Association of Avian Veterinarians
The Animal Nutritionist
Author(s): Alan M. Fudge
Source: AAV Today, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jan., 1987), p. 32
Published by: Association of Avian Veterinarians
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27670233
Accessed: 03-03-2016 15:38 UTC

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Software Review

The Animal Nutritionist
Application software is usually
evaluated for its ease of use and for its

I used the program to analyze a
client's diet. "Bobbie," a pet magpie is

ability to perform a useful task. This
program is easy to install and requires

an IBM PC/XT/AT or "100%

fed the following: 10 mealworms, 1 Tbs.
scrambled egg, 1 Tbs. raw ground
sirloin, 1 tsp. "Stove Top Stuffing"

Compatible," 256K RAM, and 2
Double-Density disk drives. Serious

(Bread -white), 1 Zu/Preem monkey
biscuit, 1 Tbs. canned yams, and

users would probably desire a hard disk
drive. The program can be run on
machines with one floppy drive, but this
would require constant disk changings.
The software is "user friendly"
enough that veterinarians with no
computer experience would find the
program easy to use. The program is
menu-driven, runs quickly, and has help

menus available in some places. The
software manual is well-written and

organized, easy to under; stand, and
contains extensive references. User
limitations would be more likely due to
one's level of knowledge of the science
of animal nutrition. The working
knowledge of clinical nutrition possessed
by veterinarians, though, is sufficient to
utilize the program.
The database includes 2000 foodstuffs

and their nutrient analysis, taken from
NRC tables, manufacturers' data, and
other sources. This database includes

600 commercial products including

Nekton, Lambert-Kay, Zu/Preem, and
Super-Preen. Foodstuffs may be called
up by the first three letters (MEAL
WORMS) or by an item code. Foods
can be added to database.

Nekton-S as directed. When mealworm
was entered, I had to choose from four
different types. A "slackspace" can be
entered as a null value, which, upon
analysis, becomes the "premix" of
nutrients needed to balance the ration.
When comparing Bobbie's diet to that
of a mature turkey, a printout of 64
values with per cent requirement (%

REQ) appears. In addition, a bar graph
showing % REQ and absolute amounts
can be run.
Another report, the Analysis
Summary, lists which nutrients in the

analyzed diet are less than 50% or
greater than 150% of requirements. In
Bobbie's case, the Analysis Summary
suggested the diet was deficient in Ca,

Mg, and Se, and excessive in crude
protein, linoleic acid, and several
vitamins and minerals.
I also ran a diet consisting of equal
parts of safflower seed, sunflower seed
and peanuts, with a small amount of
Avitron in the water. Again this was

methionine). The Ca/P ratio was 0.3.
The database contains 150 nutrient
requirement types, e.g., Cat, domestic growing kitten; Dairy cattle - pregnant
dry, etc. as a basis for diet analysis. The
user can also create requirement types.

The primary shortcoming of this
software is not a fault of the
programming, but a function of the state
of non-domestic avian nutrition. We

simply have so little data on specific
requirements. I consulted with Tom
Roudybush as to the feasibility of
creating a "parrot" database from recent
cockatiel studies. There simply isn't

enough data for this, and one can't
probably generalize about requirements
of Psittaciformes in general. Studies with
cockatiels, though, so far have shown
notable differences, when compared to
poultry.
This program would be an excellent
aid to the professional nutritionist or
veterinarian attending domestic animals.
For the exotic avian or zoological
practitioner this program cannot be
utilized to its fullest potential, but it still
could be useful if certain "assumptions"
(of specific nutritional requirements) are
made. (The Animal Nutritionist, N

Squared Computing, 5318 Forest Ridge
Road, Silverton, OR 97381, $495.00)

analyzed against the requirements of a
mature turkey. Interestingly enough,

crude protein and amino acid
requirements were adequate (except

? Alan M Fudge, DVM, Citrus

Heights, California

I_--?
32 AAV TODAY

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