Updated (May 2016) Recommended Dry Cat Food List

[FinnickHog]

Originally Posted by upbeatanime

http://bluebuffalo.com/natural-cat-f...indoor-recipe/


perhaps the dog food version would be better....assuming the kibbles aren't crazy huge.

dog food version doesn't have it, but it also has only 24% protein.....would this not be on the low side? (I think the cat food mix would be great without the cellulose.....dog food clearly isn't quite the same mix without like i wished for either....ahh well, almost like they aren't made for hedgehogs :P)

That is so strange. The Freedom Indoor line has the cellulose, and the ones that aren't labeled as "indoor" don't have it. This one doesn't, and there are a few others: http://bluebuffalo.com/natural-cat-f...turkey-recipe/. You'll have to read all of them, by the looks of it.

Originally Posted by bobble

My local pets at home stocks wellness, which is not under the uk recommended brands but is listed as recommended for other countries, so that might be worth you checking out if you are struggling

I couldn't find proof that Wellness was in the UK. If it is, go ahead and use it!

Originally Posted by Hoggly

I wish this list was out before I already exchanged food! My breeder has my boy on generic Aldi UK dry cat food. Obviously I'm not impressed with the brand and will transition him. I bought a small bag of Purina Go Cat as it is in the acceptable range for protein and fat while also not containing any ingredients from the sea (fish, fish oils, seaweed, etc.) which is hard to find in my area. Will this be ok for now? I also plan on feeding him fresh meat and vegetables. I'm not really familiar enough with UK brands yet but they mostly contain fish and loads of grains. I don't remember seeing the ones listed at Pets at Home but I also want seeking them out.

Here's the ingredients list of Purina Go Cat Rabbit and Turkey: Cereals, meat and animal derivatives (10%*), vegetable protein extracts, oils and fats, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals, yeasts and vegetables (green, orange and white kibbles: 0.13% dried vegetables equivalent to 1% vegetables).

That's really not good. What kind of cereals? Why is a grain product first? It could be oats, corn, who knows. Meat and animal derivatives doesn't name turkey or rabbit. It likely changes batch to batch, so they couldn't name specific meats. Vegetable protein extracts doesn't tell you which vegetables, and if they're adding protein from an extra bunch of sources that aren't meat, that's odd. Oils and fats? Canola oil? Olive oil? Castor oil? What is it!? Agh! If you can get Wellness, use that instead.

Also, the fish warning is because it makes poops really stinky for some hogs. Finnick gets fresh salmon filet pieces on occasion, and he used to get the Halo Spot's Stew fish recipe, and it didn't ever bother him. So if you're having trouble with fish, go ahead and get a food with it in there and try it to see how your hedgehog likes it. It won't hurt your hedgie, but it might be rough on your nose.


Upbeat, are you in North America or the UK? If you're in the UK my brand knowledge is weak at best, but if you're in North America I can give you a refined, FinnickHog-approved list.

[upbeatanime]

north america, Ohio, USA to be exact.

also cost is a mute point for me. it's not like they eat alot a day anyway.

[FinnickHog]

Perfect, that makes it easy for me! Give me a few minutes to deal with the surprise gecko eggs I just found, and I'll give you a pile more info.

[FinnickHog]

Alrighty. So, if cost isn't an issue, have you considered doing a raw diet? That way you can control every single thing that goes in your hedgehog, and you know where the ingredients came from. If you're interested, take a look at this: https://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forum...-raw-diet.html and this: https://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forum...ehog-chow.html

Kelsey uses a fully homemade diet, while I use wet cat food to supplement my ingredients with a few extra vitamins and minerals. Both are drastically better options to dry food, so if this is something you could do, it's what I would suggest above all else. If you choose to do that you can start a new thread and we'll help you through it.

Raw dried or freeze dried foods are also an option. If that interests you, let me know and we can do some research together!

