# Hedgehog not eating cat food



## stopdontgo (Jan 15, 2014)

I got my hedgehog two weeks ago when she was 6 weeks old, so she's 8 weeks old now. She has no interest in eating her cat food though and it's starting to worry me because she's lost a little weight. I've been giving her the food that the breeder sent me home with, and she's not having it. If I give her mealworms though she'll gobble them up eating around the cat food, and she'll eat as many mealworms as I put in her bowl. She still drinks plenty of water and is still really active and loves to run on her wheel, she just refuses to eat any more than a few pieces of the cat food. Last time I weighed her she weighed 94 grams.


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## stopdontgo (Jan 15, 2014)

I have also tried making her food moist for her but she still won't eat it.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Has she not eaten well for you at all the entire two weeks she's been home? If not, this is very serious. Hedgehogs shouldn't even go a couple of days without eating, much less two weeks. At this point you need to get syringes to start syringe-feeding her immediately. 94 grams is very small, even for a baby.

For syringe-feeding, it's easiest to use wet cat food (pate or minced style) or baby food. Wet cat food is a complete diet with all of the nutrients she needs, though, so that'd be best. Make sure you get a decent quality food - no Friskies, Whiskas, or Fancy Feast. Some brands that have wet food are Taste of the Wild, Merrick, Blue Buffalo, Wellness, and Innova. You can get needleless syringes at a pharmacy. Here's a sticky with tips on syringe-feeding http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/foru...yringing-tutorial-syringe-feeding-sticky.html

As to why she's not been eating...What's the brand/name of the food? I would try getting a new bag of it and see if it's just gone stale or something. If she still won't eat the hard food, but will eat wet food and mealworms, I would schedule a vet appointment to get her mouth and teeth looked at.

And a last question...have you contacted the breeder at all to let her know about the issues with your baby? If you're unsure about being able to handle syringe-feeding her and getting her weight back up, perhaps the breeder could take her back and get her back to a healthy weight for you.


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## Annie&Tibbers (Apr 16, 2013)

So, she's not eating anything except mealworms? That is not good! Hedgehogs go downhill very quickly if they aren't eating. How long has she been refusing kibble? Did she eat it at all when she first came home? Is she eating anything other than mealworms?

Call your breeder to find out exactly what's in the food mix, and to ensure that this is what she was happily eating before.

If it's been more than a day of not eating, you'll need to entice her to eat more. If you know any favourite-foods, use 'em. If not, you might need to grind the kibble up and mix it with water and syringe-feed it to her. I don't have experience with this, but from the archives when hedgehogs stop eating, they can "forget" to eat until you start getting their tummies full.

What's the temperature and lighting situation?

...and when things are a bit less scary, hi! Welcome to the forum! This is a really nice, organized guide to hedgehog caretaking.


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## stopdontgo (Jan 15, 2014)

She would only eat a little bit of the cat food (not nothing at all). But I just went to the store just now and bought wet cat food and baby food and she's eating that on her own as we speak. I'm not sure what her deal was with the dry cat food.
And I've been in contact with the breeder the entire time, but she's a little hard to get ahold of and I wanted faster suggestions on what to do.
I'm going to keep monitoring her weight and food consumption and if she won't eat enough of the wet cat food on her own I also got a syringe that I can use to feed her.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Sounds good.  Since she's eating the wet food and not the dry, I would definitely try getting a new bag of the dry to see if staleness is the problem. If it's not and the breeder confirms she was eating the dry food at her house, then it's time for a vet visit to see if there's anything going on in her mouth. Hopefully the food was just getting stale though! Keep us updated! I hope she continues to eat the wet food happily.

Also, just so you know...You may see some looser, greenish poops in the next few days due to the sudden diet change. Nothing to freak out over, it should clear up on its own. Hedgie digestive tracts don't do well with a sudden food change, but it's definitely more important to get her eating well again right now. Just wanted to forewarn you since it can look worrisome, especially to a new owner.


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## sarahspins (Jun 25, 2013)

Try jarred babyfood - chicken or turkey seem to be well accepted, and you can mix that with a veggie of some kind (like squash or peas).

My Henry stopped eating EVERYTHING when he came home at just shy of 8 weeks, he wouldn't eat the food the breeder sent home with him (or any other kibble) I couldn't get him to eat canned cat food either. He dropped an alarming amount of weight in a very short time (30g over just a few days), but even at his lightest here he was over 200g. I can't imagine how tiny a 95g 8 week old hedgehog is 

I took him to the vet just a few days after brining him home, when he'd already lost over 30g. The vet didn't find anything obvious, but Henry did lose a tooth during his oral exam, which made us suspect that maybe his teeth/gums simply hurt, and he'd start eating hard foods again on his own eventually. I was sent home with some metacam to help with the pain.

I had to hand feed him (well, force-fed is more like it) babyfood with a syringe. After the first couple of days he would eat the food on his own, I simply had to squirt it out, he'd gladly lick it up on his own. After about a week of that I started letting him eat the babyfood mix from a bowl. I continued to offer kibble throughout this time but he wouldn't touch it for over a MONTH. He maintained his weight (didn't lose any more) and even gained back what he had lost, because of the babyfood... and by that point I had a rather complicated mix I would make that would last 3-4 days, and I'd give him a good sized bowl of it in the evening which would be gone (or mostly gone) by morning. He was doing pretty well, and eventually started eating kibble again.. at first just a little bit, but every night he seemed to eat more and more. I continued to feed the soft food for a while, but he's been on all kibble and doing very well for about 6 weeks now, and at 5 months old he's just shy of 300g.


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## Chloethehedgie7 (Jul 24, 2013)

95 grams is scary weight. Please get her to a vet. I hate to say it but that's anorexia x20. I hope she gets better and I will say a huge prayer for her!!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

With as small as she is, I have to wonder if she has issues with eating kibble. Some hedgehogs don't like kibble moist, but if you break the kibble or only slightly moisten it they will eat it. 

The fact she eats canned food helps support that theory. Definitely continue to provide canned food. It will at least provide her with the nutrition she needs.

For the kibble, I don't think you said what brand she was eating, so I'm assuming its a little on the big side. Try to break her kibble into smaller pieces, and then put it her kibble bowl in her snuggle bag/house during the day. See if she will eat if its smaller and if its where she feels like she can hide and eat during the day.

You may even want to try to just slightly moisten the food. Take about 15 grams of food, add about 1/4 teaspoon of water. Shake the food and water to coat the kibble, then drain the water. Usually this is enough to help make the outside of the kibble just a little easier to crunch.


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