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[biohexes]

I'm confused about cat food. I've always been told that the cheapest wet food is better than the most expensive dry food, and in general that food more like "real food" for cats is better and to avoid all grains. But you've been saying that grains are actually okay? So I don't know what to think. Do you have a post about cat food?

Prynhawn,

Nutrition is a complicated issue, and it most certainly can be confusing. Here are some helpful links!

[in-depth wet food quality post]

[dry food is fine; Dr. Ferox feeds her own cats dry food]

optional small 2016 post: [correcting WADTT on grain-free being necessary]

Links supplied by mod @bendyblitzle

-mod @whalefromwales

[biohexes]

People are making me doubt myself again so I need more clarification on why big brand foods like Purina aren’t bad. They’re saying that since WSAVA is funded by purina its not a reliable source. And also are doubting vets that didn’t take as much nutrition classes as a canine/feline nutritionist are a good source for whats good pet food. And one is saying all the nutritionists they’ve went to for their pet say stuff like purina is bad.

Hi. Sueanoi here.

Because you’re not disclosing who the “people that say things” are, I can only speculate that those people may have ulterior motive. In my experience, people who are trying to get you off a brand is trying to sell you their own brand. And people who says “vets don’t know stuff” are trying to sell you their brand, particularly ones that vets don’t recommend, or they fall for the scam of those people.

Dr.Ferox had talked about veterinary nutrition at length. here are some of the recommended reads.

a related ask about Purina and its dubious-sourced slander

a meme post that ended up with a long answer of someone questioning about mainstream brand vs “natural” brand.

vet education on pet nutrition

a reply to random person coming out of nowhere to tell a vet that vets don’t know nutrition.

@gettingvetted posted about marketing scam of pet food products that try to make themselves look better by making others look bad,

And this one is by me.

...To whoever that keeps saying we don’t know the stuff, How dare you? Our business involve making animals healthy. Don’t you know that food is a very important part of things that make an animal healthy? We had years of intense study, not a couple hours of google.

If a brand is confident in their product, they should approach us and convince us with their info, not bad-mouth us because we won’t recommend them.

[biohexes]

do you have any good sources for cat behavioral issues? i am constantly getting attacked by my roomates former feral cat without obvious provocation and i'm sick of it.

vet-and-wild here.

First, rule out medical issues with your vet. Any behavior workup requires ruling out other causes first with an exam, bloodwork, etc. They can also advise on medication options if needed. There are also veterinary behaviorists that specialize in working with aggression issues in cats.

Pam Johnson Bennett is a great resource for cat behavior issues.

GV here.

Jackson Galaxy is also a great resource for cat behavior. Watching a few episodes of his show “My Cat From Hell” might give you some ideas. Definitely don’t follow his ideas on cat food, but otherwise a place I refer clients all the time.

[biohexes]

Vorwerk chickens expressing the dominant white gene. Vorwerks, a relative to the Lakenvelder, Usually have black hackles and tails. Dominant White inhibits the expression of black eumelanin which turns feathers that are supposed to be black to white. Here is the typical coloration for this breed.

The birds up top were created by crossing a vorwerk to a red pyle colored bantam.

Keep reading

[biohexes]

What are the expert level chicken breeds?

Everyone is asking this so i will just say one at a time. Also this is just my opinion!

The Scots Dumpy isnt for beginners due to its creeper gene which shortens their legs. The creeper gene is lethal when homozygous so this decreases hatch rates and can make them difficult to keep and breed for beginners.

There is something so concerning yet also so funny about a full sized chicken on tiny stubby legs. This breed is pretty old and isnt really known for having any patience health issues in their native country despite their stature.

That being said they are extremely rare in the US so that means stock you see in the US may be inbred and have health issues due to poor breeding.

A little fun fact about them is that they are sometimes called Alarm Clock birds due to being punctual and consistent during the times when they crow. They are also very watchful and are keen to make a loud fuss if they spot a predator.

[biohexes]

What’s your favorite breed not from the US and rarely seen in the US?

Índio Gigante. Their size is mind boggling.

They are from Brazil and are known for their docile personality. The hens are good layers and rarely go broody. They need a high quality diet with extra calicum offered at an early age to support their growth and most people who raise them also offer vitamins in the water as its extremely important to make sure their legs grow properly.

