# Not eating as much kibble but still eating mealies and baby food



## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

I was really hoping I wouldn't ever have to write a post like this...

For the past two nights Erin hasn't been eating much of her kibble  She normally eats 6g but on Friday she only ate 2g and last night she ate 3g. She gets Orijen Cat and Kitten and Lilys Kitchen Crunchy Nibbles Chicken Flavour. I cut it all up into smaller pieces to make them more hedgehog friendly as well.

After noticing she hadn't eaten much on Friday night I gave her about 2 teaspoons of sweet squash flavour baby food which she ate (she really loves it). When I took her out of her cage this morning to check her over, I held her food dish in front of her and she ate 2 or 3 pieces and then was uninterested so I offered some mealworms and the weird alien baby things and she scoffed them down (almost choking on one, but I think that happened because she was eating them so fast) so she must still have an appetite. She's never had the aliens before either so I wasn't sure how she would take them but she went for those first.

I weighed her and she has gained 3g since last week (she's now at 244g). 

I was thinking that maybe the kibble has started to go off/stale? They have both been kept together in an air tight container and the bags were open when I first got her just over a month ago. Should I order some more?

I want to offer her some different choices tonight to see if she will eat them (chicken, egg, different baby food) but is there anything else I can do? She hasn't tried egg before or any other flavour baby food. Is it okay to offer both at once. Is her eating less a bigger thing to worry about than causing green poo?

I mushed up her kibble from last night and placed it under her tshirt with her in the hopes that it persuades her to eat. I'm also fully prepared to start syringing if I have to, but it seems like there's a problem with the kibble rather than her appetite. Sometimes they can be quite hard so maybe she is getting tired of eating them and is preferring the softer baby foods and mealworms. I don't think there's a problem with her teeth either because as I said, she is eating some but not as much as normal.

She hasn't been wheeling the past two nights either. The temperature of her cage is between 23C - 24C and has been since we got her. I did accidently leave the lights on in her room on Friday night, but the dimmer switch was turned right down low and I have seen her eat and run with the light on like that before. I was hoping that was why she didn't eat much on Friday but because she didn't eat much last night I'm starting to worry.


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## Nick120180 (Oct 27, 2014)

Mine fluctuates hugely on food intake. Sometime almost none sometimes loads. Monitor carefully and vet trip if things don't change. 
Possible tooth damage, you might try softening the kibble?


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

She does fluctuate a bit too, but never by this much. I record how much she eats everyday and even have it plotted on a graph.

I've softened the kibble she left from last night and put it under the tshirt with her in case she gets hungry but doesn't want to come out :/ I've also gone and bought some wet cat food and a new type of baby food in case that doesn't work.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Personally I'd err on the side of caution and make a vet appointment. If it's a couple days off, that gives you time to cancel it beforehand if she goes back to normal, but you'll have it in case she continues like this. I wouldn't write off the possibility of teeth issues due to her eating some, but not as much - it could be that there's discomfort, but it's nothing too advanced yet (which would be a good time to catch a problem if there is one). 

Does her poop from the past couple of nights look normal? I'm guessing there's probably less if she's eating less & not running, but other than that, is there any change in color, consistency, etc? I think I'd go with only offering one new thing tonight, in case she has a stomach issue, so you don't make it worse. If they're eating absolutely nothing, I go for getting whatever you can into them, but since she's still eating some, I wouldn't get too drastic just yet.


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

Her poos look normal but yes like you said there's not much of it. I did offer her some wet food 'gourmet gold with Turkey and chicken' and some beef before I saw your comment and she ate some of the wet food. I've already mixed some in her kibble as well but I'll take the beef out. I'll phone the vet tomorrow as well. I hope she goes back to eating normally :/


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

I had her out for about an hour tonight and she seems her usual 'don't touch me - just do what I want' kinda self. I put her back in her cage and she ate some of the new wet food.

I separated the wet and dry foods again and there was about 1.5 teaspoons of wet food. I think she ate about a third while I was watching her. She kept going to the dry food (which I had moistened with some water) and I think I saw her eat 1 piece. It seems like she wants to eat it but I can't figure out why she won't. 

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that she will have eaten lots of it by morning but I'm also planning on scheduling a vet visit for hopefully Wednesday.


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

When I checked on her this morning she had eaten all of the (new) wet cat food and the couple of mealworms I'd put in with her kibble. I'd softened the kibble with water but it doesn't look like she ate much (if any). It also looked really unappetizing because it had dried out :/ 

She ran on her wheel though  and made a mess everywhere! There were food and poo crumbs all over the place. I hope that's a good sign. I've ordered some new food which is due to arrive between Wednesday and next Monday which is quite a while away. I'll schedule a vet appointment for later this week (Thursday or Friday) and keep monitoring her.


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## MomLady (Aug 14, 2010)

Good Idea to schedule a vet appointment. The only sign I had that Nara was having trouble was she didn't eat a lot the night before she passed.

It sounds though that the food was stale? Glad to hear she ate and ran. After a scare like that, a messy wheel is a relief. :lol:


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

I am still wondering if the food is going stale. It didn't feel as hard when I cut it all up tonight. 

We've got a vet appointment on Friday. Hopefully we won't need it but I'd rather be safe.

I weighed out the wet food tonight and I think she must have eaten more than I realised last night. I didn't give her as much in the hope that if she's still hungry she'll eat more kibble (but I think she'd rather go hungry!)


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

Well Erin ate 5g kibble last night which is more normal for her  plus she ate all the wet food too. We've still got the vet appointment for Friday but hopefully we won't need it!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

That's great news! Fingers crossed that she continues to improve & get back to normal and you won't have to worry.


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

Wanted to write a wee update because I hate reading threads that don't have an ending.

We didn't go to the vet on Friday because she started eating kibble again. 
She gained 4g between Sunday and Wednesday which would normally take her a week. The wet food I was giving her was very high in fat but was good to tide her over.

I gave her wet food for 3 days. The two new bags of food came in the post and I swapped her over to that last night which she decided she didn't want.

So with the help of Kelsey (Lilysmommy) I've decided to swap her over to wet food for the time being. If anyone's interested I'm going to use Canagan which is high in protein and really low in fat, so suitable for every day. This will be supplemented with some kibble and treats.


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