Yes it's a preservative but it's also a chemcial. The company who makes it packages it in bottles that have skulls and crossbones on it....what does that tell you? It's poison.


Kaytee knows they are doing tons of things wrong and that is why they NEVER reply to letters asking about Ethoxyquin that they use in their products. If you wish, write them yourself and you will get NO response, like I did.


Here is a snippet from the bird site....I will send you the link to the bird site that talks about Ethoxyquin in bird feed as well....

THERE IS NO NEED TO RISK THE HEALTH OF YOUR ANIMAL. WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE...FOR YOUR ANIMAL TO DIE? THEN YOU WILL CHANGE FOOD? THAT'S JUST WRONG, WHY TAKE THE RISK?


"
Ethoxyquin
By Gillian Willis
There was a considerable amount of discussion regarding ethoxyquin as a preservative in bird diets on CAGTAG-L back in March of this year. I have gathered a lot of material on ethoxyquin, but just haven't had the time to go through it all and to come up with some conclusions regarding its safety or otherwise.

Ethoxyquin is not used as a preservative for HUMAN foods with the following exception: . It is permitted to "promote colour retention" in paprika and ground chili pepper in a maximum concentration of 100 ppm.

The maximum allowable residue in eggs, meat, poultry, apples, pears, poultry fat and livers for HUMAN use is 0.5 ppm.

In ANIMAL feeds, the maximum allowable concentration of ethoxyquin is 150 ppm.

Lafebers provided me with information on the concentration of ethoxyquin in their avian products and it is less considerably less than 150 ppm. Neither Kaytee nor Roudybush responded to my letters requesting information on the concentrations of ethoxyquin in their products.

So what are the potential concerns regarding ethoxyquin? This chemical is not innocuous as has been suggested. Attached is part of an earlier post of mine in response to a question regarding the safety of ethoxyquin for birds:

"Interesting question. I was not familiar with the ethoxyquin controversy. However after quickly perusing the toxicity data (abstracts) there may be reason for concern. The acute oral LD 50 of ethoxyquin in rats is 800 mg/kg and in mice it is 1730 mg/kg.

Its chronic toxicity in animals is reported as "apparently low."
Chronic feeding studies in rats of 0.2 % of ethoxyquin in the diet caused transient depression in growth rate, At necropsy, damage to kidneys, liver and thyroid gland were seen in many of the male rats but not in the females.
In another study, diets containing 0.5 % ethoxyquin fed to rats for up to 18 months, produced renal lesions in all of the study animals.
Continuous administration to rats fed a diet of 0.2 % ethoxyquin, caused tumors in some of the animals according to one study.
Toxicity in chicks was "significantly greater when the diet was low in protein." (Details of this study were not given).
The above abstracts suggest that long-term exposure ito this chemical in our birds is a reason for concern."
As I have mentioned, I do not have the information together in order to offer you guidance as to whether you should use ethoxyquin-preserved avian diets or not. You will have to decide what you feel most comfortable with. There are good diets available that contain no preservatives and others that contain preservatives that have been approved for human use. Ethoxyquin has not been approved as a preservative for human use."



Now I am not saying I know everything and I have yet to study EVERYthing there is out there about this chemical, but if is even the slightest chance of my animals getting sick of of this I won't use it, period. Which is why my animals and I eat organic foods as much as we can, I hate pesticides and chemicals etc. I am not saying Kaytee is going to kill every animal but it's really remarkable that they NEVER answered my questions about the drug nor tons of other peoples, whereas other bird feed companies did respond and gave the actual amount they use in their products. To me if a company does not respond that makes me a little suspicious. Feed what you want, after all it is you as the owner who makes the end decision. But it is healthier to use a product that is naturally preserved with Vitamin E and not a chemical. Sorry but it just seems like common sense to me.


Now of course there are a lot of vets/people etc. who think this chemical preservative is safe and fine, but for me I just simply won't use it. I have talked to vets/dog breeders etc. and by hearing what the say it has certaintly changed my view on this product.

I too used to feed Kaytee to my tiels and then I switched them to pellets which are a lot better for birds. We then grew our own seed and gave that to the birds as treats.

It's up to you, take the risk or don't....but I'm not, period.