# DIY diet resources?



## Mommatobe (Apr 5, 2012)

Hello everyone,

So I am sure most of you have seen my threads regarding Emma and what her and I have been through the last 3 weeks / 3 months. She is still not eating any kibble on her own ( it has been almost 3 weeks ) and will only eat some of the critical care from her vet at night but I am still having to syringe feed her twice a day to keep her weight stable. She is still very active and bright. She had her 2 week recheck at the vet this past Thursday and her skin has cleared up but when we looked in her ears ( vet looked with a scope that was hooked up to a tv so I could see as well ) there is still some infection in her ears. Also the skin of her ear canal has "raised bumps" all over, I work in a vet clinic as well ( not the one that I take Emma too ) and this is classic for an allergic reaction, what we are assuming is food related with her. 

So here is where I need some help...

Given she is still not eating any kibble ( it is a new mix of food from the vet as the mix from her breeder is what we are assuming she reacted too ) we are starting to wonder if I should just go straight to a DIY diet of bugs and veggies. Between her vet and myself this would be a joint effort ( I used to work for Emma's vet so I trust her very much ). We are both currently doing our "homework" on the subject and will be discussing what we found / what to do next. I am wondering if anyone has an experience with DIY diets or can direct me to any reliable resources. 
My boyfriend and I are more then willing and capable of taking on the challenge, we just want to do it right if we decide to go down that road. Her feedings are becoming more and more difficult and my relationship with her the last week has changed. She no longer is excited to see me and just associates me with syringes and medicine and tries to run away even when I just take her out to cuddle and nothing else. It is just breaking my heart that I have lost her trust, she was my little buddy who used to curl up under my chin and now she would rather run away...also the stress of the feedings and the medication is taking toll on her as well so the sooner I can get her eating well on her own without her skin, ears and GI tract being effected and start working on bonding with her again the better for not only her but myself as well.
Thank you in advance for any info, I will keep everyone updated as to how she does.

Emma & Momma


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm going through something similar with my 13-year old dog right now...Getting ready to possibly start her on a home-cooked diet as well and see if it clears up her ear/skin issues. So I feel some of your pain!

As far as sources on the forum, there's three main threads where home-made diets and the like have been discussed - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21923&hilit=+raw viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19855&hilit=+raw and viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12297&hilit=+raw

As far as other sources, I don't have a lot just yet - I'm just starting to research some things for my dog. But you could try looking up sites and books that discuss homemade diets for dogs and cats - probably more dogs than cats since dogs and hedgies are both omnivores, where cats are carnivores. They wouldn't be something you could follow exactly, but they might give you some good information and some good ideas for how to put a diet together. A friend of mine with a lot of experience on feeding dogs homemade diet (she's been feeding hers a homemade diet for 10 years or so because of health issues he has) has a book discussing food allergies for dogs that recommends a homemade diet of "a novel protein combined with rice, potatoes, bonemeal, a vitamin tablet, salt and oil." fed for a minimum of 60 days to see improvement. I'm not sure if that'd work for hedgehogs or not, but thought I'd mention it anyway.

My main advice past that is, remember to make sure all of her vitamins are covered - usually we don't need a multivitamin with hedgies on a kibble diet, but you might want to consider a dog or cat vitamin to make sure she's not missing anything. It can take time for problems from vitamin shortages to show, and you don't want any damage caused by that. The other one to look at is making sure the calciumhosphorus ratio is stable. I believe for most mammals the ratio should be 2:1 for Ca. I can double check my wildlife classes manuals if you'd like - they discuss a lot of nutrition in my official certified class manual. If you want to know what the manual has on any of the vitamins, just let me know & I can PM you! The official one also has some awesome charts in the back with the protein/fat/carb percentages and Ca ratios of a ton of different foods that are commonly used for wildlife (and many that could be fed to hedgehogs as well, veggies, fruits, and insects, as well as some meats), so if you're interested in having any of that info, let me know as well.

Good luck and definitely keep us updated on what you end up trying and what works or doesn't work! I know I'd personally be very interested to know what you try, and it could be a great source of info for future owners that have the same problems with their little quillballs. I really hope you guys find something that works for poor Emma.


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## Mommatobe (Apr 5, 2012)

Hi Kelsey,

Thank you for your reply. Have been doing a lot of reading this weekend on the subject and found some other resources that Emma's vet emailed me. Her and I are going to work hand in hand on this so we will definitely make sure the diet is supplemented appropriately. I know there is a group of veterinarians that can formulate home made diets for owners for cats and dogs so going to look into that a little more and see if they can formulate for exotics as well. Ideally if she would just start to eat her kibble that would be great but I think she is associating the kibble with pain ( her ears were pretty badly infected so i can't see how they would not have been painful ). I will definitely let you know how it goes.


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