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What causes Fatty Liver Disease in Pet Birds
If the fat content of the diet is too high, the fat accumulates in
the bloodstream and is deposited throughout the body, especially
in the liver, as well as the causing development of fat deposits.
This fat slowly infiltrates into the liver over time so that
there is less and less functional liver tissue left until normal
body metabolism is disrupted and the bird is subject
to secondary disease.
As this fat accumulates it forms fat deposits on the chest and
abdomen so that the bird has a buxomy chest or belly. Due to the
excessive weight the bird may be unable to fly or tires easily.
Fat accumulation may also occur around the heart, interfering
with normal function.
Fatty Liver Disease is thus caused by a high fat seed diet.
Seed is high in fat (which is why the birds like it so much,
it tastes really good).
See Also:
Obesity in Pet Birds
How can a Pet Bird Prevent Fatty Liver Disease?
Basically a pet bird gets fatty liver disease from being obese.
Prevention thus lies in keeping your bird near a normal weight.
* Switching birds from an all-seed diet to a more suitable diet
consisting of pellets, fresh vegetables, and fruit will decrease
its daily intake of calories. And, also allow your bird
to enjoy a higher level of nutrition.
Be careful when switching to a new diet. Do it slowly over
several weeks
*
Providing the pet bird with a daily exercise period outside
it's cage. Bird's burn a lot of calories flying around.
* Pure, fresh water is important for the bird. Don't use
tap water, we recommend only steam distilled or reverse
osmosis water. Tap water has chemicals in it and well water
typically has high amounts of mineral. The bird's liver
must detoxify the water before sending it to the cells.
Steam distilled water is already 99.9% pure, so there
is more energy left to be used for other metabolic functions.
