# Various Foods



## xxkrysta (Dec 26, 2013)

Today I hit up my local pet store in search of a better food for my Bentley and I was wondering what were the opinions on Purina Kitten Chow Nurture.

It has:

40% crude protein
12.5% crude fat
4% fiber

The only thing I'm concerned about right now is the first ingredient is chicken by-product meal.

I did look at the blue buffalo, but a small bag was 15 dollars and I just didn't have it to spend today. When I get settled in my new job, I will be purchasing it.

Another thing I bought today was the Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul Light adult wet cat food. Is this okay?


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## TheSmellyHedgie (Sep 26, 2013)

I would say the protien is a bit high since you should be aiming for 30-35%. I'm not sure of the ingredients but the adult version of kitten chow has dyes and by products. I would assume the kitten version would also have these ingredients. If you want a cheaper alternative in the long run and want something high quality you could get the largest bag of blue buffalo dog food a lot cheaper in comparison to the cat food counterpart. $60-30lb bag of dog food compared to $40-15lb bag of cat food. So you get another 20 pounds of food for your hedgehog for the same price. (these prices are canadian so in the US it could be even a bit cheaper).


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## xxkrysta (Dec 26, 2013)

The kibble version does not have any dyes in it that I can tell from the ingredients list. I know this sounds awful, but I really can't afford to buy a larger bag at sixty dollars either. I'm trying my best to give Bentley what she needs and I thought my funds would last a bit longer but after having to buy a completely new cage setup that I didn't plan on buying, I've burned through my "buy expensive and top-quality foods for bentley" savings and part of my "emergency bentley" savings. I should have planned better I guess.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Be careful feeding dog food, most dog food is harder than cat food and has bigger pieces.


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## ceopet (Sep 20, 2013)

"Chicken by product meal" is disgusting stuff with no nutrinional value really. Its made from all the non meat parts of the chicken like the beaks and feet blech. Is there anyway you can a diffrent food? What is he eating now?


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## xxkrysta (Dec 26, 2013)

I had heard that and that's why I was a bit wary of purchasing dog food. 

Since having her, I had a friend (who owns a few hedgies) give me a small bag of natural balance green pea and duck flavor but I have looked everywhere for the stuff and none of the petstores around here sell it. I know it was a very good cat food for her and ordering it online is impossible because I don't have a debit/credit card with me to use as I'm in the transition between jobs and banks and I have heard the five pound bag of food is a little over ten dollars, which I can't afford to work into my budget right now. 

I feel like a bad owner because I can't afford the best for her at this difficult time in my life, but I want to do what's best for her in the long run. I have just a small amount of the NBGPD to mix with another food (the purina), and then once that is gone I'm a bit SOL.


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## TheSmellyHedgie (Sep 26, 2013)

Yeah you could always supplement some fresh veggies or meat if you have some left over so it has some better quality meat in its diet. If you cook for yourself instead of takeout you could fry a bit of extra meat for Bentley but make sure not to season it. The thing why I suggested dog food is the fact that both hedgies and dogs are both omnivores meanwhile cats are carnivores so the food would have a better diet for the hedgie (I read this in the west coast hedgehogs book), and you can always crush the kibble into smaller pieces to make it more hedgehog friendly.


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## xxkrysta (Dec 26, 2013)

I have tried my hardest to get her to eat boiled, unseasoned chicken, raw carrots and apple and she wants nothing to do with any of it. That's why I bought the canned food to see if she would be interested in it, but I haven't tried giving it to her yet. I'll consider dog food but I don't think I will be switching to it anytime soon. (I still live at home with my parents and stockpiling various dog and cat foods in the cupboard would cause a disagreement, so I have to be careful). I mixed in the new purina with her old natural balance and she immediately started anointing. I'm assuming she likes the taste, but the problem is the fillers in the food.

I'm just not sure what to do.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

Do what you can. She'll forgive you!

Some pet stores have a policy where if your pet dislikes the food (ie, you only use a little bit), you can return it for a refund. Maybe that'll extend your options a little bit?

Some pet food companies will also send you "trial samples" of their food via mail... Not a long-term plan, but you've already explained this is a temporary situation.

The nice thing is that once you do manage to get yourself steady, a bag of food lasts a long time with little hedgehogs! You'll make it.

Mix for now. Purina isn't a great long-term choice (for the reasons already covered), but as something that will get you by a few weeks while mixed with the baggie of higher-quality food? Bentley will survive! 

People go through rough patches. It's hard to handle them with grace, but you'll manage. Be creative about extending your options, be ruthless in saving snippets of money where you can (that quarter on the ground is totally worth picking up, and that bottle can be returned for a refund!), and cross your fingers that tiny friend is cooperative about not developing a health problem while you're in scrounge-mode!


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## TheSmellyHedgie (Sep 26, 2013)

If your still living with your parents you could always ask if they could give you some cash and you could work it off by doing extra chores around the house?


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