October 26, 2004
Canary Tips! Express
...is your informative supplement to CanaryAdvisor.com's Canary Tips! e-zine.
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From time to time Canary Tips! Express delivers important information about updates to CanaryAdvisor.com.
PLUS...your occasional Express issue will be delivering special discounts and offers from favorite canary goods suppliers like Petsmart and Pet Medicine Chest. I'm still working out the details with these companies so that YOU get the best deals.
Filled with timely tips, Canary Tips! Express is designed to be your UP-TO-DATE canary care guide supplement that helps you provide the BEST living conditions for your flying friend. :-)
PROUDLY and JOYOUSLY presented by CanaryAdvisor.com.
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Table of Contents
1) Cure Your Canary
2) The Next Issue of
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Coming SOON to CanaryAdvisor.com...
1) Audios of Canary Songs.
2) More information on where to find the best deal on canary supplies...complete with special discounts from favorite retailers.
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Cure Your Canary
Canary disease or illness is the enemy and can pop up at any time for seemingly no reason-->You’ve kept your canary’s cage clean, fed him all the right foods, he has the right sized cage and gets plenty of exercise, and yet he STILL may get sick. It's inevitable that at some point in your canary's life he WILL contract some kind of canary sickness. There are many illnesses your canary may get and...It's often difficult--even for an Avian Veterinarian--to diagnose canary disease. But... If your canary is showing symptoms of sickness you must act...and act quickly. Your canary's fast metabolism can help speed up the enemy's process and can KILL your canary quite rapidly. So...I must ask...
Are you prepared?
First thing you should do with a sick canary is isolate him from other birds and from any stressful situations. Then make sure he is warm with a hospital cage or ceramic lamp. Next give him plenty of fresh food and water.
Note all symptoms and try to figure out if he has contracted one of the common canary illnesses...visit here for a list. If you think you know what canary illness your bird has treat accordingly. However...
Most of the time you're just NOT going to know what's wrong with your sick canary. The best you can do is give your canary the things he needs to fight off whatever enemy is attacking him...
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Make him comfortable.
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Help him get his system in balance
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Build up a strong immune system.
How do you do this? Glad you asked. First, let's talk about what you should NOT do...
I do not recommend...
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Antibiotics.
Antibiotics are drugs designed to kill bacteria within an animals system. The problem is... In a healthy canary 80% of the bacteria in his system is GOOD bacteria--bacteria that aids in digestion of food. The other 20% is "bad" bacteria but...although "bad" a small amount is necessary for digestion. It's kind of like when your doctor talks about "good" and "bad" cholesterol. You don't want to get rid of the bad cholesterol completely--it does have a benefit. You just don't want it to get too high. You want to have a healthy "balance" of good and bad cholesterol within your system. Similarly... Canaries need a healthy balance of bacteria in their digestive tract. Antibiotics create a bacterial IMBALANCE...So, the bottom line is... Antibiotics will kill, indiscriminately, ALL the bacteria in your canary's system...both good and bad. If your canary bird is not able to digest his food he will "go light" (lose weight)...day after day...week after week...until he starves to death. And... It doesn't matter how much he eats. He may eat twice his normal diet but his system, with it's lack of good bacteria--the bacteria that the antibiotic just wiped out--is unable to extract the nutrients from the food. He eats and eats until he starves. :-( I used to recommend antibiotics whenever a canary got sick but they are so harmful to your birds immune system that it just doesn't make sense. They do have their place but... Antibiotics should ONLY be used in the case of SEVERE bacterial infection. Antibiotics work a little faster in making your bird feel better but it destroys your canary's flora leaving him with an ineffective immune system. He'll seem to improve but... Often within a few days the bacterial infection is back stronger than ever OR... A whole new infection will take over. Now, you're asking... "What's the alternative?" The alternative is... ------------------ Probiotic
If you use an antibiotic also use a probiotic to replace all those murdered bacteria. Or--better yet--instead of using antibiotics...use
a probiotic right from the "get-go".
Probiotic is designed to FLOOD your canary bird's system with GOOD bacteria or microbes, forcing the excess BAD bacteria out of his system via urine and feces. Nothing is KILLED...no one is harmed. And... It's impossible to overdose with a probiotic. It's an all natural herbal supplement. Nothing but GOOD can come from it. :-) This is the old... "Out with the bad and in with the new"...solution. Or... "The best defense is a good offence." Its all about... Doing something POSITIVE instead of doing something DESTRUCTIVE. There is something poetic just in the names of these two medicines... ANTI-biotic vs. PRO-biotic. I looked up synonyms for both... "Anti" = negative, adverse, conflicting, incompatible, repugnant "Pro" = positive, effective, efficient, active, helpful Go "PRO" not "ANTI".
Like I said...I used to recommend the antibiotic immediately followed by the bacterial enzyme replenisher, knowing, even then, that antibiotics would throw a canary's digestive system into chaos.
It simply is the excepted treatment...not just for animals but for humans too--"Kill the offending bacteria and nurse yourself, or your pet, back to health AFTER the side effects of the antibiotic." But now I know there is a better way...probiotic.
The best probiotic I know of is at the Avian Medicine Chest. Plus...they have more information on what a probiotic is and how it works. It's very good information for the canary lover and... It just might save your canary's life. :-) Just follow the link below. When you get to the new page click on "Bacteria Problems".
Visit here for the Avian Medicine Chest...then click on "Bacteria Problems"
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The next regular issue of
Canary Tips! will be sent to you soon. I'm trying to wrangle some special deals for you on canary treats...we'll be ready in just a few days. So...be looking for your next issue. Until next time... Keep your canary SINGING!
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Written by Darren Walker
(c) copyright 2004
CanaryAdvisor.com