Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Although I firmly believe that correlation does not necessarily imply causation I’m very concerned with the fact that 60% of pet birds die of malnutrition according to necropsies (animal autopsies) performed by veterinarians.

I can’t help feel the explosion of feeding “chop” to pet birds has fueled that statistic.

Too many pet bird keepers make “chop” and other human food the cornerstone of their avian nutrition program.

 

Chop has little to no nutritional value for any living organism.

Chop is a salad offering little protein necessary to produce amino acids which feathers are formed from.

 

Now that CBD oil has become all-the-rage and is the go-to for anything that ails a mammal now finds its way into avian care.

 

Because it’s good for 150-pound humans and 40-pound dogs, somehow it translates perfectly to 64-gram modern micro velociraptors with the ability to fly in part owing too a 200 BPM standing heart rate.

 

To put that in perspective a 20-year-old 2 legged mammal sprinter may hit 200 BPMs at their top speed.

 

“Where is the connection?” – he asks rhetorically.

 

I am now persistently sounding the alarm to not embrace CBD oil as a cure for any ailment your pet bird may have or negative behavior displayed, before talking to me.

 

Thus my second article on CBD oil for pet birds was entitled CBD Oil – Miracle Cure For Birds Or Just The New Snake Oil

 

Subsequently, I’ve been collecting what we call in the digital marketing biz, “UGC” (User Generated Content) – What Our Readers Think About Pet Birds And CBD Oil.

 

Moving forward I tripped over FDA Testing of CBD Products where we find the majority of CBD oil brand labels highly over-inflate the actual concentration of CBD oil.

 

via GIPHY

 

From Taryn Palo  Regarding CBD oil.

 

My avian vet sells it. 

 

He’s taken care of my Umbrella cockatoo for 23 years now so I pretty much trust him. 

 

And I read your articles and concerns. 

 

I think one of the problems here is that there is a huge disparity in the types being sold. 

 

You basically don’t know what you are buying. 

 

So here is my experience. 

 

I started researching various brands before I tried it. 

 

And I talked to my nephew who is a grower. 

 

He recommended Medterra. 

 

Now I am NOT a representative for them. 

 

But then my acupuncturist recommended it, my cat vet recommended it, my MIL took it, and avian Dr recommended it. 

 

And I researched the company. 

 

The ONLY hemp grown and monitored in the USA. 

 

The COA they have monitors facilities and growing practices and purity. 

 

It has helped my arthritis, fibromyalgia (NO flares in 6 months) and anxiety.

 

My cat – who the vet had proscribed Prozac for aggression to other cats and other issues, is doing better. 

 

And Koko, my umbrella cockatoo has less screaming and biting (she goes after my husband, not me). 

 

She gets 1 drop a day. 

 

It’s not brown. It’s clean in a light oil base. 

 

While you say the FDA has not evaluated it, it has been used for hundreds of years. 

 

Editors note: So has opium Endnote

 

In fact, when I worked with growers many years ago, we saw birds and other wildlife in our fields. 

 

They obviously knew then what others are just coming to realize now. 

 

The plant has many healthy uses and properties. 

 

So waiting for the FDA, to my mind, is just waiting for the government and big pharma figure out how to exploit it for the highest dollar they can. 

 

This is just my humble opinion.

 

I understand you want to see scientific research. 

 

But there have been lots of drugs approved based on this so-called research only to turn around and kill people later. 

 

So I guess I have to go on the unscientific research of people and animals who have used it successfully for hundreds of years.

 

Hi Taryn

 

I will post your comment as well as this one

”Hi, Mitch and Catherine,

Thanks for that excellent article and point of view on CBD OIl .

Yes I have several FB bird friends using it successfully however my avian vet agrees with you.

 

Her concern is like yours – long term effects.

 

I have a happy very healthy Hannah and my vet says to ignore her mild hormonal chest feather picking 🙂

 

Have a GREY’T week!

