# Bloated with air!!!



## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

My little guy is about two years old now and he's had a recurring problem with bloating. He is becoming bloated with air. I've taken him to the vet numerous times for this. The first time was back in December and it went away but it's back now and he is on medicine after recently seeing the vet. My question is, has anyone encountered this issue before. The vet and my breeder have never seen this issue and I am coming up empty in all my research. If any one could help that be great


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Talk to your vet about the possibility of a food intolerance, or inflammatory bowel disease. 

I had one a couple of years ago who would bloat a lot. She had a lot of issues going on, but we did find that certain foods caused her to bloat. She was put on a limited ingredient diet and that seemed to help that problem.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Thanks for the feed back. Yeah I am trying some different food. It's still puzzling cause i have gotten his food from the breeder and he was fine till this problem arouse this past December. Hoping it clears up soon. Thanks again


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Cbags said:


> It's still puzzling cause i have gotten his food from the breeder and he was fine till this problem arouse this past December.


It is my understanding that food intolerance can develop over time and symptoms may only occur if you eat a lot of something, or eat a lot of the same thing all the time.

Mine was fine for over a year on the mix I was feeding at the time. Then she started to bloat. We switched from chicken based foods to a venison based and a pork based can food. She improved.

Hopefully you'll either find a diet change helps, or find the underlying cause of his bloat.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

My cat ate the same food for the first 8 years of his life before he suddenly developed an allergy to it. It can happen at any time and even with a food they have been eating previously with no issues.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

People develop allergies to all kinds of things. Also something they had been exposed to in large amounts over extended periods of time. Gluten is a major one that comes to mind with this. 
I developed an allergy to Mosquitos after 30 years. I'm only allergic to poison ivy when I'm pregnant. 
Bodies sometimes do things that really make us scratch our heads in wonderment.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Any suggestions on food I could try? I tried switching him off of the breeders mix to a mix of purina kitten and fancy feast dry suggested by the breeder but that doesn't seem to help. Thanks everyone


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Honestly, Purina & Fancy Feast are both pretty bad. If the cause is an allergy or intolerance to her food, those foods are very unlikely to help as they have a lot of crap in them.

Have you talked to your vet about possible causes yet, like Kalandra suggested? Your vet may be able to suggest a good limited ingredient diet. If they do, make sure you double check the ingredients and whether it's actually a good food. Sometimes vets don't make great recommendations (a lot like to try & recommend hedgehog food, which is garbage). This thread explains a bit about what to look for in a food & what to avoid - http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/foru...3034-beginner-s-guide-hedgehog-nutrition.html

I know Natural Balance has limited ingredient foods, but you may be able to find other good brands in your area that have a small ingredient list that would be good to try too.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I can tell you what we fed, but I made my decisions based what my veterinarian suggested we do to treat her as well as her normal dietary requirements (she was a tiny hedgehog who was hard to keep weight on).

Depending on what your veterinarian recommended, I'd be happy to share what foods I'd likely pick to fulfil those requirements.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Thanks everyone I'm gonna give the vet a call today and see what he says. I've taken him to the vet for this issue multiple times hopefully we can find a food that shrinks him a little bit.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Let us know. I have a spreadsheet of foods that I often will reference when I am faced with a diet challenge. I'd be happy to do some filtering through it to see what fits.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

The vet said that he may be having a reaction to the commercial cat food because it has fillers in it. He is going to give me some what he called prescription cat food to try. I have to pick it up later, I will let you guys know what it is when I get it. Thanks


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

The vet gave me some royal canine adult cat food. Any opinions on that?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

IMO Royal Canin tends to have a lot of fillers too, including the prescription ones. Can you post the exact name of the food or a link to what it is? It's hard to tell if we don't know what the ingredients are, or how many there are.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

I'm not sure he just gave me a sample.


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## writergirlmel (May 16, 2015)

Cbags said:


> I'm not sure he just gave me a sample.


