# Wet Cat food, Amount of Kibble (tbs) ?



## dabbido (Sep 28, 2015)

Well sorry to bother ya guys again, but it's my first time and I'm learning :lol:, but one thing that still has me thinking is that the guy that sold me the hedgehog told me I should give my hedgehog (besides the dry cat food) some canned cat food (meat) however I think the term is "wet cat food" (English isn't my main language so I'm sorry for any typo or term I don't know )

Anyways I knew you could give your hedgehog some meaty goodness as treats (unseasoned chicken for example) but he made it seem like it was part of his daily food? which seemed odd to me, however this brings me to another problem, this guy who was taking care of the hedgies fed him dry cat food at day and night. However I'm still unsure just how much kibble should I be feeding my hedgie. (He's 2 months old) I've heard from 1 to 2 tbsp? However in this case would it be a tablespoon for each time? or maybe it's even more? And should the wet cat food should be a part of his daily diet? if so just how many? 

Sorry for the troubles, I'm just kinda confused and would like to know from a reliable source like this.

Thanks in advance!


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## writergirlmel (May 16, 2015)

Wet cat food does not need to be part of the staple diet, but many people do use it as a treat. I use a specific wet food as a treat twice per week because Fitzgerald loves it (so does my cat), and I want him to be familiar with it. Once per week, I simply give him a teaspoon or so of the food. The other time, I water it down and syringe feed it (to keep him familiar with the process so that he doesn't freak out if I need to syringe feed him for some reason). 

A mix of high quality dry kibble should be your hedgehog's staple (main) diet. You do not need to present food twice per day. Hedgehogs are nocturnal, so they'll do most (if not all) of their eating at night anyway. Once each day, simply place fresh food and water into the cage. Determining how much to offer requires a bit of trial and error, but it's quite easy. Simply offer a specific amount of food -- something like 2 tablespoons. The next day, if there's more than 1 1/2 teaspoons left (that's 1/2 tablespoon), reduce the offering to 1 1/2 tablespoons. If it's all gone, increase the offering to 2 1/2 tablespoons. Your goal is to offer enough so that just a little bit is left when you switch out the food. How much that is varies according to the hedgehog and the food. I offer Fitzgerald 12 grams of food each day, and he typically eats 8-10 grams.

The same applies to water, except there's no need to adjust it so closely to consumption. Simply make sure you're offering enough so that some water is left each day.

And of course, always keep track of how much food and water you offer and how much was consumed. Often, changes in consumption can be the first indication something is wrong.


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## dabbido (Sep 28, 2015)

Thanks so much writergirlmel ~ ! You helped me a lot!! I'll make sure to follow what you said, and you're right leaving the food and checking if was empty (or there was a lot left) makes it easy to know just how much a hedgie needs, and if there's changes in that it'll be easier to detect when something is wrong.

Once again much appreciated! I'll make sure I treat him to some wet food only every now and then, I knew it being part of the main diet was wrong somehow xP

And this is just optional but on the topic of wet cat food, I noticed the one I bought has shrimp, and I somehow feel it's not healthy for my hedgehog, am I right?


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## writergirlmel (May 16, 2015)

As far as I know, shrimp is fine. Proteins in Fitzgerald's diet include chicken, turkey, duck, lamb, rabbit, quail, and salmon.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Shrimp is fine. What are the ingredients in general? Usually wet food has better ingredients than dry food, but there are still plenty of low-quality brands of wet food that wouldn't be ideal to feed.

IMO, it'd be fine to have wet food as a daily portion of the diet, but you do have to watch the fat content (and you must calculate the Dry Matter Basis rather than following the percentages given on the can). The only problem with wet food is that it tends to be higher in fat. But if your hedgehog doesn't drink much water, it can help to offer water in other ways (wet food, other fresh/cooked foods) as dry food can cause a lot of issues if the animal doesn't get enough hydration with it. It's generally more of a problem for animals that are meant to get water from their food (cats & ferrets), but can still be an issue for other animals too. Some hedgehogs drink a ton, some don't. My first girl never drank much water & I should have done more to compensate for that, but I never realized that it could be much of an issue.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

I'm going to throw this tidbit about wet food. 
Sometimes we need bribery for meds, procedures, and luring them out of a game of hide and seek. 
Canned cat food is great. But if it's a normal part of the diet, it's just that. It looses treat appeal. It's my personal go to for escaped hedgies, or when I have to do a good check and they are having none of it. It's hard to hold your ground when mom gives you a bit of the gooeyist, stinky-ist, pile of stuff.


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## dabbido (Sep 28, 2015)

Thanks for all the support everyone!!! I'm taking notes 

As for the ingredients : chicken meat, pork liver, pork offal (again doesn't seem safe to me, but I dunno), turkey meat, soybean meal. Although it advertises it as "chicken in sauce" As for the brand I dunno if you guys know it, but it's PURINA Felix.

Once again, thanks for the wonderful tips!


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Offal meats, variety meats, organ meats whatever your location calls them actually can be very beneficial. Liver is technically offal. So that wouldn't be one of the parts used. That leaves off the top of my head, brain, cheeks, intestinal tract, heart, lungs, testes, nerve, ear, skin and feet. 
**adding** eyes, kidneys, tongue, snout... Sorry these are all that's popping into my head right now. These are all by the way, eaten by people.

Organ meat is usually nutrient dense. Pig doesn't have any that are non-consumable. However anything in large quantities can be damaging. 

Chicken and turkey meat is pretty much just as elusive in my opinion.


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Offal normally means organs inside the body which could be heart, lungs, spleen, brain etc. It would not include the left over such as ears and hocks. The only organ you must be careful about overfeeding is liver, it has vit A (most of it would actually be cooked off in the cooking process). This can cause vitamin A toxicity but normally it is not an issue with processed (cooked) foods. Vitamin A is fat soluble which means it is easier to overdose on. Other organs don't carry such risks. Again, not trying to scare you, I doubt the amount of liver in the food is an issue since they balance processed foods to avoid such things. 

I fed wet food daily for a long time. The only reason I stopped was that I moved onto a more natural supplement with pinkie mice and a variety of insects.


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## dabbido (Sep 28, 2015)

Oh.. I see! once again all of you saved the day  Thanks for everything everyone!!! ~ So it is safe as long as I don't overdo it. I think I'll keep it as a treat like twobytwopets suggests, otherwise it'll lose that treat appeal :grin:

Also my hedgie is a bit grumpy right now, although I think it's because he's going through quilling (he's around 3-ish months almost getting to 4) so I think some of that sticky goodness will brighten him up a bit :lol: I'll try it today and see how he reacts. I'll make sure to let you all know how it went.


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