Donnette

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) helps safeguard the ability of the United States Food and Drug Administration to ensure food safety and quality within North America. NAFTA is an agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico that took effect on January 1, 1994, designed to increase the scope for the free flow trade and investment among these three countries. The US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA), which participated in the negotiation of NAFTA, has reviewed the US Food and Drug Administration standards for safety, purity and appropriate labeling of foods and has determined that these standards are consistent with the terms of the agreement. This is why no changes in US Food and Drug Administration standards are needed or proposed to implement NAFTA.

NAFTA does not change existing or future US Food and Drug Administration standards regarding pesticide use or pesticide and other chemical residue or contaminant standards for fresh or processed foods. NAFTA provisions safeguard the ability of the US Food Drug Administration to ensure food safety. In short, existing US Food and Drug Administration standards will continue to be applied to imported foods as well as domestically produced foods. This means that the U.S. will continue to prohibit any food shipments determined not to meet pesticide residue or other food safety requirements.

NAFTA has no effect on U.S. Food and Drug Administration laws and regulations in the area of safety, effectiveness, and appropriate labeling of human and animal drugs and medical devices. Any products coming into the U.S. must continue to meet all US FDA standards and requirements.

Additionally, NAFTA does not change or affect US Food Drug Administration laws and regulations with respect to US Food and Drug safety and appropriate labeling of dietary supplements imported in to the U.S.

U.S. FDA and TWG

Within the auspices of the NAFTA, the three countries have developed a technical working group on pesticides called TWG. It serves as a focal point for all issues related to pesticides for these countries. TWG's aim is to ensure that the countries can be assured of the legality and safety of foods produced in any of the NAFTA countries. US food and drug administration is providing trilateral cooperation between Mexico and Canada to enforce the TWG standards.

Article 723(6) makes explicit that any party challenging a U.S. Food and Drug Administration safety measure would have the burden of showing that the US Food and Drug measure is inconsistent with NAFTA. Whether any particular level of protection is "appropriate" is a social and political judgment that the agreement reserves for the government applying the measure (see Articles 712(2) and 724). As provided in Article 712, a sanitary measure is to be based on a risk assessment "as appropriate to the circumstances," and is not to be maintained where there is no longer a scientific basis for it. US Food and Drug Administration standards are already based on risk assessments and have a scientific basis. These NAFTA requirements help assure that measures applied by the other parties will not unfairly exclude U.S. food exports.

Russell K. Statman, Esq., is a founder and Executive Director of FDA Registrar Corp., a firm providing registration, compliance assistance and U.S. Agent Services for the food and beverage, cosmetics and medical device industries. Mr. Statman is an attorney-at-law representing firms in FDA-regulated industries for the past eighteen years. Contact the author at: statman@fdaregistrar.com

Pay day loans can meet your urgent cash needs... There are professionals in the market who can provide you loans without making you go through cumbersome paperwork. Pay day is still weeks away, is there someone who can lend you money without any lengthy paperwork? Pay day loan is what you should try to apply for.

Loans are of two types. Secured and unsecured loans. Secured loans are the ones which require some collateral as security, available at cheap interest rates. Usually secured loans are required for meeting some business needs or long term investments, while unsecured loans are availed to meet personal needs. Repaying the loan on time is what saves us from falling into traps of interest cycles. At the same time your credit scores go up which is very helpful applying for more loans in future.

Unsecured loans are normally available at slightly higher interest rates and for a short period. Remember, you always need to calculate your repaying capacity before applying for a loan. Pay day loans which are meant to meet your urgent cash needs like some medical emergency, car repair or some other urgent needs. Repay the loan as soon as you receive your salary so that next time when you need a pay day loan you can get your loan approved immediately. Normally payday loans are approved within hours and transferred to your account electronically.

As there are various lenders and financial organizations which offer loans, try to go through their terms and conditions before applying for loan. If you have a bad credit history and you want pay all your debts with a single long term loan at cheap interest rates, spend sometime on the offers and terms & conditions of all the lenders and apply for ones which suit your requirements and repaying capacity.

Sansad C. Jha gives you views about how easy it is to get loans approved.Some tips to avoid falling into debt traps. For views on different topics by the same author visit his site http://www.views4all.info

Network Marketing Recruiting Secrets You Must Know. Getting started in network marketing a while back was one of the most exciting decisions I ever made. Network marketing allows anyone the opportunity to be a massive success in areas of their lives. Plus it gives everyone the power of leverage and duplication for financial and time freedom. Network Marketing Recruiting is one of the most challenging skills for any new or veteran network marketer to learn. It sure was for me. However after two years of paying the price for success. Network Marketing Recruiting became much easier for me and can for you as well.

