet owner loses a pet, we share in their heart-felt loss. Please be assured that ZuPreem food is safe to feed. As more information becomes available we will keep you updated.

https://www.facebook.com/zupreem/

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

Looking at the ingredients label for Zupreem pellets, I think they’re the suspect...

 

[SailBoat]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

After read and re-reading the responses from the companies that 'MAY' in some way be connected to the recent loose of 11 Parrots. And, also, re-reading the Document provided as part of the three (3) active Threads. I find gaps regarding the communication between the Rescue and the Companies.

It is clear to me that one Companies expressed deep concern while another was more (to use another members words) 'Cut and Paste,' and the third a bit hostile regarding the method that the Rescue used in communicating.

It is very important to remember that as with any Company, information streams within Company can be cloudy. As a result, of not everyone within the Company is aware of the "who, What, Where and When" of any communication method. I'm not defending the Companies, nor their responses. But, I am staying that 'as a group' we should take care not to join the Bash the Involved Companies until the different Labs complete their work!

At this point, we should practice cautions in our use of those specific products and also double check the batch numbers that we are using!!! Batch numbers are very important as it is the only way a Manufacturer can tie back to a specific product run!

As included in Terry57 (SM) Post:
"While we sympathize with sad loss of these special pets and the author’s intent on trying to help others, we do not agree with the method. Even if unintended, the author’s post has caused a frenzy of anxiety over an unfounded conclusion and before contacting us. Some have even written that they are immediately changing brands. We want to assure you that the Higgins food and lot the post refers to, Vita Seed Parrot, was produced in October 2017 and has been in the marketplace since with over eight lots being made after."


And, more specify:
"I wish the rescue would post their communications with the companies and the replies."

At this point, we need to be observes! Reserve our responses to the provided facts and as those facts become available make choices based on those facts.

 

[Scott]

Re: Parrots passing in Michigan....so far.....

Utterly heartbreaking, I cannot begin to imagine the pools of tears and regret.

I hope the analysis of suspect foods is accomplished rigorously and quickly, and disseminated without excessive corporate "blur."

 

[Violet_Diva]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I am at a loss for words. How tragically awful.

I personally feel it to be wise to refrain from feeding the named brands until the results are back, just as a precautionary measure should a particular batch prove to be contaminated and the culprit for the disaster.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I'm trying to have restraint ... it seems better to be safe than sorry, at least until we know why these birds died. It could have been something unrelated to the food. Maybe the birds had irritated stomachs from one cause, and the sudden deaths had a different cause. We don't know what information is important here. Maybe there was a monoxide buildup, that got cleared by the time it was tested, because they were opening doors to move the birds. But until we know, if it saves the life of one parrot, it's worth being careful.

I also posted a comment on the Zupreme FaceBook page, in response to their comment. They stated "We do have retained samples of the batch codes and date codes of the food in question and we have again reviewed the analytical testing and are confident that the food is safe to feed." I read this as meaning that they pulled up the test results (from computer or paper) and reviewed them, and all looked OK. So I asked them which it was - did they review the test results, or did they repeat the testing on the retained batches of product. When they answer, I'll post it here.

 

[SailBoat]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

I really believe that WE need to restraint and use great caution regarding this heart-breaking occurrence!!!

Until we have solid information back from the involved Labs, the Vet Clinic and their Lab(s) and MSU! We are not providing factual information to those that rely on us as individuals!

Yes, we should recommend caution, regarding using the products that are being used. But that is the limits of what we should be doing now!

Steven!

 

[Scott]

Re: Please read, many birds dead at rehab, food to blame?

In the ideal world we would have a CSI style investigation to examine every possible angle, including some not immediately imagined. Sadly that will not happen, so we must wait for the food toxicity tests and possible necropsies. Meanwhile, do everything possible to safeguard your bird or flock, using best judgment if you feed any of the suspect foods.