# Dog food



## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

I was at the pet store earlier, looking at all the different cat foods and trying to pick up a good one. My breeder feeds kitten purina one smart balance, but that and all the others had 40% protein! 
Isn't that far too much?! I looked at the same one in dog food and it was much closer to the recommended amount at 30%

So... is dog food ok?! I grabbed a bag of the purina kitten stuff but eventually I will want to switch to something else


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

I use dog food because the cat food here is pretty crap. It's fine as long as the ingredients and fat/protein contents are good. But the pieces are usually too big for hedgehogs, so I use a coffee grinder to make them smaller.


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## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

That's exactly what I needed to hear... thank you!


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

I used dog food for a while too and will again once I finish getting them on this new mixture. I like that it helps balance out the higher proteins in cat food. You can go a little lower than 30% if you are using it in a mix. The dog food I used was 28.5% and the mix average was around 33%. 

And like Bente said, you will need to crush most dog food to make it small enough for your hedgie.


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## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

Hmm what if it is the small bites size?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Depends on how small! I used small breed puppy food for Lily that was small enough I could feed as is. Check out the Kibble Sizes thread, though. I would make sure it's at least around the size of most of those foods. If it's the size of the X-shaped foods though, especially if it's round or cylinder shape, I'd crush it. Even the small bites is usually still pretty big.


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## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

I see... but won't crushing it make it more into a powder??


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Depends on how into crushing it you get I would think. I imagine a quick whack with a hammer would result in a few pieces rather than powder. But hitting things with a hammer can also be therapeutic.


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## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

LOL that's a great idea! Although, my neighbors are right below and next to me... so, I don't know if they would appreciate that!
Quick spin in a food processor is what I am thinking right now... 

I am working on doing a blend of purina pro plan dog and cat food, as well as meal worms and extra shreds of chicken and vegetable... what do you think? I do have live meal worms... what is the best way to give them to her?


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## gracefulchaos01 (Mar 19, 2014)

I think the mix of kibble and real food is a fine idea. As for the mealworms, I usually offer them in a bowl


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## lilsurfergrlsp (Dec 13, 2013)

Hedgies are notoriously picky, so don't expect her to try all of the foods you offer her right away. For instance, my girl is a little over 8 months and she only started liking mealworms about a month ago. There are different ways you can offer mealworms though - either in a bowl, or using tweezers/chopsticks, and I've heard of people putting their hedgie in an enclosed area (like a playpen, or small plastic container), and dropping the mealworms in for them to chase around. If your baby doesn't seem interested right away, it could help to cut a mealworm in half, then run the juice around her mouth so she at least tries it. This helped me a lot


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## Prickerz (Sep 17, 2014)

That's a really good idea... thank you!


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