If you want to recruit people into your business you must have the right network marketing tool on your side. Buying generic leads and cold calling will take you forever to explode your network marketing team. Plus it's not duplicable. When it comes to Network Marketing Recruiting, you have to take total control and responsibility of your business. I suggest you learn how to generate your own traffic and leads that are only yours. A great network marketing tool will give you the ability to generate highly targeted red-hot leads for your business and give you the power to help fund all your advertising cost so you can advertise and generate leads endlessly. This tool must also be able to make you a profit while doing your Network Marketing Recruiting even if no one joins your primary business.

A network marketing tool that gives you the power to have an endless advertising budget, put you in profit and build a highly targeted list, makes it much less challenging to build your business. Also your targeted list of people are other network marketers. As you build this targeted list of network marketing professionals, you will start to build relationships with them by teaching them what you learned to be a massive success so they can be more successful as well. Being a solution provider gives you the opportunity to build that relationship with them. Network Marketing Recruiting becomes easier and much more fun when people off this list start calling you or asking you what business your in. Then it's just a matter of exposing them to your opportunity. This network marketing tool will be a tool that is duplicable, provides grass roots Internet marketing and traffic generation training so everyone you introduce to it can use it.

You want to lead with a solution that will put people on your list in a position to see more success in their own business. Build that relationship with them first and then do your Network Marketing Recruiting last. By showing them that they can trust and respect you as a mentor, you will have a growing business of highly motivated network marketers who work together on your team for massive success. Their are thousands of network marketers out their looking for someone that can show them the right way to build their business. Putting yourself in a position as someone of value is the most important factor for you to master. This will attract other leaders in our industry to you. Like I said earlier, Network Marketing Recruiting is much more fun when you become the hunted instead of being the one who always does the hunting.

Joe LoBalsamo is the CEO of Internet Network Marketing Secrets. Want to learn more about a system that will generate cash for your MLM even if no one joins your business and pays for your advertising to generate endless targeted leads?

http://www.GenerateEndlessLeads.info & http://www.Network-Marketing-Training.org

With an exploding blog population the size of a large country, its no wonder that advertisers are casting their collective appraising eye over this popular magnet for readers in extremely high numbers. Those advertisers are willing to pay to place their ads on blogs that have good readerships in similar fashion to magazines and periodicals with good circulation. So its never been a better time to put your blog to good use and make money from it. Lets look at three easy steps you can take to make money with your blog.

First, your blog needs to have a decent number of regular readers. Without this, nothing you can do will make money from your blog. So your first task is to take action to increase your blogs readership. But before you can even do that, your blog has to offer something. Those visitors, when they start to flood in to read your blog will expect to see lots of interesting, entertaining, well written and on-topic articles. So if you want to make money from your blog but havent already written a lot of very good articles you had better get started, right now!

The fastest and most effective way of increasing the number of visitors to your blog in order to make money is to join some social networking sites and start making lots of contacts with other bloggers. This will not only get you better known in blog circles, it will also open the door to a huge number of blogs that fall into the same category as yours for you to visit and leave comments on. This is a very effective way of getting traffic back to your blog. Join forums and including your blogs link in your signature. Dont spam them or you will just get yourself blacklisted. Better to create interesting posts that the members will read and click the link to your blog out of curiosity.

In addition to these traffic building methods, you should ensure that you add a new post to your blog at least every other day more often if you have the time. This will show your readers that you are serious and that your blog is regularly updated, so they will be more inclined to return often to see whats new. After each new post, you should also ping your blog to all of the blogging services. These are visited by huge numbers of people so you can effectively reach a large audience every time you ping. An added bonus of doing this is that it only takes one top blogger to be alerted to your new post by one of these services and then to be impressed enough by the quality of your post to blog about it. Then you could suddenly find the flood gates opened to your blog!

Second, while you are busy nurturing a sizeable number of daily visitors, youll also need to get busy increasing the popularity of your blog as far as the search engines go. To make money in decent amounts from your blog, you will need a decent page rank from Google and to do that, you will need to show them your blog is popular and highly respected.

That doesnt come quickly, so while you are busy building your readership and your reputation, build up the number of back-links from other sites and blogs with a similar theme to yours. Offer other bloggers the chance of link exchanges with your blog. Submit your blog to online directories. Write articles and submit them to ezines and article directories with a link to your blog in the resource box at the end of the article, just like this one has!

