# Now fresh cat food is it good for my hedgie?



## Dtil (Jun 5, 2016)

Hi, I was wondering if this is a good food for my hedgehog, I can't find any information on it but it's his favourite. 
http://www.petcurean.com/product/now-fresh-grain-free-adult-food/

I've looked for other brands in town that are on the recommended lists but we don't have too many of them


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

High in fat. Didn't really break down the ingredients. But this food has 18% fat.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Get the Senior version. I've been using the food for a long time. Its usually hard to find, one of the more expensive varieties, but the hedgehogs really like it.


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## Dtil (Jun 5, 2016)

Ok thank you I'm going to look for it today, I'm wondering if he has a food allergy though


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Because of the skin being dry? Or is there something else that is leading you to believe he has an allergy? I'm going with the assumption that it's just the skin being dry that you mentioned in a previous post. 
Dry skin is normal, but too much is bad. Ok it's not the easiest to explain. 
With allergies affecting the skin, you'd expect a lot of itching. 
Are you currently treating him with anything topically? 
Has he stopped his antibiotics? If so how long ago?


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## Dtil (Jun 5, 2016)

My vet doesn't know what is wrong with him, he is not very itchy he does scratch a bit but only enough that I would consider it normal, like if my arm itches I scratch it. Compared to how much he was scratching this is nothing at all. He had mites but was cleared by two different skin scraping. He finished his antibiotics about two weeks ago. 

The vet is contacting an expert for me so they might know what else could be wrong but I won't know for a day or two. I am not treating him with anything right now, i was using oil before but have stopped. 

He looks like a tempura roll (lots of yellow flakes on his head and the back of his neck), I might try and give him an aveeno bath soon.

Unless the bacteria came back I was just assuming he had an allergy, he sleeps on fleece bedding


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Another option is fungal or still mites. 
I know 2 skin scrapings, but the mites have to be present where they are scraping to show up.


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## Dtil (Jun 5, 2016)

He isn't scratching nearly enough for mites but I will mention it to the vet when I speak with her again, another option is maybe he has a fungal infection which we mistook for a bacterial infection. He is growing in lots of quills now still losing a few but the bald spots are filling in which makes me hope it is not mites. She usually does at least two or three different scrapings at time for mites but they can be tricky little pests to find. 

What do I do for him in the meantime? So there is a slim chance he is allergic to his food then? I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can for him.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

There is always a slim chance that it's a food allergy. I feel at this point if you share a picture of his skin that would be helpful. You really might just be dealing with hedgehog dry skin. 
With my guys, we run a humidifier in the room when the relative humidity is low. I add an oil to the food every couple days. I generally avoid anything topical unless we are really fighting some major dry skin and when I do that, I need to see some improvement with the other methods. 
We used to heat with a wood burner so the air was REALLY dry. 
Also, I don't remember reading about water in your other post, do you use a dish or a bottle?


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## Dtil (Jun 5, 2016)

he uses a bottle which is refilled daily or twice a day basically as needed and he seems to drink about 2 ounces a day. I will try and get a photo of his skin shortly. But I just got a call from the vet, I will be picking up an anti fungal cream tomorrow and he has an appointment on Saturday for a quill plucking to test for a fungal infection or ring worm. The vet said that the anti fungal cream won't hurt him so I might as well try it as the fungal culture will take 10 days to grow. I'll go take a photo of his skin now and thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it.


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## Dtil (Jun 5, 2016)

I hope I've attached images, oh his skin looks so bad I feel awful, the only comfort is he behaves normally. Please don't think I haven't looked after him I've been taking him to the vet since a month after I got him. Doug sat in a pet store for a long time and they didn't provide proper care for him. I'm aware he is over weight but we are working on it. The yellow flakes are what are all over his body especially his head but I couldn't get a photo of it.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Sometimes when we get a pet, we're behind the 8-ball from the start. I don't think anyone is suggesting you aren't caring for him. You just haven't found the right option yet. Medically speaking, that can take time. It takes even longer when the vet doesn't have much experience with hedgehogs. 
So, they scrapped for mites. Did they do a scrape for bacteria or fungal? Then there is additional tests that will tell them what antibiotics will work if it's bacterial in nature. 
Sometimes when you bring in a hedgehog to a vet, you do more educating than the vet does. Although so far, it arms like your vet is going along the normal steps. Mites first, then bacterial, probably treated with a broad spectrum antibiotic. Next step is fungal and/or additional bacterial testing.


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## Dtil (Jun 5, 2016)

He is being tested on Saturday for any fungal infections it sounds like she has to pluck a quill and see if anything grows but I will also ask about a fecal test as well. I just look at his skin and I feel horrible for him, and didn't want anyone to come along and say that I should have done something quicker or that I'm not caring for him. I'm not able to get him to an exotic pet vet though because it would be 8hrs away by car so while the vet has some experience with hedghogs she is not an expert in them. Thank you so much for your help, I'll make a new post under the skin section in a few days with an update on how he's doing. I'm going to pick up an anti fungal cream from the vet tomorrow then he goes on saterday for the fungal test. I really hope this works for him. 

They did not do a scrape for bacterial or fungal we just assumed he had a secondary infection from the mites so we gave him an antibiotic for 10 days, which he did get better on but the scales came back.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Oh, that poor baby! That looks so uncomfortable. Hopefully the cream you're getting will help. Or at least the next round of tests yields good info.


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