A few weeks ago I have received a very friendly email from
a subscriber of the 'Parrots Secrets' Newsleter and member
of the Elite Parrots Club who told us about how harmful ionizers
can be both for humans and birds in general.
I found Laurie Hoegsted's email so helpful and informative,
that I personally asked her permission to publish it on this
email today. So please find enclosed below a real story
about ionizers, since they can cause the most damage to
parrot -- including including potential fatalities!
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Why Ionizers may harm your Parrot's health
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"I have something for you that may be of interest. As I have
told you, I have an umbrella Cockatoo named Sasha. Make
a long story short, the last two weeks we were here alone
as hubby went south for a visit. I received a new feeder for
the cage and also an air purifier.
I was so happy too think the air would be cleaner and he
would have a feeder that would save money and messes.
The feeder works great but Sasha didn't act right. I woke
one morning and the air smelled strange or funny. It was
nice outside so everyday we would be out for awhile.
On Thursday two weeks ago, I took him to the vet for nail trim
and we found out he had lost weight, also night before when
I came in he had pooped all over the place.
So we knew he wasn't feeling great. The vet asked if anything
was different around the house. I told him: hubby was away,
Sasha had a new feeder and the household had a new air purifier.
He explained about changes and how birds will act different.
Sasha likes the feeder, examines it and eats more now. The vet
said he didn't know about the IONIZERS in air purifiers. He had
brought it up at a convention and that was the subject all day.
Seems like no one understands about them.
My sister, a nurse, told me to shut it off. She said she and a
doctor found out that it caused problems in lungs of some people.
My mother was real sick from hers. My sister turned hers off as
she smelled the funny odor in the air. So I shut mine off.
You would not believe the difference in my cockatoo, Sasha. I
called the vet and told him he was onto something and also called
the Oreck company and told them about it.
They were really concerned and said that they were going to put
more into the books explaining about ionizers and I told them
to put a warning on there about birds and small animals.
Parrots don't have the capacity for fresh air in those little lungs
if bad things are going in there. I told the manufacture of the air
purifier that I wasn't happy about the fact I almost lost my baby.
A $2000 bird!
They were really apologetic, but if they didn't know it wasn't
something they could fix. They are going to send the information
to the research center and look into the ionizers for the future.
I'm sorry this is so long, but I have been concerned about this.
What if people don't pay attention and human babies are getting
sick from this and maybe dying? What if beloved parrots are dying
without explanation? Our vet agreed with my concern. He's going to
look into it too."
By Laurie Hoegsted
