# Feeding the Obese Hedgie



## DinaLucia (Jan 5, 2017)

Hi everyone, three days ago I took in a just over one year old female hedgie (Tara) from an acquaintance. I cannot believe how overweight this poor girl is. She's currently 765 grams and cannot completely roll into a ball. She came with a Carolina Storm bucket wheel that she can't fit on, heck she can't even fit through the door of a large Superpet igloo. I was told Tara had been eating a mix of Natural Balance Chicken and Chicken Soup for the Soul Mature, one tablesoon a night. I'm finding that very difficult to believe that's ALL she was getting. Amazingly her bloodwork came back fine, so where the heck do I go from here? Any food suggestions? She came with three pounds of her current mix. I do have Fromm Gold Mature and Lotus Low Fat Chicken as well, that's what my male has been on for ages. He's always been a pretty average weight guy (400 grams) and the girl I had before him was hard to keep weight on. This is a completely new world for me. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. 

In case anyone is worried about her not being able to fit on her wheel, Tara swapped wheels with my boy for the time being and is now using his caketopper. She was able to walk on it a bit last night.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

The best way to help her lose weight is to put her on a low fat diet. You can also try feeding vegetables and low fat insects like crickets.


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## DinaLucia (Jan 5, 2017)

My boy's Fromm is 10% and Lotus is 9%, do you think those would work or should I be looking for lower? I was told she won't eat anything but her kibble and mealworms, but we can definitely give veggies a shot. Thanks for your help, I wasn't expecting this girl to be quite this large!


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## ScoopzOFRolo (Nov 1, 2015)

You can try Natural Balance Fat Cat. I have that in my mix.


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## Prue (Feb 20, 2016)

Natural Balance Fat Cat is a good food. When Prue was 650g I had her eating Wellness Complete Health Healthy Weight (9%), Solid Gold Fit As A Fiddle (8% fat), and Chicken Soup Weight And Mature Cat (9%). She lost over 200g on that diet. If she doesn't start losing weight I would consider adding another lower fat food like the Solid Gold.

Also, try spreading the food around her cage instead of putting it all in the bowl, doing this really got Prudence to shed the pounds.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Those foods that you mentioned sound really good fat wise and spreading the food around like Prue said is also a good idea.


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