I'd call and ask exactly which formula he gave you if it isn't labeled.

Particularly if you're dealing with a possible allergy or intolerance, you, as the owner, need to know exactly what you're feeding your hedgehog.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

I understand the importance of finding out what's in the food. I assumed the vets food would be better then what I had. We can not figure out this bloating thing so I am willing to try anything.


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## writergirlmel (May 16, 2015)

Cbags said:


> I understand the importance of finding out what's in the food. I assumed the vets food would be better then what I had. We can not figure out this bloating thing so I am willing to try anything.


Unfortunately, most vets have less understanding of hedgehog nutrition than the collective knowledge of the hedgehog community -- which explains the number of recommendations people get for terrible foods. It raises a bit of a red flag for me that your vet cited fillers as a possible issue and then handed you a sample of food without telling you exactly what formula it is or what's in it. How are you supposed to make decisions regarding your hedgehog's care or know what to avoid if he doesn't give you all the information? It's frustrating!


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

I agree with you. It is super frustrating and hard to find a vet familiar with hedgehogs. I am in contact with the breeder I got him from on this issue. She like everyone else has never had or seen this bloating with air issue but I asked her what food she recommends besides her on mix(which he was on since this issue came up the second time) I am going to see what she say. Thanks for the help and I will post what food I try next here. I am sorry if I sound frustrated I am just trying to help him feel better and nothing is working


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Ok, let's work backwards. What was the breeders mix? Did you feed anything different between that and the food the vet gave?


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Surprisingly I am not finding the exact types of food she uses in her mix even though she says you can typically find that info from your breeder... Here is her site http://www.terrapinhedgehogs.com/... When she emails me back I can find out what's in her mix... After her mix I tried purina kitten and fancy feast dry that I found out is not good and I am switching him off of.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

I looked, didn't find what is in her mix. Could it have been on a care sheet from her? I wouldn't accept a brand name as an answer either blue buffalo isn't an answer, need specific formula. 

By knowing exactly what is going in as far as diet, we can look and see if there are ingredients that could be a possible cause.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

I can check the paperwork from back when I got him if not I will ask her. I am currently talking to her through email. So I will find out one way or another. Thanks


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

The breeder replied to me and suggeted specialty hedgehog food spikes delight but i don't know how good that is. I am waiting for her response on what is in her mix.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

In the diet and nutrition section I have a post comparing commercial hedgehog foods. I am stuck using my phone and can't link it. But I listed the ingredients and nutrition information. One thing that struck me was obvious ingredient splicing. That is different forms of one ingredient listed multiple times. I'll use corn as assn example. Ground corn meal, corn gluten meal, corn, corn oil. Food companies do this to make it look like their product is better. In reality the spliced ingredient would be first if it wasn't split so much.
Also if memory serves correctly poultry meal is the first ingredient. Poultry isn't generally chicken. If it has feathers it's poultry.


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## writergirlmel (May 16, 2015)

I don't see Spike's Delight as being the answer. And I'm starting to wonder why she seems so hesitant to just answer the question. It's fairly straightforward, after all. "What foods do you use?" "I use x, y, and z." Not rocket science.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Yes the breeder is dodging my questions and she gave me a very vague answer when I asked what's in her mix. She just send a variety of dog cat and mink foods :/. I may just start doing research on my own and trying out different mixes. Getting food that agrees with him is the only solution that makes sense at this point.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

It sounds like she is randomly throwing foods out there. The foods she has suggested are random and not good quality foods. Also when she suggested the fancy feast and whatever else it was, can't remember at the moment, that should have been an upgrade from the food you were eating. Less ingredients in general and minimal foods that can be difficult to digest.

I will double check but I believe MomLady mentioned a food she uses that has MINIMAL ingredients.

Yes it was... Attempting to quote....


MomLady said:


> Isn't that "porcine fat"? It's pork.
> 
> Not to hijack your thread, but this is the ingredient list of what I feed, just for comparison's sake. It's all real food, human grade.
> 
> ...