Thirdly, having acquired a sizeable readership and obtained a reasonable page rank from Google, you can now make money from advertisers. There are several good sites that will pay you to review websites and businesses in you blog posts. Site like Pay Per Post, Review Me, Sponsored Reviews and Smorty all pay you to post reviews. The higher your page rank, the more youll be paid for each review and the more reviews that will be open to you.

You also have the option to include text links in your blogs sidebar which will make money on a monthly basis for just sitting there. A very good company for that is Text Link Ads Inc. Again, the higher your page rank, the more money youll make from these advertisements.

If you are an affiliate marketer, include links to some of your more popular affiliate products as well as any products that you own yourself to make money promoting them.

You can add contextual links like adsense, but while they will make you some money, they cause visitors to leave your blog when they click the link, so for the few cents you might earn from those clicks you may have lost some affiliate commissions for many dollars. The choice is yours.

So there are the three easy steps you should take in order to effectively make money with your blog. While they can be time consuming and you may have to wait a few months before they come to fruition, in the long run they are amongst the most effective methods you can use to make money from your blog.

Successful internet marketer, blogger and author Terry Didcott has built this creatively SEOd blog / website at:

Make Money Blog

It includes free tips on how to effectively make money online using a blog! There's a free ebook called Starting An Honest Online Business as well as free articles and software to download. Click the link to have a look at why your competitors are all flocking over there right now to see what all the fuss is about?

You've heard so much about online interactive learning. It's affordable, convenient and fun, but is it right for you? Here are five questions that you should ask yourself to find out if online interactive learning is the way to go.

Are you a self-starter? Online interactive learning is a great way to get your degree, but it requires a certain amount of motivation. As the courses are pretty much designed so that you can work at your own pace, you need to be a self-starter in order to get the most out of your online degree programme.

Do you want a classroom setting? If you do, many you should think about pursuing a degree through more traditional routes. Although online interactive learning offers some interaction between students, it may not be enough for students that need feedback from others or to meet with the instructor face to face.

Do you have time to commute to classes? One of the biggest advantages to online learning is the fact that you can study anywhere. You don't have to spend time travelling to and from the campus, dodging traffic or wasting time looking for parking places. You can study from home, at almost any time of the day.

Do you have enough money to attend a traditional college or university? Online interactive learning is remarkably more affordable than traditional four-year programmes and many online schools will hope you secure the financial aid that you need to pursue your degree. You can even keep working, if you pursue your education online, because you can schedule your classes around your job and your home life, so you can keep earning while you study.

Do you live near a campus that provides the course that you are looking for? Distance education was initially established to meet the needs of those students who lived too far away from schools or colleges, so that they could continue to earn their diplomas. If you live in a rural area- or the colleges near you don't offer the programmes that you want- then getting your degree through interactive online learning will allow you to pursue your professional dreams.

Matt Norman is the founder of Easy Distance Learning a website providing information on learning online.

While it is not necessarily the most inexpensive of the flooring options available on the market today, hardwood floors are certainly one of the simplest and most lovely options available. Wood matches just about everything, and you don' have to worry about vacuuming or those nasty smells that just won't seem to leave carpet. It is an effective option for floor covering and if you take care of your hardwood floors, they will last you a very long time.

However, having hardwood flooring in your home is about more than wishing it was there and deciding to have it. Here are the three things that you should know about installing hardwood flooring in your home.

DIY Is Not Always Cheaper

Hardwood floors are certainly something that those handy people out there in the world are able to take care of. Buying wood and laying it down as flooring in your home sounds a great deal easier than it is. There are many different kinds of wood that can be used for flooring in your home and depending on your needs; there are great deals of different styles to choose from. You want your flooring to resist nicks and scrapes, but you want it to be able to get some character as well.

There are all of these things and more to think about, and if you install your wood flooring all on your own, chances are that you will not be able to get the solid advice that you might wish you had later. You want your floor to last as long as possible and although you might be very willing and able to put in your new hardwood floor all by yourself, the costs down the line might make this not-so worth it. Do you want to end up having to have your floors redone because of an error on your, the amateur's, part?

Not All Wood is the Same

The more money that you spend the better quality of wood flooring you will be able to get as far as outward appearance goes; although a floor may not look as uniform and sleek as another type of wood floor it will probably last just as long. The quality and type of wood that you select for your floor has a lot to do with how you want your flooring to look when it's down. Do you want a smooth look or do you like the way that natural knotholes look in the wood? Do you prefer the way that wide planks look on the floor or do you prefer the look of thinner, smaller pieces of wood for your flooring?