If you really have your heart set on kibble, out of the foods on the list above, I would personally use Orijen, Acana, Wysong, Merrick, Spot's Stew, and Wellness, in that order. My dog gets Orijen Tundra, which is an insane $120 for a 60lb bag out here, but I love the stuff. That said, the protein is too high for hedgehogs, and finding a low fat content is tough. Which is where the Acana comes in. It's the same company, and they have a few options that are closer to practical for hedgehogs. The dog foods are all amazing, but you'll have to crush the kibble. The cat line is a bit limited but just as good. Wysong actually has a variety of fat and protein contents, so there's definitely something to choose from there. I can't get Wysong here to my knowledge, but if I could I would use it. It's on a ton of top pet foods lists and I love the ingredients. They split their peas in a few recipes but who doesn't? *sigh*. They also have quality ferret food, which just makes me happy, since Marshall's is basically the same as the hedgehog branded foods. After that, I like Merrick. Finnick gets their wet food mixed into his diet fairly regularly. Again, the dry foods split peas and potatoes, but they're a bit lower down on the list so it concerns me less. Halo Spot's Stew is good, but I mainly fed it because it met all my requirements at the time and I didn't like the other foods in its category. It's about on par with Nutro, I think. The ingredients are pretty good. Wellness is still alright in my books, too. It's on the absolute bottom of foods I would feed, because there's a few different kinds of "meal" used, and again with the splitting. Some also have rice, along with the peas and potatoes. That said, I still have half a bag of this: http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/produ...pet=cat&pid=20 in my freezer for emergencies, and Finnick really likes it.

Before I went homemade, Finnick used to get a mix of Acana Grasslands cat, Halo Spot's Stew Grain Free Chicken, Halo Spot's Stew Wild Salmon, and Wellness Complete Health Healthy Weight.

Here are all of those for you to look at:
http://acana.com/our-foods/regionals...tten/?lang=usa
http://shop.halopets.com/Products/Sp...ken-recipe-3Lb
http://shop.halopets.com/Products/Ca...oor-Salmon-3lb
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/produ...pet=cat&pid=20

So that's my personal list. Other people will have very different lists depending on what they've had to deal with from these companies in the past, just like how I don't agree with Blue Buffalo or Nutro. So no matter who you ask, their list will be different. But that's mine .

[bobble]

The pets at home nearest to my home, stocks quite a range of wellness. I'm assuming as pets at home is quite a large chain, most of them in the country probably do also. At the moment, alot of the wellness products are on offer as well (I have been looking up the different varieties on the pets at home website)

My last post was aimed at hoggly, as the UK doesn't seem to have such a 'good' range of foods that are available as the usa seems to. I know I struggled to find a good mix when I first got my hedgie. Although, I am debating adding wellness to my mix as my final kibble, hence why I was looking them up

[Hoggly]

Thanks for the help, guys! I do miss the American brands, though it's funny that I can say that only in regards to pet supplies. Moving to the UK didn't effect my buying habits until now, ha ha.

My Go Cat food does appear to not be so great. I was so worried about fish products that i ended up settling when i saw this one didn't have any and that it's protein and fat levels were in the acceptable range. It's still better than the Aldi cat food he's on now so I think I'll transition him to better quality food by using this as a gateway food. At the same time I'll keep an eye out for the Wellness brand next time I go to Pets at Home. The one across the road from me is small and doesn't have as much as the others in the area but Leeds is full of them so I'll just go to a bigger one. Maybe they'll even let me exchange food again without a receipt.

[bobble]

I didn't realise there was such a difference in brands from the us to the UK until I came on here... Now I'm a little obsessed with finding good food brands

if your local pets at hone doesn't stock it, or you cant find it in another one. I believe you can order it through their website they will deliver it to your nearest store for collection, free of charge. Just another idea, if you really are struggling

[FinnickHog]

I finally realised Pets at Home has a website, so off I went on an adventure. If a mod wants to add this list to the UK list as an update, that would be great, or it works here as well.

These brands are good options. Some are online only with a choice of pickup or delivery, but it's better than nothing.

In order from better to less better:
AATU Cat
Vet's Kitchen
Evolution naturally
Wainwright's
Arden Grange (Kitten only)
Purely

AATU gives you a breakdown of meat protein vs other ingredients right in the name. 85% vs 15%. Awesome. I love this. Vet's Kitchen gives you minimums of the ingredients and the meat protein is always up there and grouped together with brackets. Evolution Naturally does a little weird splitting, but if you total it all off it's good. Wainwright's is pretty good and honest, which is a nice change. Arden Grange kitten looks fine but the rest are iffy. Some have cellulose, and some are way outside the protein and fat ranges. Purely is good too, I'm just confused as to why they split their poultry up all over the place instead of grouping it with brackets like the other foods.

So there's some more options for you UKers! I just used the Pets at Home cat food site to compile all of this. For specific fat and protein stats, click on a food, and then click on Nutrition underneath "buy now" in the horizontal bar. The nutritional analysis or "Analytical Constituents" as they call it is near the bottom, above the feeding guide.

[kelseyfougere]

I was wondering if you know of any brands in Canada that would be good for hedgehogs, I can't seem to find any of the ones listed on here in the pet stores besides blue buffalo but I'm personally not the biggest fan of the brand.

[FinnickHog]

I'm in Canada, and I made the list . Most of those brands are available out west here. Where have you been looking?