ALIMENTO COMPLEMENTARE
PER PSITTACIDI

Complementary feed for psittaciformes and other pet birds with Milk Thistle Extractplus, polyphenols blocking mycotoxins and soothe inflammation of the intestinal mucosa.

Birds are often affected by liver disease for various reasons, which in short are:
  • The diet offered in captivity can hardly meet the needs of non-domestic species completely;
  • Few scientific studies exist on the evaluation of the function of various organs in birds, especially the liver, by comparative biochemistry analysis* in response to commercial diets fed over long periods;
  • raw materials used for food preparation are easily attacked by bacteria and fungi.
Complementary food with phosphatidylcholine, which acts as a carrier for the silymarin contained in milk thistle extract and promotes faster intestinal absorption, with important detoxifying effect on the liver and stimulating the formation of new hepatocytes. In addition, polyphenols that block mycotoxins and calm inflammation of the intestinal mucosa. To be added to the normal daily diet of animals subject to dietary stress, liver disorders and/or undergoing pharmacological therapies.

Among the most common pathogens found in seed mixtures and other foods are fungi of the genus Aspergillus. These fungi, in addition to being potentially pathogenic in a direct way, even if never primitive (they always need a drop in the immune defences to exert their pathogenic action), produce a variety of toxins; one of the most dangerous is the infamous aflatoxin, produced by Aspergillus flavusfrom which it in fact takes its name (A for Aspergillus, fla for flavus).

The effects of aflatoxins on the organism of animals and humans are manifold and depend on various factors including 'animal species' and the relationship between the amount of toxins ingested and the size of the subject, but apart from the acute forms, which are less frequent, we are interested in the medium- to long-term effects, which manifest themselves in damage to the immune system: carcinogenicity, fertility declines, mutagenic effects and above all hepatopathy.

In birds, in addition to the well-known problem of feeding, there is an objective difficulty for the Veterinarian to make a correct diagnosis: blood tests are difficult to interpret with respect to liver function; even if for experienced avian Veterinarians liver biopsy is a routine procedure, not all Veterinarians are able to take a liver biopsy of a bird and not all owners accept expensive and invasive procedures such as an endoscopic biopsy.



References

Raffaella Capitelli and Lorenzo CrostaOverview of Psittacine Blood Analysis and Comparative Retrospective Study of Clinical Diagnosis, Hematology and Blood Chemistry in Selected Psittacine Species. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice Vol. 16, Issue 1, Pages 71-120