# Mildred smells like...



## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

cat food. All the time. The first time I noticed was after her first bath. She just REEKED of cat food when I took her out of the water and bundled her up in her towel. 

One of the three foods in her mix has salmon as the main ingredient, but the odor coming off of her isn't "fishy" - it's just cat food-y. I don't think she's anointing with her food. She has been on the same foods since I brought her home in May. 

I have only given her 2 full baths since I got her. I used the Aveeno Oatmeal stuff the first time because she was quilling, and that was the super-stinky bath. Then I picked up some Johnson & Johnson Lavender baby wash and put juuuust a tiny squirt in with the Aveeno oatmeal scrub, partially to test the "calming" effects of lavender, and partially to try to keep her from smelling up my room. Yeah... didn't work.

Does anyone else have stinky hogs? I understand animals having their own unique smell, but the whole cat-food smell can get kind of overwhelming sometimes.

Any suggestions? Is it odd that the smell emanates off her?


----------



## Guest (Jul 6, 2011)

What cat food mix are you using and can you provide the ingredient list? Its possible something in the food I am not certain nor am I an expert.


----------



## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Good idea. I'll list the names & the first 5 ingredients!

Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck: Peas, Duck Meal, Duck, Canola Oil, Flaxseed

Purina One Beyond Salmon & Whole Brown Rice: Salmon, chicken meal, whole brown rice, soybean meal, whole barley

Chicken Soup for Cat Lover's Soul Adult Light: Chicken, chicken meal, cracked pearled barley, turkey meal, powdered cellulose

I did start mixing in a new food last week, but the smell was happening way before the new food was incorporated into her mix. 

New food is
Wellness Healthy Weight: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Rice, Ground Barley, Ground Rice


Treats are 2 mealies every other night and a small chunk of banana every night.


----------



## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Get rid of the Purina One Salmon. Fish based foods always stink so it may be the culprit.


----------



## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

I remember a couple posts in the past that said something about Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck possibly making hedgies smell. I used it in the past and it does have a funny smell and that's why it stuck. I'm going to look up the threads and will hopefully be back if I find them lol

I'd go with what Nancy said for sure because even if he doesn't have a fishy smell, fish in the food is a big culprit.

edit: Found link http://hedgehogcentral.com/forums/v...36&p=72343&hilit=natural+balance+smell#p72343 I only found one link so far but I think there may be another out there.


----------



## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

I feed my hedgie NB Ultimate Formula. I do admit it smells pretty strongly. But I don't find it an unpleasant smell, nor do I find Kashi smelling like it. I mean, yes, he smells a bit like cat food, but for the most part he seems to smell more... nutty. @[email protected]


----------



## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I'm going to be the odd person here.... I am feeding a salmon based food from Blue Buffalo and have had no stool odor change since introducing it many months ago. Now I may just be lucky and have hedgehogs that tolerate it well, but I think if you feed a good quality food with salmon you are less likely to run into a strong smelling stool than some of the cheaper foods or foods with other fish as their primary meat source. I will note though that I'm not a fan of any of the Purina foods though. 

Have you purchased a new bag of food? You state she's been eating this food since May, how long was she on this diet before you got her? How old is she?


----------



## KathyTNY (Jan 21, 2011)

Kalandra said:


> I'm going to be the odd person here.... I am feeding a salmon based food from Blue Buffalo and have had no stool odor change since introducing it many months ago. Now I may just be lucky and have hedgehogs that tolerate it well, but I think if you feed a good quality food with salmon you are less likely to run into a strong smelling stool than some of the cheaper foods or foods with other fish as their primary meat source. I will note though that I'm not a fan of any of the Purina foods though.
> 
> Have you purchased a new bag of food? You state she's been eating this food since May, how long was she on this diet before you got her? How old is she?


Nope, you are not going to be the odd person here because I too am feeding my pogs Blue Buffalo (lite) and totally agree with you about good quality foods don't have strong smelling stools. It took me a couple months to totally get rid of the horrible cat food the previous owner had these pogs on (both of mine are rehomed pogs) and their poop STUNK till it was totally out of their diet AND their system. They are on chicken soup for the cat lover's soul and blue buffalo and the smell is almost gone ....."normal" poop smell level. I do notice that when I give my boy a mealie for a treat, the next night his poop smells TERRIBLE so I really limit his mealie treats to when I need to "reward" him for good behavior. I also give them a little bit of toddler chicken sticks and some pumpkin and that does not effect the smell.

Kathy


----------



## xspiked (Feb 27, 2011)

I don't use the same foods or any salmon flavoured cat food, so I can't comment much about that. Do you brush a few drops of flaxseed oil onto your hedgie after a bath? I find that after I do that, in 1-2 days, she starts smelling like oil paints to me, and I personally like that. So I actually find her pleasant smelling haha.


----------



## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Thanks for the link, hedgieonboard!

Kalandra - it's not her stool that smells, it's just her. Thankfully, her poop barely has a smell. Mildred wasn't on this diet before I got her - the breeder I got her from feeds his hedgehogs Purina Complete Formula Cat Chow. I refused to go out and buy a bag of the crap, so I started her off with the mix she's on now. She turned 2 months old this week.



xspiked said:


> I don't use the same foods or any salmon flavoured cat food, so I can't comment much about that. Do you brush a few drops of flaxseed oil onto your hedgie after a bath? I find that after I do that, in 1-2 days, she starts smelling like oil paints to me, and I personally like that. So I actually find her pleasant smelling haha.


Mildred had about a week long bout of dry, flaky skin during her 8 week quilling, but since then her skin has been great, so I don't do the flax seed oil in her baths.

It seems like the general consensus is that good quality food doesn't give your hedgie a weird odor. Does this mean that Natural Balance isn't a good quality food? The link that hedgieonboard posted is a thread about NB causing smelliness...


----------