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I'd suggest starting to find a food you approve of. For my girl she was eating Now! Fresh Senior cat & Addiction a la Venison. Both are foods that are not exactly easy to find in pet stores. I buy food online, so it wasn't a deciding factor. I've tried both with I think 7 hedgehogs now, and each one has eaten them.

For ideas of what to look for in a store, look for something like Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck or one of the Blue Basics. Both are foods commonly found in the big box stores and both are foods that hedgehogs tend to eat.

My suggestion is look for a limited ingredient diet with no grain. When I was looking I also was trying to stay away from chicken. Chicken tends to be a primary protein in most foods. I was looking for a different protein to see if there was improvement. I went with Now! because its turkey based (its definitely not a LID), and Addition for the vension (this is a sensitive stomach formula). I also was feeding pork & rabbit based foods (canned) at one point to her and she was fine on those.

Start out with a limited diet, and increase options slowly. Keep in mind you may need a few weeks before the GI settles, so don't expect immediate results. You can also search for foods that state they are sensitive stomach formulations. Look at the ingredients and see if you approve.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Thank you I will take your advice and keep you guys posted.... I really appreciate all the help


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Good luck, and like I said look around. If you want an opinion on a food, or to see what other hedgehogs think of a food, post it. I've tried a lot of different foods over the years. Chances are I've looked at it and have an opinion  or can share the opinion of what I saw with my quilled ones.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Does anyone know if "limited ingredient" is a regulated term. Did a quick search and some of the ingredient lists are still somewhat lengthy.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I don't think its regulated at all, which is why you have to look at the ingredients and see if you approve. But it is at least a term to help you search on. Sensitive stomach or food intolerance were also terms I saw when I was looking for my gal.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Just an update. The medicine that seemed to help him doesn't seem to be working this time and The food change didn't seem to help. I'm going to research and try another food mix. I made an appointment with another vet because to current vet can not handle the situation anymore. I will keep you guys posted and thanks for the help


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

I can't help but wonder if we are all possibly looking at this from the wrong angle. 
I'm not saying the issue isn't diet related, very well may be. 
But in other animals with bloat issues diet is one culprit. But so is eating to fast, height of the dish, exercising after a meal and stress.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Never said it was the solution, just threw it out there as it is something I encountered. Diet change also doesn't fix quickly, it took a while. And it took a few tries to find the right foods.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

I think everyone went straight to food as the culprit. Myself included. I'm not saying food isn't the culprit, but it could be something entirely different. With repeated issues I would assume food is a contributing factor or needs monitored to avoid it in the future.

Sorry if you felt I was pointing you out Kalandra, just think we might be able to look in other directions as well as food.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Yes diet change has been the last thing I have thought to try. Behavior was normal and natural for over a year then the bloating issue started. And then it went away for awhile but now it is back and the medicine that seemed to work before does not seem to be working. He doesn't seem to be very active when he is bloated. Although he continues to eat and drink and go to the bathroom he has just stopped wheeling and when he is out with me he walks around and what not. He just looks very bloated and we can not figure out the cause hopefully this new vet can if a food change does not help. The vet I have been taking him too does exotics but does not see hedgehogs mine might be the only one he has seen.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Took him to a new vet one that said he has seen a number of hedgehogs before and he said he has never seen anything like this. He gave me some better medicine and I am hoping they work today would be the second day on them I will keep you posted thanks as always.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

I want to thank you all for your help but unfortunately my little guy passed today. We tried so many things to help him get better and nothing seemed to work. I am just thankful he seemed to not be in pain through out most of this and I had thought he was looking better but sadly he passed. I just wanted to thank everyone who tried to help me out through this it means a lot. Thank you.


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## writergirlmel (May 16, 2015)

I am so sorry for your loss.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Thank you I appreciate it.


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

I am so sorry your hedgehog had passed.


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## Cbags (Jul 27, 2015)

Thank you. And I appreciate all the help thanks again.


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