[biohexes]

i can literally SMELL the whiteness. insane

that vee gahn satire blog of a dog meat farm funniest fucking thing ive ever seen. this is like when conservatives make fun of health care by sarcastically suggesting that people shouldn't pay money for live saving medication and surgery. in your attempt to sound stupid you ended up saying something actually normal LOL

[biohexes]

that vee gahn satire blog of a dog meat farm funniest fucking thing ive ever seen. this is like when conservatives make fun of health care by sarcastically suggesting that people shouldn't pay money for live saving medication and surgery. in your attempt to sound stupid you ended up saying something actually normal LOL

[biohexes]

Opinion on human maintained feral cat colonies? I've heard the argument that they make TNR easier than if the cats were scattered through the area (and I know TNR isn't as useful as commonly thought, but better than nothing right?). However I also know that providing food helps the population grow. Are there any other downsides to them living in a colony? A longstanding "feral cat village" near me with cat houses and caretakers will soon be forcibly broken up and people are PISSED.

Feral colonies devastate their local ecosystem and the food attracts more wildlife which clashes with the cats. It’s also just generally inhumane and leads to an open pool for rabies and FIV to flourish. The only way to handle feral cats is culling all of them.

[biohexes]

Right

[biohexes]

Posts like this are not funny

This is not a normal part of cat ownership, and it should not be treated as such. This is why we tell you not to use your hands to play with cats. Or if your cat is "randomly" attacking you then you probably need to take the time to look at their body language. If you dont know your cat's body language signs if upset can be easy to miss. It is not normal for your cat to do this to you. Medically speaking, your cat tearing up your hands like this is also a health risk, making infections and zoonotic diseases much more likely

For reference I have 5 cats of my own and this is what my hands look like

[biohexes]

your bulldog isn’t being quirky it’s actively trying not to die every 10 seconds

[biohexes]

I did not know that turkeys didn't have distinct breeds. Is the term "heritage turkey" just for marketing purposes then?

no heritage turkeys are a thing. its just a catch-all term for non-industrial turkey varieties. ones that arent broad-breasted and can reproduce without the need for ai. if you are familiar with the health problems cornish cross chickens have, broad-breasted turkeys have all of those and more. theres good reasons to buy heritage turkeys

[biohexes]

theres a post going around saying how you should NOT get a parrot even if you are a dedicated owner. i do not personally agree and am actually a bit mad at the way they portray parrots, almost teaching people to fear them. whats your stance on it?

If you’re referring to pepperandpals’ post, I agree with it. Had you asked me this question a few years ago I would probably say otherwise but after all the experience, knowledge and dedication I’ve put in to learning I no longer believe that parrots should be sold in the pet trade under most conditions.

You haven’t a clue how many birds get mistreated, left with dowel perches, no UV lighting, small cages, seed only diets, forced to aggress, get placed in homes with teflon products, and end up living miserably with these people up until their lives end way earlier than they should have.  Too many people think that exotics are just that, exotic, a decoration, something to brag about and end up not actually caring for it as much as they should.  Too many people believe that they’re doing right or don’t need to be doing more and as a result the bird suffers.

When it comes to people who do do their research, have previous hands on experience and really care for a bird the best they can, it’s rarely ever enough when you compare, and the average person is not able to provide that sort of lifestyle for them.  Using myself as an example, I spend all day with my birds, I spend all my time adding things to environment, switching up diets, giving them exercise, mentally stimulating them, cage cleaning, rearranging the bird room, it’s no exaggeration when I say I spend a solid 12 hours that they’re awake caring for them and then spend the whole evening trying to think of ways to improve the care I’m giving them for tomorrow.  Despite how hard I try, how much research and how much i provide it never feels like enough.  because it isn’t enough.

I do my best to show you guys all the work I put in to caring for my little girls, I constantly receive messages telling me how amazing I am for giving these birds this life and all the work I put in to them but in all honesty, you guys don’t see the half of it.  You don’t see the thousands of hours of research I put in to every aspect of their life, their diets, their housing, their natural foraging experiences, safe plants, cleaning, moulting habits, behavioural situations, space division, possession, territory layouts, and so much more go on on a daily basis.  You don’t see all the work I have to do to make sure that these highly territorial species doesn’t fight and kill one another so that I can continue to have them both out as much as possible, only having them out one at a time would take away so much space and enjoyment from their lives.   You don’t see the vet bills, the preparation, the stress reducing, you don’t see the costs, the time, the energy that goes in to trying to keep them happy.  You all seem to have this idea that the care I give my birds is way beyond exceeding expectations but let me tell you something, what I do I consider to be bare minimum.

