# Help with choosing cat food



## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Hello all,

since there are a lot of people here with experience and knowledge about hedgehogs and food here's my question. I've been feeding my hedgehog Royal Canin Fit 32 - that's the recommended brand of cat food here. I'd like to add one (or more) to make a mix. I've read the dry cat food list and searched on Google which of those were available in my country; not that much. I went to the shop, were they sell a lot of different brands, and checked the bags for ingredients and nutritious value. I've written down the few I found (it was hard to find something that didn't have grain or corn as the primary ingredient). I'd like to hear which of these are okay and what would be a good mix. 

Those are the ones I found: Royal Canin Fit 32 (and some others from RC), Purina One Salmon/Rice, Purina One Chicken/Rice, IAMS Light Rich in Chicken, IAMS Senior and Mature Rich in Chicken, Purina Pro Plan House Cat
And I've found 1 website that sells Natural Balance Green Pea & Duck/Chicken (but only the bigger bags)

Looked up the ingredients on the internet (couldn't find all of them):

Royal Canin Fit 32
Ingredients: dehydrated poultry meat, rice, maize, maize gluten, dehydrated pork protein, animal fats, vegetable fibres, hydrolysed oil, fish oil, egg powder, hydrolysed yeast (source of manno-oligo-saccharides), marigold extract (source of lutein). 

Protein 32%
Fat content 15%
Crude ash 6.9%
Crude fibres 4.4%

Purina One Chicken & Rice
Ingredients: Chicken, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), whole grain corn, fish meal, soy protein isolate, animal liver flavor, phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, caramel color, choline chloride, salt, calcium carbonate, Vitamin E supplement, taurine, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite. I-4153

Crude Protein 34.0%
Crude Fat 13.0%
Crude Fiber 2.0%
Moisture 12.0%
Ash 7.0%

IAMS senior and mature chicken
Ingredients: Chicken (>26%), maize, wheat, animal fat, dried whole egg, dried beet pulp, chicken digest, calcium carbonate, brewer's dried yeast, potassium chloride, DL-methionine, fish oil, sodium chloride, glucosamine hydrochloride.

Protein 33%
Fat 14%
Crude Ash	6%
Crude Fibre 2.0%
Moisture 8%

IAMS adult light rich chicken
Ingredients: Chicken (>26%), maize, wheat, animal fat, dried whole egg, dried beet pulp, chicken digest, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, brewer's dried yeast, DL-methionine, fish oil, sodium chloride. 

Protein 28%
Fat 11%
Crude Ash	6%
Crude Fibre 2.3%
Moisture 8%

Purina Pro Plan house cat
Ingredients: Chicken (20%), maize gluten meal, dehydrated poultry protein, rice, maize, dried beet pulp, animal fat, dried chicory root* (2%), dried egg, minerals, pea protein concentrate, wheat gluten meal, fish oil, digest, yeast. *natural prebiotic. 

Protein 33%
Fat 14%
Fibre 5%


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

If you can, I'd definitely try ordering the Natural Balance to add to a mix. You can freeze it for up to 6 months or so, and if you have more left over in the bag, perhaps you could donate it or give it to a friend with cats? If ordering is kind of a last resort, then any of the others are about the same, ingredient-wise. I would probably choose based on fat levels, if your hog does okay on the 15%, then you could go with one of the higher fat ones as well. Or if you think they're kind of on the verge of being heavy, or if they don't run much, then maybe the Iams Adult Light would be good.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Thanks a lot! I'm going to try if I can order the Natural Balance. I'm not sure if it's still available so I'll just email them. 
My hedgehog is an explorer and he runs quite a lot, but I've heard that there are some bad additives in RC cat food (that can cause cancer) so maybe it's better to switch the RC for something else and mix it with the Natural Balance (change it over several weeks, of course). But I'm glad these are okay, it's kinda hard to find proper food not every shop sells it.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Hm...Do you by any chance know what additives you heard about? Looking at the full ingredient list for the Adult Fit 32 that you're feeding and I don't see any of the red alert ones that I know - ethoxyquin, BHT, and BHA. I'd be interested to know if there's more to watch out for. Good luck getting some Natural Balance!


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

It was about BHA. And the bag just says "antioxidants" but Royal Canin said themselves they use it in their food. But I'm not sure now if it's added in the RC Fit 32 or not, I can't find anything specific about it on the internet.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Now this topic is still open - another question, I saw dried chicken as a treat for cats, can you give it to hedgehogs as a treat? The protein was very high (50%) but the fat was low. Since we're all vegetarians here so there's almost never any meat in the house I thought maybe this is an option. I believe it was roasted, but I wasn't sure if it was healthy for them or not.


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## Hillybean (Jun 10, 2010)

Purina One is not that bad, and I believe it is on the recommend food list . Mine have it in the mix, I use it because it is VERY easy for me to get. The other two in my mix are harder for me to get.

Like everyone else said the natural balance is also another one to try and get.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

The chicken sounds fine to me, the only thing I can think of is maybe check to make sure if there's any preservatives on it. Sounds like it's likely healthier than most of the usual cat treats out there!


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

No, it was from some organic brand and 100% chicken  Then I'll take it, and hope he likes it he is such a picky boy 



Hillybean said:


> Purina One is not that bad, and I believe it is on the recommend food list . Mine have it in the mix, I use it because it is VERY easy for me to get. The other two in my mix are harder for me to get.
> 
> Like everyone else said the natural balance is also another one to try and get.


Yes, I've checked the list and some of the brands on there were available in my country  I'm going to try to get some NB at least, it'll take some time to add it to the mix if I want to I can always switch the RC later.


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

The Natural Balance isn't going to work. It costs 22,30 E but shipping is 20 E  and if I want to get it by myself, I have to travel almost 3 hours. Edit: oh, and they only bring it to my province if I buy for at least 75 E...
So... maybe the Iams or the Purina now, since those are lower in fat (the RC is quite high). And I was so happy I found the NB, hmppf.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Awww, shoot, I"m sorry.  I think you may have already gotten this link from someone, can't quite remember, but have you checked http://www.petfooddirect.com/ ? They have a lot of the great brands of cat food on there, I'm just not sure if they'd ship to where you are or how much it'd cost...


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## Draenog (Feb 27, 2012)

Yes I've seen that one before, but it seems they don't ship outside the USA and if they did it would probably be very expensive (as it is kinda big/heavy, I also paid quite some shipping costs for a CSBW :roll: ) So I think I'll have to stick with the brands that are available here. At least that are more than I thought at first (only RC)


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Darn it. Glad you have a few more choices, at least!


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