WHAT SHOULD YOU FEED YOUR BIRD

Dr.Carpino & her dog Katie Important Dates:		Animal & Bird Medical Center of Temple Dr. Mary Carpino "Where we treat your pet like our own" (254) 899-8800 Animal & Bird Medical Center will be Closing as of March 16, 2011 We have enjoyed taking care of your pets these past 13 years. However, the physical demands of the job are significant, and the time is right for me to take a position that is less physically challenging. I am a "big dog" person at heart, but when our many 130 lb patients seem to weigh 180 and our one 227 lb patient seems to weight 400 lbs, it is time to make an adjustment. I will be moving out of the area, but will continue to be accessible at katie@animalandbird.com. We will be taking care of records after March 10, 2011 and will let you know the details of that as the week progresses. Please be sure we have your email. If you are not sure we have it - please send it to katie@animalandbird.com Please be patient with us as we close the clinic.	NOTE: All equipment, fixtures and supplies must go. Equipment and fixtures are being auctioned online at www.shattuck.com Click on Online Auctions and then on Veterinary Hospital - Temple Check daily as we add more items. Inspection of items will be Fri & Sat 3/11-3/12 from 10 am to 12 noon The auction ends 3/14/11. Pickup of auction items will be 3/18 & 3/19 from 10am to 5pm
Last appointment date:	3/10/11
Last day to order prescription food:	3/9/11
Last day to order prescription medicine:	3/12/11
Last day to pick up pre-ordered food or medicine:	3/16/11
Large Reductions in all non-prescription items:	3/7-3/16/11
Big "Garage/Lobby/Yard Sale" - Yes - this is a Sunday 8am-5pm.	3/20/11

WHAT SHOULD YOU FEED YOUR BIRD & WHY?

Years ago we didn't have the option of feeding a balanced pelleted diet to birds. A dog is a dog & a cat is a cat but a bird is not just a bird. A macaw is a macaw, and a cockatoo is a cockatoo, but a grey is not a conure is not a macaw is not an eclectus.... and they all have different nutritional needs. Greys need more calcium. Macaws need more fat. Amazons need less fat. Toucans & mynahs need low iron. Lories need a very specialized nectar diet.

Fortunately, we now have several bird food manufacturers who not only make size-specific but also make species-specific foods. If you bird is already on pellets, the change to a different type is generally easy. If your bird is on seed, we have a specific method to change them over. We NEVER NEVER NEVER starve a bird to pellets. We do it based on psychology & taste preference. Click on this link to see how to change a bird to pellets.

We are now carrying Harrison's Pellets, Pretty Bird Pellets, Lafeber's Pellets, Lory nectar (dry & wet), and a great mixture of "healthy junk food for your birds".

Which food should you get?

FIRST CHOICE: By far I recommend Harrison's. It is organically grown, has no preservatives or food dyes. Birds love it. It is extremely healthy for birds! It is also about twice as expensive as the other foods and has a short shelf life. You do not want to buy more than 1 month supply at a time.

Wrong question: How much does your bird eat?

Right question: How much does your bird waste?

For most quaker size birds you should buy 1 lb at a time. For most Grey size and larger you should buy 5 lbs at a time.

If you have 4-5 large birds, we do have a 25 lb size of Harrison's available. Do not try to economize if you do not have sufficient birds to go through 25 lbs in a month. Remember - Harrison's has no preservatives.

My next best choice for food (and in some cases first choice) is Pretty Bird. Pretty bird is fruity in flavor, has marked food coloring (which some birds do like certain colors), and has the very wonderful advantage of having species-specific nutrition build into it's pellets. African birds get African special (remember higher calcium), Macaws get Hi-Energy Special, Amazons get Hi-Pro, Eclectus get Eclectus special.

For Lories & other nectar feeding birds we feed Avico Lory-life powder & nectar. Lories are just so specialized that we are feeding a powder/nectar diet rather than a pellet - but it is still a species-specific formulated diet.

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: The first week of every month we will be having 20% off ALL bird foods (including healthy junk food). We will post the exact dates at the clinic & on-line.

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