All the effort, expenses, time, and work is absolutely necessary for them to be content with a captive lifestyle, if I was away at school or work full time I would consider this care to be subpar, to be inadequate, they would be unhappy with that lifestyle because that’s not what they’re designed for. They are not meant to live this way and not everyone has the time, space, personality or tolerance necessary to care for them the way they deserve.

This is a parrotlet’s natural habitat

source

This is my parrotlets’ habitat

Can you look at those and tell me that they can possibly be perfectly content and happy this way without the time and effort I put in to it?

Can you tell me that a bird so intelligent, so so smart can be removed from that environment and so perfectly adapt without any problems?

Can you look at this bird and tell me that they’re happy with this lifestyle?

Plucking is a behaviour that only happens in captivity it has never been recorded in the wild.  Plucking is a behaviour caused by boredom, understimulation, stress, inadequate diet, and sometimes even happens just because they’re depressed.

You can not tell me that parrots are happier this way, you can not possibly tell me that taking something so perfectly adapted to a single lifestyle, perfectly designed to fly forever is okay having that removed.  You will never be able to convince me that something perfectly designed to work with flight will be happy to have them chopped off for human enjoyment.  My own Mia used to be clipped because she was from a store, my own Mia was depressed because of it, she did not move very much, she did not want to play with toys, she did not want to interact with people, she was miserable that way.  But people wouldn’t notice that, they would dismiss it as the bird’s personality or just adapting or some other excuse to ignore the fact that the bird is having a horrific time.  You will never be able to convince me that this:

is healthier or more beautiful than this

I’ve already had to make a separate post on why being clipped is so detrimental to their health even though it’s such a common practice. And I’ve made a separate post on all the work that has to go in to keeping a bird safe.

you will never convince me that being captive is healthy.

Parrots are a full time job, they are not a pet, they are not a decoration, they are not a toy, they are not a phase, they’re a commitment and a hell of a big one.  Birds should not be readily available in pet stores, owners should have to go through tests to see if they’re capable of providing a stimulating environment for the ones that already stuck in this trade.  I think that breeding should be focused on maintaining health and maintaining the survival of species such as the endangered blue throated macaws and I think that species such as hyacinths, or cockatoos shouldn’t be in homes at all.  Keeping those birds isn’t a matter or giving them an enriching life, it’s a matter of doing your best to prevent them from suffering. 

In this world ignorance is bliss, a few years ago I would have thought just the same as you, I believed it’s just a bird it’s sold in a store it will be just fine.  But as soon as you learn, as you soon as you see all the harm and the suffering these birds go through you’ll change your mind.  

If you are a dedicated owner, if you have the experience and knowledge you should have before you even get a bird a pet store wouldn’t even be an option.  There’s a reason that every reputable person, blogger, trainer, or other animal worker will always consider adopting before all else, it certainly isn’t a coincidence that the most educated refuse pet stores.  Breeding has resulted in so many god damned problems, I’m certain you’ve heard of the feather duster budgies caused by poor breeding or the numerous parrot hybrids, while pretty they serve no purpose.

I’m certain some of you saw this post going around featuring the feather duster budgies? Do you have any idea how many comments said “I want one”?  These birds are a genetic failure, their feathers keep growing and never stop until they die, they either die from overheating, they can’t breathe, they can’t walk to make it to food so they starve or are generally crushed under the weight.

The fact of the matter is that birds aren’t designed for this lifestyle, they are not domesticated they are wild they retain all that natural behaviour all those natural needs, they bite, they scream, they fly, they make a mess, they destroy things, they’re active, and demanding, the average person, and I’d go as far as to say a solid 70% of most bird owners, can not handle their care. How many times have you read “my bird won’t stop screaming”, “I’m considering getting rid of my bird”, “my bird won’t stop biting”, “my bird only likes one person”, “my bird hates me”, “i can’t afford this vet bill”, “I don’t want to buy a UV light or a filter”, a lot, right?