Depending on what you are willing to spend, there are a great deal of different ways that you can go with the wood for your flooring. You can buy First, Second, or Third wood, which is a description of the type or quality of wood on the market ranked in order of quality. Clear is the finest wood that you will be able to get a hold of. It has little to no grain marks or knot holes in it, so if you want the best quality that is the way to go.

You Are In It for the Long Haul

While hardwood floors are a great option for the floor covering in your home, be sure that that is what you want to do, and that it is an acceptable long term solution for you and your home. While the hardwood floor will not have to be vacuumed, it has to be specially cleaned and probably swept constantly (unless you are a fan of dirty feet). Also, keep in mind that depending on the quality of wood that you purchase you may have to deal with some small repairs due to warping or splitting, or simply due to damage that is unsightly for your home. Either way, hardwood floors are much easier to maintain than they are to replace and although you will probably be thrilled to keep your floors for years to come, it will be rather difficult to do otherwise.

Need help building your dream home? Check out http://www.mydreamhomeregistry.com

Most Network Marketers and MLMers exist in the herd mentality of network marketing. They follow what is told to them by the leaders of the specific companies, and dont really ask questions.

They look around and see that 97% of the people also following these same leaders are not having success, yet they dont question deeper.

If something isnt workingit must be you right? You have to be the reason you are failing? That is truebut its only true because you didnt seek the REAL information of how to grow ANY business you want successfullyand it has nothing to do with making a list of your friends and family.

It has EVERYTHING to do with learning how to effectively market your businessyet you arent being taught that by the leaders. The truth is, what they teach only works for 2% of the population that has large warm markets and credibility and prestige within those warm markets.

The vast majority of people do not have the resources available to be successful solely through the efforts of their warm markets, which is why it is so important to LEARN how to market your business effectively.

When you know how to market, it doesnt matter who is in your warm market. It doesnt matter who is interested or not, because you can create more interested prospects at will. THAT is when you will crack the code of network marketing success and truly start to grow huge businesses.

Learn How To Build A Monster Network Marketing Organization Using Nothing But The Internet At: http://www.OnlineMLMSecrets.com

There are many advantages of MLM business. One of them is that it is the most suitable business for women. The risk involved in this business is less. For running any business you need to have a product or service. In other businesses the product has to be either manufactured or bought and sold. In MLM business there are lots of benefits, like,

●You do not need to worry over the manufacturing of the product. You just have to choose a renowned product.

●You require very little amount to start this business. You have to pay just for the start-up kit. These kits come in many ranges of price. You can choose the one that fits your pocket in terms of budget.

●You do not have to spend much on the promotional campaign as the materials needed for that are already printed by the MLM Company. You are supposed to buy these materials but the expenses would be much less than where you get your stuff printed at your own expenses.

●The fact that you get to make money on the sales of other people whom you recruit is most alluring.

●You can avail other benefits too. You have experienced people who are still in this field and successful too, to teach you the nitty-gritty of this business. You also get literally trained too by some of the companies.

●You can run an online MLM business. It has its own set of advantages. You do not have to bother your family and friends to sell your product or opportunity. Working online would make it possible for you to reach out to people in different cities and areas. All this would leave you with enough time in hand to relax and enjoy with your near and dear ones.

Do remember that you have to put in equal amount of hard work in running your business online as in other MLM businesses. You shall be facing tough competition from your rival consultants who would be selling the same product as you would. This is almost similar to what you would be facing in off line business as well. Whatever be the mode of your business, online or offline, make sure that you select a marketing plan that has less number of consultants.

If you really want your MLM business to be a huge success unlike other businesses, you need to be alert regarding the following:

Check that the company you are dealing with is offering a product. If the product is missing and even then you have to pay the money in order to get registered and be a member of MLM plan, you might be on the wrong track. It may be a pyramid scheme which is illegal.

Inquire about the companys legal background, whether there are any specific complaints against them. You can find this from the Better Business Bureau.

A business that is called ground floor opportunity in business lingo is perceived as the most suitable MLM business. Ground floor opportunity is the scenario where in a given area the number of active consultants is less than the half of one percent of the entire population. Besides this, it is also necessary to know since when the company has been in business and what its reputation is.

Go in for the company that would provide you e-commerce as one of its programs. If the company has a web site, add a front page of your own to that site. It should be unique, so that your company stands among other companies.

