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Diet for kidney health

Do you have a recommendation for a bird that has kidney disease? Any foods/supplements that may help? For instance milk thistle helps with liver issues. Would milk thistle help the kidneys as well?

Hi Heather,

I wanted to check with Dr. Susan Orosz, a top Avian Vet, because nutrition is one of her specialties. Yes, the milk thistle can help with kidney health. We had a similar question about this from a budgie owner. Dr Orosz recommends our Senior Bird Nutri-Berries which she helped to develop. There are several added ingredients that can help your bird. This diet is of particular benefit for senior bird issues, but it can be fed at any life stage and is good for birds with some health conditions. I’ll share her comments in regard to the budgie, and give you the link to the product in case you are interested. This particular bird has liver and kidney issues.

“Hi there,

I was one of the veterinarians that worked on the development of the Senior NutriBerries for older parrots of all sizes! While the protein content is slightly higher in the parrot size, that difference is related to the amount of food that the budgie consumes in general. That means that based on the volume that the budgie eats, it would be about the same concentration of protein. So for your lovely little friend, that will not be a problem even with concern regarding gout. In birds, large amounts of protein did not, in a feeding experiment, cause gout. That seems to be more of a problem with dogs and cats and those ideas were transferred to the idea that it would happen in birds as well. I think that the Senior NutriBerries will benefit both the liver and kidneys with the milk thistle, dandelion, ginger and the balanced omega fatty acids. Good luck to you as parakeets are the best!”

Susan Orosz PhD, DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian), Dipl ECZM (Avian)

https://lafeber.com/pet-food/bird-food/senior-bird/

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda