Snow has been pooping all over and just keeps loosing weight from 350 down to 292 grams now. He has been treated for diarrhea, with no resolve. He eats well, we figured he may have cancer, but recommended us to a more specialized vet, so we went to see them, and they checked him out, his teeth, felt him up, and didn't feel anything that would be a concern such as lymphoma or cancer, and that he looks healthy otherwise. They told me that the cat food he gets isn't the most complete you can give a hedgehog and recommended me to try a different diet to see if that may help him, with the usual supplement of cottage cheese, chicken, mealworms which he gets already. She told us the store to get the food, and we went there and got it. It is called Sunscription Vita Hedgehog. The ingredients don't seem as bad as a lot of the ingredients I've seen in other hedgehog foods, such as corn, and by products, etc. Anyone have reviews on this food?
Snowberry's diet
- Thread starter tacotac
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I have to admit that I feed mine that hedgie food. I'm against most hedgehog foods because hedgehogs are allergic to 90% of the ingredients but that's one that's CLEARLY designed for hedgehogs. I looked at every catfood and couldn't find one that seemed as good for him as that one. My little guy loves it and does great on it. His stool is way better now than it was on that horrible cat chow he was getting at his foster moms.
smhufflepuff
super-duper hedgiepig
Three thoughts:
Stop the cottage cheese.
Of the commercial hedgehog foods, I believe that is one of the better ones, but I'd still rank it below a mix of high quality cat kibble. What cat kibble was your little one on?
If/when you make any changes to your hedgie's diet, do it slowly; ie, don't just stop with one food and only give the other one. Unless it's harmful to your hedgie (like that one hedgehog food with seeds in it), make the transition over a couple of weeks.
Stop the cottage cheese.
Of the commercial hedgehog foods, I believe that is one of the better ones, but I'd still rank it below a mix of high quality cat kibble. What cat kibble was your little one on?
If/when you make any changes to your hedgie's diet, do it slowly; ie, don't just stop with one food and only give the other one. Unless it's harmful to your hedgie (like that one hedgehog food with seeds in it), make the transition over a couple of weeks.
Actually, I've never given him cottage cheese, don't care for it myself, but he gets chicken/turkey & mealworms. His previous food, and he had been fed this mix for over 6 months with no problems, but near the end of the food mix he started developing those problems, but time came to buy more food, I tried a couple different mixes of cat food instead, so those gradually were mixed in with his existing food, but his problem never cleared up. My other hedge, Paddington doesn't have any issues. Previous mix consisted of wellness, blue buffalo, and some solid gold I got for free, and Innova, all were light foods if available. Now the mix is castor & pollux, innova, and I think a food called natura or natural balance, can't remember now. But yeah, I noticed this hedgie food doesn't have corn, and has a lot of meals as the primary ingredients, which seem pretty decent. And the kibbles are small and not too hard, which makes it easier for them to eat.
Nancy
Hooked on Hogs
Some hedgehogs can't tolerate the high quality foods and Wellness in particular has been known to cause stomach upset and diarrhea. I'd go with something a bit more mid range and see if it helps. Or you could try one of the foods for sensitive stomachs.
Sunseed is not horrible but is not recommended.
Sunseed is not horrible but is not recommended.
Don't you love how Vitakraft went from making one of the worst hedgehog foods ever to one of the better on the market now?
Is Snow extremely active? Could he just need a higher fat content food? Sometimes you have to go against the normal recommended foods and add one that would cause other hedgehogs to become obese. One item you could try is Royal Canin Baby Cat. This food is higher fat and is an extremely tiny kibble. Making it easier to eat.
Did the vet check his teeth?
You can try to add some foods with a higher fat content.
Is Snow extremely active? Could he just need a higher fat content food? Sometimes you have to go against the normal recommended foods and add one that would cause other hedgehogs to become obese. One item you could try is Royal Canin Baby Cat. This food is higher fat and is an extremely tiny kibble. Making it easier to eat.
Did the vet check his teeth?
You can try to add some foods with a higher fat content.
yes, vet put in in sleepy coma, lol. Checked him out, everything looked really healthy and his mouth too, gums looked well even with a broke tooth, nothing lodged, what not. He ate 6 crickets today. Vet told him to give him as much as he would eat...ran out of crickets. He is going in tomorrow for an xray.
They did x rays and didn't find anything but that he has severe arthritis in his spine, which means he may in pain, and probably why he has a hard time using the bathroom and squeaks. They weren't able to get blood from him. They are putting him on metacam, may be on it for the rest of his life.
My thoughts go out to you two!
