Portion control

[Rambosmother]

Anyone's bird on portion control? My 25 year old Quaker is overweight and prone to fat lumps. He has had many lumps removed so far. Vet suggested portion control feeding. Sounds heartbreaking but I also want to improve his health. I read a Quaker should eat 2 to 4 teaspoons a day. He is on Harrison's organic lifetime adult granules. He was on hagen tropican lifetime granules his whole life. I have to attribute his long life to this food but it is higher in fat so vet suggested the switch to Harrison's. Anyone have experience with portion control feeding?

 

[chris-md]

I wouldn’t look at it as portion control so much as simply giving them the correct amount. Overweight and lipomas are signs of a combination of too much food and poor diet, intersecting with old age.

It really is just a matter of giving The correct diet in the correct amount, and don’t overindulge in treats and snacks. Even back off the pellets a bit and start incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables. Serve pellets for breakfast and fresh chop in the evening, for example.

 

[SailBoat]

Portion control can be very dangerous if it is not closely monitored. The only groups that I know that position control are Zoos. With the Zoo's it is based on purchasing point discussions (Inventory Control) as they rarely over feed and just as rarely underfeed. But if they run-out, that's a nightmare...

Now there are a couple of types of portion control.
- The first dealing with 'what.' Here it is an amount of Fresh Green and other Vegges and an amount of dry diet that includes pellets.
- The second dealer with 'how much.' Here it is the volume being provided for the day.

One of my common complaints is that Vets do not provide a document to the Client as to what was covered and what the Client needs to be provided, doing, etc... When your Vet was covering diet and portion control as a means of controlling your Parrots weight and other health conditions s/he should have also defined what goal /objective was in place and what you needed to obtain it.

Example: Over the next number of days, list what is provided and determine by weight its volume, how much is being eaten. This assumes that the diet is not
just pellets or fatty type seeds, but a blend. For the first week sever as normal and obtain your Parrot's weight each morning after the morning dump and before food is made available. Continue to obtain and list the weight of your Parrot each morning hence forward. On the second week cut back to the amount that your Parrot normally would each each day. On the third week, cut back only 5 percent of the prior week.

If this, or something like it was not provided, you have no real direction regarding the requisition to loss weight.

Call you Vet and get specific information.
Whenever you go to the Vet always take a note pad with pen and have a list of question for the Vet and keep notes as to what the Vet finds and asks you to do...

FYI, Truly Great Information provide in the above Post!!!

 

[Laurasea]

What does your Quaker weigh?
I'd slowly I crease excerise. Is he flighted?
Congratulations on getting to 25!