Pick the product that you are convinced with and would use it. Never select a product just to make money, little bit of passion is also necessary, to be successful. Having said that it is advisable not to be the customer of your own business.

Joseph Then operates Sign ups company that helps thousands of online MLM marketers increase their downline for the past 5 years. They have served over 3,000 customers with over 50% as repeat customers. You can visit the site at http://www.trafficforless.com

If you like to make money online from the comfort of your own home, then try your hand at poker sometime. The experience can be quite entertaining, and can also reap you substantial profits if you are a good player. There are roughly 2000 plus poker games online that you can try your hand at to win some extra money.

The first step for most online casinos is to sign up. Depending on the place, you will receive a fair amount of online poker bonus money to play with when you begin. Because the poker bonus varies from game to game, its best to choose wisely and not to waste your time with places that only offer a pittance of poker bonus. A poker bonus is real money that you get to bet with so you can earn even more cash for your bankroll.

Be careful as some online casinos operate their poker bonuses a little bit differently, always make sure you read the fine print. While some will give you great poker bonuses just for joining, others want you to make an initial deposit before you get any kind of extras.

You will find that the most common poker bonus is where the casino will match the deposit that you make into your account. It is important to realize that there is always a limit attached to these bonuses, so again take careful consideration when reading the fine print as the rules vary from casino to casino. Sometimes you will find poker bonuses that offer merchandise like t-shirts and other items of this nature. While this wont help you earn any extra cash, free stuff in the mail is always fun to receive.

While some online casinos offer bonuses on your initial deposit, others give you even more bonuses on your next deposits. These are called reload bonuses, and will help you run your cash even further. There are many different poker bonus options available on the internet today, so like anything you should always shop around and shop smart!

Written by Damien Amerson. Find the latest information on poker bonus codes as well as no

deposit poker.

Ever since John Daly hit the major circuits he has been in the news for various reasons. Sometimes for the wrong reasons, based on his personal life.

Big John is in the unfortunate position that he is a high profile sporting giant. This means that his private life is privy to all and sundry. With all respect to the media, printed and otherwise, the bad, or should I say sad, side of his life gets a lot of attention. It is utter sensationalism, but that is what sells in the media business.

It seems like John is in the press more for negative reasons, than his skill on the golf courses of the world, which he has more than his fair share of.

He entertains crowds by hitting a golf ball crazy distances, even with his putter. Unlike Tiger, the ultimate technician and strategist, John throws caution to the wind by ripping his driver enormous distances, where angels fear to tread. Then he proceeds by displaying unbelievable touch on and around the greens.

John is often seen during coverage to bend over, pick up his cigarette and to walk off into the sunset after his golf ball. Not the image to expose youngsters to. But then, John has never claimed to be the ultimate role model.

The big man is known as the regular party animal, not adverse to consuming large quantities of brewed beverages in relatively short spaces of time. Smoking, drinking and a good measure of domestic uprisings is just a natural part of him.

When you are exposed to the masses the way sporting celebrities are, this type of behavior just does not make for our perception of sporting greats.

Then Big Bad John hits the fairways of the world, and guess what? We are still in awe of the man who, I believe, can win anything whenever he wants to.

I watched him during the recent USPGA Championship. No, I watched the crowds. They still love him. They still watch in amazement as he goes about his business the only way he knows. Nobody cares about the press and whatever goes wrong in his life. They just want to see John Daly do what John Daly does best and only John Daly can do!

Good or bad for golf? That is debatable. The fact remains he still pulls the crowds and wows them with his brand of golf. Long live John Daly - we need our own characters in golf and you are one of them!

Love him or hate him, international golf will be a little duller without him.

Corrie Nel is a golf fanatic and former club captain. Submit your sport articles free:

http://www.sportatlas.com Please use ID 1536

One of the most common misconceptions about acne is that it is a sign of improper hygiene. Even with proper hygiene, you can still have acne or pimples.

Acne is a skin condition wherein the pores of follicles of the skin are blocked. The oil which should have been coming out of the surface of the skin is blocked, along with the dirt and bacteria, causing pimples to grow.

Basically, there are two forms of blemishes which break out on the skin's surface: blackheads and whiteheads.

Whiteheads form when oil, dirt and bacteria are trapped below the surface of the skin. Blackheads, on the other hand, form when the trapped elements beneath the layer of the skin turn black because of melanin.

Either way, the exact cause of acne is relatively unknown. This is a common skin condition which affects most people, no matter what gender, skin color or age.

Acne is more common among adolescents but adults may also experience it.