Best,

Hannah had her 6 month check up with Dr. Vickstrom (the best!) and she is in complete agreement with you about this…not for Hannah!

 

So Taryn – that brings us:

To say that “The ONLY hemp grown and monitored in the USA.” is a total crock and makes all the other facts Medterra lists unreliable and suspect – Nothing they say is regulated nor monitored.

”Vote Hemp, the nation’s foremost hemp advocacy group, detailed in their 2017 U.S. Hemp Crop Report that 23,343 acres of hemp were cultivated last year across the nation. In 2018, that sum swelled to 77,000 acres. With the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill into law, you can be sure that number will continue to expand in 2019.” Read more -> 

So either Medterra is processing 77,000 acres (120 square miles or every plant in the US) or you may want to drill down and ask them for some proof of that statement.

The issue for me is no long term testing on birds who metabolize at a rate much higher than any mammal.

 

Regarding Koko, are you benchmarking biting and screaming using a decibel meter for vocalizations, counting bite attacks and near misses?

Not trying to be cute here but you used the following statement as an endorsement of pot use by birds who will eat almost any seed: 

“In fact when I worked with growers many years ago we saw birds and other wildlife in our fields.”

I’ll tell you birds just like not only seeds but getting high too

 

 

Birds are scavengers in the wild and will eat anything they can including poppies the precursor to opium.

”And as any scientist will tell you, clinical proof— a randomized, controlled trial— is the gold standard for establishing a drug’s usefulness and safety. So a lot of dollars— not to mention medical faith— are being spent on potentially useless treatments.”

Lastly, there are 40 species of Cat, 2 species of horse and 1 species of dog – to say CBD works wonders on 11,000 species of birds is well, like “how does your veterinarian know the efficacy of CBD oil with certainty, for cockatoos as well as budgies?

 

What is the data he is basing on?

 

Has the brand of CBD oils he is selling been tested by the FDA?

Best

MitchR

 

Your zygodactyl footnote regarding Prozac

 

https://www.drugdangers.com/ssri/prozac/lawsuit/

 

 

 

From: Taryn Palo 

Subject: Re: 🦅What Are The Right Human And Commercial Foods For My Pet Bird

To: Mitch <[email protected]>

 

I’ve tried to respond. Your system does not allow me to.  WordPress does not work.

 

So I have not been able to respond back to your response to my note.

 

Medterra uses only hemp grown at a specific farm in Kentucky.

 

Your comments that what I posted about them is a crock just shows me you didn’t even bother to go to the site and read what I already know.

 

And I have friends there.

 

Your lambasting me is without merit and frankly, I am kind of surprised.

 

Apparently, you are not as open-minded as I once thought.

 

I DO NOT appreciate your tone with me as you constantly voice your opinions as fact.

 

If you choose to go with big pharma that is your right.

 

I prefer to go with the hundreds of years of research showing that hemp is a natural healthy substance.

 

And just FYI – hemp oil and CBD oil are not the same thing.

 

The acres that are growing hemp are not the same as the small farms growing cannabis.

 

Before you start spouting off – do some research. Your knee-jerk reaction helps no one. 

 

Taryn Palo

 

11:34 AM (2 hours ago)

to Mitch – Medterra CBD Oil – Worth It? – Updated 2019 – Must See Photos & Video

 

Thank you for the information.

 

Yes, there are many bad products out there.

 

I just don’t think that means CBD is bad.

 

I think people need to do a little research on the products before using them.

 

And people tend to be lazy and will buy just anything they see.

 

So that would be a caution, particularly for bird owners. As I said before my nephew is a grower and is very knowledgeable. 

 

I grew up in California and over the years saw so many health benefits.

 

It’s helped my severe pain and anxiety, my feral cat’s anxiety, and Koko doesn’t scream and bite as much.

 

After 23 years I know when her screaming is normal and when it’s not.

 

She was feather picking severely about 17 years ago.

