Dry Cat Food List

[Reaper]

This is the newest list. Updated 06/20/09 When choosing a food to add to your hedgies diet the first thing is to READ THE LABEL. It doesn't matter what the product is being marketed for (cat, dog, hedgehog, whatever) as long as it meets a hedgehogs nutritional requirements. To learn about food labels, ingredients, and a ton of hedgehog info Laura Ledet's Website http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/comemee...fcontents.html is one of the best on the internet. Once you have learned about hedgie diet needs, found a store that sells a product you think is great, bought the food and brought it home, and given it to your little bundle of quills.........your hedgie may refuse to eat it. All hedgies have different personalities and tastes. So in the end your hedgie will have a say in what food selections you make.
I created this list to help the "newbie" African hedgehog owner narrow down what dry cat foods meet hedgies nutritional requirements. With so many brands and formulas on the market finding ones for hedgies can be a tedious endeavor. I will continue to update the list from time to time as new foods become available and when old formulas change names or are reformulated.
I am a strong believer that a healthy diet prevents sickness and can extend our quilled friends lives.[attachment=2:23cej4oo]Dry Cat Food List.2.0.pdf[/attachment:23cej4oo][attachment=1:23cej4oo]Dry Cat Food List.2.0.doc[/attachment:23cej4oo][attachment=0:23cej4oo]Dry Cat Food List2.0.htm[/attachment:23cej4oo]

[LizardGirl]

Here is a chart I made over the last week or so of many cat foods available to us hedgie parents. I'm aware that not all cat foods are on here, but I tried to get as many as I could. I'll be updating it as often as needed. REMEMBER THAT MANY OF THE FOODS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED! They are just included so you can compare.

The chart has the brand, food name, protein, fat, fiber, moisture, and the first five ingredients. Sometimes a company will provide both the minimum and maximum amount of things, such as fat, so it may vary a few %. Foods such as Spa Select is under the brand Blue Buffalo, and Science Diet is under Hill's Science Diet. If you are having trouble finding something, you can ask. If the food isn't on the list, I will add it.

The foods on Reaper's Dry Cat Food List are highlighted in green.

If you know of a food that is not on the list, or found any errors (I typed it all by hand...) please don't hesitate to email me or PM me. I will fix it.

https://hedgehogcentral.com/CatFoodChart6.html

[Reaper]

I wanted to let you all know that slowly slowly the pet food industry seems to be getting better. This must be as a result of the massive recalls of toxic food additives from China not long ago. This is good for us hedgie owners as more companies are changing to "all natural" ingredients. The latest addition to the list Authority cat foods is an example. They have changed the bag from white to purple and now say there are no artificial anything or do they use by products. So the food is "all natural" They still however have food fragments as fillers in the food. Saw dust is "all natural" but I don't wanna eat it. So you still need to read the label carefully. Having one "junk" food in your hedgies mix is a common practice of many breeders and enthusiasts. Gail Dick of Millermeade Farms explains it as the "french fries" of your children's diet. You don't want your kids eating nothing but french fries but some is ok and can make them happy. So having one "junk" food in your mix is fine. Finding out which "junk" food your hedgie likes is another matter. The other benefit seems to be if you feed your hedgie nothing but the absolute best food it may be actually too rich for them and can cause kidney and liver problems. They are opportunistic scavengers in the wild. So the current thinking is nothing but all rich foods are really too good in a sense. So it is a good idea to limit protein percentages to around 30 percent, fat percentages to below 15, and fiber to 15 percent or higher. The fiber is the difficult part due to cats not needing as much fiber in their diet as hedgies. Many people add Grape-nuts cereal, infant rice cereal etc. to their hedgies mix to add more fiber to the hedgies diet. In the wild chitin serves as the major source of fiber which they don't get in captivity. Possibly someday we may get one product that is perfect for hedgies but right now a mix seems the best along with good wholesome treats.

[Reaper]

There are many higher fat foods that can be fed to hedgies if they don't become overweight. The list is a starting point only. Once you find out what your hedgie needs you may feed them something not on the list. For example LizardGirls hedgie is a runner and very skinny and small. So he NEEDS more fat in his diet. Baby hedgies NEED more fat. Pregnant and lactating (producing milk) mothers NEED more fat. So if you just fed them from the list you would be ignoring their nutritional NEEDS.

[Reaper]

The foods must be dry cat foods, be all natural, contain less than 15% minimum advertised fat content, and the first ingredient must be meat or meat meal.

[Immortalia]

Ahhhh ya, that makes sense. Thanks!

Now I'll just have to go find a petshop/pet depo that carries those. Though I have an idea of where I'd find them, at least the Natural Balance, cause I've seen that before.

Thanks again! ^_^

[SunRayz]

When doing a mix, do you want food that have diffrent levels of protein, fat and fiber content. I am looking at trying a mix of the innova senior and Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul, but I see that they are almost exact in protein and fibre content, the only diffrence is the fat %. Would it be ok to do this mix?

[Reaper]

Sure it would be ok. I am of the opinion the more flavors and the more ingredients the better so I mix more foods than most.

[Reaper]

There is a food not on the list due to the first ingredient not being meat. I have decided to add this food to the list in a special category. The reason I have decided to make this one exception is due to everyone whom I have heard try this food say their hedgies absolutely LOVE it. I have been feeding it since it was first available and mine love it too. It is a great food nutritionally. Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck is a wonderful addition to any hedgies diet. It was first formulated as venison and green pea but was changed during the pet food recall. It was developed for cats who were allergic to normal cat foods. So the ingredients are not something found in other cat foods. The ingredient list is very short keeping it simple seems to be the key. While I wouldn't suggest this food be fed by itself it is a food that is a high quality addition to any mix.

[LizardGirl]

I agree that Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck is a great food. I added it to Inky's mix a few months ago, and he LOVES it. It's gone before anything else in his dish.