All of those problems happen because people didn’t do their research, they didn’t know how to handle the bird, how to react to the problems when they started showing up, they didn’t know what to look for they were unprepared for the care that they need.

The majority of birds from pet stores and breeders suffer, by the time they make it to 2 years old and they start acting like proper adults they get sent to shelters.  When they become adults they don’t take shit from anyone, they have 0 tolerance for your foolishness and lash out when you ignore their body language. People don’t want a bird that wants to be treated with respect, they want one that will sit there, do tricks, talk, and look cute when they want it to, they don’t want mutual trust, they want obedience and don’t want to work to get it.

I don’t care how good of an owner you think you are, once you stop blocking out everything you’ll see the damage the pet trade has on these birds and your mind will change.  It’s not a coincidence that the most educated or experienced will advise you against buying pet store birds or breeder birds and I sincerely hope you listen to them.

I know I will certainly never purchase a bird from a breeder or a store, I hope you won’t either.

[biohexes]

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE NEED FOR REGULATED HORSE SLAUGHTER IN THE UNITED STATES? NO ONE EVER WANTS TO TALK ABOUT THIS.

[biohexes]

Image desc: Infographic of ethical and unethical pigeon beak sizes created by Companion Pigeon Chat jana#5550 Image is of line drawings of pigeon breeds broken up into quadrants based on beak size: short, medium, normal and large. Unethical breeds are displayed over a red background color and ethical breeds are over a green background. In the unethically short quadrant, there is a oriental/modern frill and a safi egyptian swift. The ethical medium quadrant shows a classic old frill and an old german owl. The ethical normal shows a homer and a lucerne. In the ethical large quadrant, it shows a scandaroon and below it is the unethical quadrant that shows an egyptian moraslat. (End desc)

The ones labeled unethical are due to the beak size and/or shape effecting quality of life. The short ones are unable to feed their own young and have issues preening and eating properly. Less is known about the moraslat, but the exaggerated underbite is presumed to cause difficulty with eating and preening.

You also may be wondering why a lucerne is in the normal section instead of medium. Pay attention to the forehead compared to the owl pigeons. It is smooth and long, with a large space between the corner of the mouth and eye. Their short-looking beak is an optical illusion that becomes apparent when they yawn. Most of their beak length is hidden by feathers and their wattles.

[biohexes]

Hi! Would you mind elaborating a little about the ethics or lack thereof of keeping parrots as pets? I had a budgie as a child that I loved very very much, and for the past several years have been stuck between looking into a pair of budgies or an (indoor) cat as a pet—because of course the two would be mutually exclusive. But I wouldn’t want to perpetuate something that’s harmful to an animal, even if I did love my childhood pet! (I did a little googling about before asking and got some mixed answers, hence the asking directly.) Thanks very much!

Parrots are birds that, in recent years, even zoos are having to reevaluate the ethics of keeping them properly. They are highly intelligent communal animals with complex social interactions with other parrots in their flock, which usually numbers to hundreds or thousands of individuals. Most parrot species cover several miles a day flying around with their flock playing and foraging.

Parrots are wild animals, despite the fact they are normalized as pets due to their traditional role as poached and exploited staples of the pet trade. They cannot be kept fully enriched in a household, bird cages are not appropriate enclosures for them, most of the feeds sold for parrots at pet stores are not appropriate nutrition as most parrots rely more heavily on fruit and nuts than seed-based mixes, most pet owners are not capable of shaping and filing the beak and claws of parrots, and many parrots in the pet trade are sexual imprints which is the reason for parrots becoming overly attached to one owner and stress-plucking if rehomed. Imprinted parrots may also have issues interacting with other parrots, which is another major issue since parrots have such a high requirement for socialization with several others.

If you enjoy pet birds, there are much better options. Pigeons are domesticated birds which enjoy contact with humans, and are generally not raised as full imprints because of the difficulty to hand-feed a baby pigeon. Pigeons are also less prone to boredom in comparison, as well as being less painfully loud to keep indoors as their vocalizations are not shrill screams meant to be heard from miles away.

Most pet parrots end up suffering from either physical or mental issues, usually both. I genuinely believe they are even less ethical than having a pet raptor, and it should be apparent how against that I am.