How do you slim down a hog?

[Courtney]

I've been working with Kismet for a few months to help her slim down. She's about 550 grams, with what appears to be little fat pockets starting at the tops of her legs. I don't know if she can curl into a complete ball because she's not the type. She hasn't curled into a ball for something like a year and a half,and nothing I do can make her curl into a ball. She just doesn't get scared if I'm around. She eats Natural Balance Limited Ingredient cat food - 12% fat. This is the only food I've found that doesn't cause bright green poop or vomit - she has a very sensitive stomach. The thing is, she's not a big eater. Most nights, she eats maybe 25 kibbles.

The problem is, she prefers not to wheel. If I scatter her kibble around, she'd just rather not eat. To put it shortly, she can be pretty lazy. She likes to run around on the floor, but it doesn't seem to help her too much. Just tonight, she figured out the virtues of tubing - she spent a good half hour pushing the tube around, playing with it and wearing it.

The strange thing is, she's also very active a lot of the time. She's a climber, and she does her best to climb anything in her way. Just tonight, she tried to climb up the hollow inside of the table.

Is there something I can do? Do some hedgehogs just have a bit of extra skin around the tops of their legs without being overweight? Is she just big boned? The vet has never said anything about her weight and he says she's very healthy... I just got concerned when I saw the extra skin/fat around her legs.

 

[Melissa]

How does she do with bath time? I would add a swim to her routine. If that's not possible reduce her food intake or mealies.

 

[Courtney]

Bath time - she's iffy on that. Sometimes, she tolerates them quite gracefully, and others, well... let's just say she spends the majority of her time trying to crawl up the side and ends up very angry.

She doesn't eat mealies. I guess the Diva just sees nothing appetizing about them. How far should I reduce her kibble? She only eats about 25 kibbles now, so should I cut her back to 15? 20?

 

[Nancy]

I do not believe in limiting kibble and would only consider it if the hedgehog was extremely obese and nothing else worked or if the hedgehog was eating an excessive amount of food. 25 kibble is a long way from excessive.

Exercise and changing eating habits is a healthier alternative. If she likes to climb, give her safe things to climb. Dirty laundry, pillows, stacked blankets or towels. Keep her moving by giving her new things that might interest her.

If she is hungry, she will eat scattered food. If she prefers not to eat it directly from the liner, put small dishes in various locations and divide up the kibble between them.

If she likes veggies, give her some each evening. She will fill up a bit on veggies and not want as much kibble.

With our gang, I have not found that any of the overweight hogs were big eaters. Like Kismet, they average 25ish kibble per night or less. My big eaters are all slim runners body shapes.

 

[Melissa]

25 or less just seems like such a small amount! I wouldnt reduce it either.. Not like you really can.

I thought to limit because my gang.. and I mean everyone.. will eat about 150-250 a night. I even have Rosa and Cavalier Chirping when their bowls are empty in the middle of the night. I have to REFILL some nights because they will go over whats in the bowl and that averages about 250kibble depending on the size. Aero used to eat 250+ plus treats without fail every night before he got sick. And he was always my tiny boy.

 

[Courtney]

Thanks for the suggestions! She loves veggies (especially green beans), so I'll make sure she has that around. She also like apples and plain oatmeal - how is oatmeal for fat content? I know it's very filling and it doesn't mess with her stomach.