 

They finally gave her Depakote which at the time was pretty much all they knew.

 

It stopped. 

 

She has never done it since which is rare for caged birds.

 

When she is hormonal she does scream more.

 

I know that.

 

I can only tell you my experience with one bird so I cannot speak for anyone else.

 

I have had her since she hatched.

 

I know her moods as well as I know my own.

 

I would never give her anything I had not vetted.

 

She lays on her back and lets me file her nails.

 

She sits on my shoulder and rides around the house and yard with me.

 

I have recently looked into letting her feathers grow out and become flighted.

 

She does glide long distances as I do not keep her fully clipped.

 

If you have any information on that I would appreciate it.

 

I’m sorry about my tone in my last message.

 

It’s been a tense week.

 

We were at the edge of Dorian and I have many friends and family in the Bahamas.

 

And a couple parrots and flamingos that I am worried about.

 

So there’s that. 

 

You do a wonderful thing and I have referred many to you.

 

Keep it up. 

 

Medterra CBD Oil – Worth It? – Updated 2019 – Must See Photos & Video

 

Review, photos, and Video for Medterra CBD Oil made from Kentucky grown hemp. Is this CBD Oil worth the price?

 

From: Kayla S 

Date: Mon, Aug 26, 2019 at 6:44 AM

Subject: Question about windycityparrot.net.

To: <[email protected]>

 

Hi there Mitch, 

 

I was researching information about dog safety and I came across your site, kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-can-i-do-if-my-dog-is-anxious-when-im-not-at-home/.

 

I just published a new resource with the help of a few local medical experts about how CBD can be used to help treat many health conditions as well as information about possible side effects.

 

We would love it if you would add this to your own site to help support your information since there are so many people researching this right now.

 

Here’s the link: https://thetruthaboutcbd.org/beginners-guide/cbd-for-pets/.

 

Let me know your thoughts and if you’d like to add it to your page. Thank you for your time.

 

Hi Kayla

 

In that your article advocates for the use of CBD oil in pets it mentions no birds.

 

There’s about 40 species of cats and only one species of dog but almost 11,000 species of birds and I will not be THE human to condone CBD use for pet birds.

 

The fact that veterinarians can not talk about CBD oil with patients because of legal reasons is patently false (read the article).

 

Veterinarians get no formal training in pet nutrition but gladly talk about and sell pet food.

 

Veterinarian Gregory Harrison talks about light therapy on the Harrisons bird food web site yet he received no formal training on the issue.

 

I did speak to him during my research on light therapy for birds.

 

Re: “The FDA has not approved CBD yet as a form of treatment for anything”

 

Actually the FDA did approve one CBD based drug  Epidiolex but cautioned that it could lead to liver damage

Taryn Palo replied

 

Medterra provides customers with true seed-to-sale purchases. Our industrial hemp is grown and extracted in accordance with the strict guidelines of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Each and every product that leaves the facility must be third-party tested to ensure consistency and quality. So despite the fact, there are thousands of acres across the US – the ONLY hemp they use is in one location and monitored. To say it is a crock without knowing about them or even researching it is a kind of knee jerk reaction.

Hi Taryn

You can call it a knee jerk reaction, I call it research.

To be clear the Kentucky Department of Agriculture has nothing more than a hemp pilot program less than one-year-old.

There are no controls no “strict  guidelines” other than those mandated by Kentucky and the feds saying “you need a license.” 

Where would I find a “guideline”? -> https://www.kyagr.com/marketing/hemp-pilot.html

Re: the test results Medterra provides – is EVERY batch tested or just one really hi potency batch.

The only third party testing that has any value is the FDA

At the end of the day, who’s going to whitelist CBD oils for 11,000 species of birds?

As a digital marketer for the past 17 years and a salesman for over 40 years,  I can say with certainty Medterra has really good copywriters but can’t produce a shred of evidence to back up anything they say.

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Mitch Rezman

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