# Taurine



## karen (Jun 23, 2009)

Hi

I noticed you advise that it's ok to feed dog kibble, however I thought you couldn't as dog good doesn't contain taurine where as cat food does?


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## lilsurfergrlsp (Dec 13, 2013)

Dog food doesn't contain taurine because they produce it naturally, whereas cats cannot produce it and that's why it's in their food. I'm not sure how it affects hedgehogs (I think they can thrive with or without taurine, but I'm not 100% on that), but a lot of owners feed their hedgies dog food too. Cat food is usually preferred simply because the kibble sizes are smaller, and therefore easier for a hedgehog to eat. If you use dog food, you'll have to crush up the pieces (some overly picky hedgehogs don't like crushed up pieces though).


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Since they do fine on both, I would guess they don't require taurine added to their diet and their body makes it on its own from other amino acids, like dogs do. I found an article (written by a vet) that says extra taurine supplemented to dogs gets broken down & excreted by kidneys, so it's not something that would be easily overdosed & cause problems, as long as the kidneys work well. Though now that I read that, I have to wonder if that means the taurine added to cat kibble would cause issues for a hedgehog with impaired kidneys...hm. (No one panic, I'm just speculating!)


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