Cat food?

[Abbey]

Since they don't even sell hedgeghogs here, there obviously isn't a proper hedgie food available, and I was wondering when the sites say 'cat food', what exactly do they mean? I'd imagine the dry food and not the tinned? or is it the tinned food? :confused:

And what should I look for in a good cat brand?
I don't have cats so i'm not sure what a good brand would be..
Thanks :)

[horslvr123]

I keep hearing that Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul is a good food.. Hard to find also..

Alicia

[PrettyHate]

Here are things to look for in a food (whether it be cat food, or actual hedgehog food)

* ____________ MEAL - ie Chicken meal- chicken that has been dehydrated - therefore is more dense than chicken. Look for chicken meal as a main ingrediant (perferably the first one) over just regular chicken.
-Chicken Meal - 84% digestible
-Lamb Meal- 82% digestible
-Poultry By-Products (heads, beaks, feet, feathers, may include some meat and internal organs )- 77% digestible
-Meal Meal (indiscriminate meat ie horse, cow, cat, dog etc)- 68% digestible.

The more digestible a food is, the more filling it is , and the less your animal will need to get rid of in the form of ..poop!
* Dried beet pulp- exclellent form of fibre
* Dried cheese and egg- excellent sources of protein
* Omega 3- fatty acid that conditions skin - derived from fish meal
* Omega 6- fatty acid that conditions skin - derived from flax

Things you DO NOT WANT in your cat/hedgehog food

* BHA, BHT, and/or Ethoxiquin- Chemical preservatives that cause cancer. Check your food carefully for these! I have seen it in many hedgehog foods including Pretty Pets Hedgehog food.
* Soybean meal- digestable only by PIGS AND HUMANS! Vegetable protein found in grocery foods -extremely drying for the skin- may contribute to urinary problems.
* Meat by products- second class products are not handled as carefully as whole meat and their nutritional content could be questionable
* Fats or proteins named generically- ie: "animal fat" or "meat meal" (as opposed to the better quality beef fat, chicken fat, or lamb meal.

With all this said, 8 in 1 ultra blend hedgehog food contains:

Ground Corn, Meat and Bone Meal, Soybean Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Beet Pulp, Animal Fat (Preserved with Vitamin E and Citric Acid), Salt, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal Sterol (Source of Vitamin D3), Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K), Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Magnesium Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Coper Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Carbonate.

Blah!
To see full ingredient listings for many hedgehog foods, here is an excellent linkhttp://www.angelfire.com/wa2/comeme...y/hhcare7A.html

Hope that this helps some.

I copied and pasted this from another thread that I had responded to. Just ignore any bits that dont respond directly to you :)

EDIT: Forgot to add- here are some good names to look for: Royal Canin Slim 38 (I think you guys should that that one over there?), Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul, Wellness, Wysong, Buffalo Blue etc. If you do a search on the ingrediants that these foods contain, youll see that they are high quality, and in some cases (like wysong and wellness) they even use human grade ingredients.

[ReapersTouch]

Someone post the brand they buy, cause I dont feel like looking all that crap up.

[mrgew]

I feed, wellness, royal canin slim 38 and spikes delight.

[sarah1984]

I feed chicken soup for the cat lovers sould, and nutrience... there are MANY posts on here on this topic, I"d look some up

[Tampaquillowner]

Someone post the brand they buy, cause I dont feel like looking all that crap up.


If you want to own a hedgehog you better be willing to "look that crap up." Because most of the useful information I have found has been online. There have been a gazillion posts on food and it gets annoying for people to have to post the same things over and over again when there is a perfectly good search tool available.

[Ododad]

http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/default.asp?mscssid=M091TSFUK37X8NTW2GPFE8MKPLJXFW VF

This is where I get my hedgies foods from. I am very happy with them.

[hedgehogmomof2]

I agree with Tampaquillowner. This is the second post I've read from ReapersTouch that shows a bad attitude. I certainly feel sorry for your hedgehog if you're not going to take the time to make sure it's getting a well balanced diet.

[teela1342]

Someone post the brand they buy, cause I dont feel like looking all that crap up.

Somebody use the forum search tool, cause I don't feel like repeating myself.

Did that sound unfriendly?

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