Acne among teens may cause more of an emotional than a physical problem, because of the hormonal changes that they experience before being full-fledged adults. Thus, aside from the physical treatment of acne, you may also need some emotional support so that you will not experience a lowered self-esteem because of this skin condition.

Although facial acne is more widespread, it may also form on other parts of the body.

This being a common skin condition, there are several treatments and over-the-counter solutions which can help prevent acne.

'Who Else Wants to Have a Clear, Acne-Free Skin?'

There are a lot of options available for you if you have acne.

First, there is chemical peel which is a light and simple procedure that will literally peel off the superficial layer of the skin. There are several types of chemical peel, depending on your skin's needs.

There is also plastic surgery which can get rid of deep wrinkles, heavy skin pigmentation and a severe case of acne.

More commonly known are the over-the-counter acne kits which you can use at home to help prevent and finally get rid of those unsightly whiteheads and blackheads.

Zits, pimples, blackheads or whiteheads no matter what you call them, acne is something that is foreign to your skin that you should get rid of.

Here is a quick guide on how you can fight acne and get that blemish-free look that you've always wanted to have:

1. Have an appropriate skin-cleansing regimen.

If you have been suffering acne for a long time and you finally run into a product that actually works for your skin type, keep using it.

The basic step is to cleanse and moisturize your skin. Use a mild cleanser which is most appropriate for your skin type. Use a medication with the basic benzyl peroxide or salicylic acid.

While applying the cleanser, do not rub vigorously or use a harsh wash cloth to prevent further skin irritation. After cleansing, use a good moisturizer to keep your skin smooth and hydrated.

2. Avoid touching the affected area.

The key is to keep your face as clean as possible, so you need to avoid touching your face with unclean hands. Also, never attempt to squeeze or pop out the zits to get rid of them. This will only worsen the condition of your skin.

3. Consult a dermatologist if over-the-counter treatments do not work for you or worsen the condition.

There are severe cases of acne which are better treated by consulting a dermatologist.

Finally, it would not hurt to maintain a healthy diet. By combining this with a daily cleansing ritual, you can keep your face acne-free and achieve that unblemished look.

Dave Poon is an accomplished writer who specializes in the latest in Skin Care. For more information regarding Acne Or Pimples Peels please drop by at http://www.clearacneworld.com/

In this article we're going to discuss how to tell if you've got a sick bird on your hands.

Unlike people, birds can't tell you when something hurts or they just feel like garbage. So how do you tell when your bird is under the weather?

Most sick birds get that way because of poor nutrition and stress. Poor nutrition is more from what a bird eats than from how much, as birds don't need a lot of food. Stress can come from a number of things such as poor environment and rapid changes in temperature. A happy bird is usually a healthy bird.

A problem with identifying if your bird is sick is that birds tend to hide their health from you. This is a built in ability that birds use to keep other animals from attacking them. It is part of their survival instinct. Because of this ability it may be a couple of weeks before a bird owner even knows that his bird is sick. Therefore, in order to determine that there is a problem with your bird you have to be observant at all times. There are signs to look out for. These include discharge from the eyes, change in eye color, closing of the eyes, swelling around the eyes, discharge from the nose, soiling of the feathers, sneezing, trouble eating, reduced appetite, fluffed up feathers, inactivity, droopy wings, change in routine, change in vocal habits, weight loss, problems with equilibrium, inability to perch, limping, swollen feet or joints, change in droppings, open mouthed breathing when at rest, lumps on the body, and any sign of bleeding. Some of these symptoms are very serious.

If you notice any of the above and suspect your bird is sick, immediately make an appointment with a vet. Take him there in his cage or some suitable container. Don't ever take your bird to the vet with him perched on your shoulder. Your pet will not be protected. Whatever container you use make sure it is covered. If you take it in its cage don't clean the cage. This can present evidence to the vet that can help diagnose the bird's problem.

After taking the bird to the vet and a diagnosis is made, take the bird home immediately. Home care at this stage is very important. Keep your bird warm and try to encourage it to eat. Sick birds have usually stopped eating so it is important for them to eat well to get their strength back. If they are unable to eat then they may need to be hospitalized.

Unfortunately, by the time an owner realizes his bird is sick, the bird is more than likely seriously ill. Therefore it becomes even more critical to give your bird the best care possible. Most owners go to pet stores first to try to treat the bird instead of going straight to the vet. This only makes the problem worse. However, if you catch the bird's illness quickly enough you'll have a very good chance of getting him back on his feet.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Birds
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