clutterbuster
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overweight hedgie - 2007/08/28 07:15
Adding 'lite' to P-k's food has added another seven grams to her, she was a firm 500 this morning. She weighed 440 when she arrived four months ago.
When she arrived she had been receiving three crickets a day and a cereal bowl of CS. I immediately cut her back to one cricket and stopped that a month later. Three scoops of food was cut back to one. She seemed to maintain, lose a little, gain it back.
Month two I was giving her dried mealies as her get up treat. Come July and August that stopped and she's been getting only watermelon. She did get a live mealie yesterday as a reward for letting us cut her nails, those we are doling out only as a reward.
Last week I added CS lite to her mix (CS adult, just a little bit of Fromm and Blue Spa which does not get eaten), she is getting only half a coffee scoop at night and in the morning she gets a smaller portion about the size of a juice bottle cap. And there is always food left for she really is not going for the lite.
I've cut her portions, am trying to switch her to lite and she is still gaining and now she is at an alarming amount. This climb has continued even though I stopped fattening treats early in July and have just been giving her watermelon as her 'get up' treat. I am now doubting my watermelon logic - very few calories and no fat - but as she has had the watermelon the past two months her weight has continued to climb and now at 9-1/2 months she is a whopping 500 grams.
I just got sunseed, it's unopened, should I stop the watermelon and switch to this as a treat? This is a really wierd question, but could the watermelon be causing her to put on weight for it's what she has been getting the past two months?
Post edited by: clutterbuster, at: 2007/08/28 07:16
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CThogs
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Re:overweight hedgie - 2007/08/28 07:58
Joy-
Read this article on obesity in hedgehogs:
http://www.hedgehogworld.com/content/view/67/42/
Is she truly overweight? Can she ball up? Does she have fat waddles under her arms? The number on the scale is not as important as physical appearance. I looked for an answer to this question in past threads and could not find it.
could the watermelon be causing her to put on weight for it's what she has been getting the past two months?
Yes it could. Cut out all treats. She does not need food as a reward.
Ann
Connecticut Hedgehogs
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HamorHollow
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Re:overweight hedgie - 2007/08/28 09:21
clutterbuster wrote:
Last week I added CS lite to her mix (CS adult, just a little bit of Fromm and Blue Spa which does not get eaten), she is getting only half a coffee scoop at night and in the morning she gets a smaller portion about the size of a juice bottle cap. And there is always food left for she really is not going for the lite.
?<br><br>Post edited by: clutterbuster, at: 2007/08/28 07:16
I think I've told my story about the 'top shelf' rich food mix and my hedgehogs getting fat about a hundred times here. I keep telling you to Put Purina Kitten Chow in your mix because it keeps my crew at a good weight (for the most part....but post pregnancy weight doesn't really count), but you seem to be very against it. I don't know what else to tell you; your mix is too rich.
Someone else here even mentioned that Dogs cannot eat cat foods, and esp the top shelf ones, because their bodies cannot break down the complex proteins. Well, you have too many complex proteins in your mix.
-K
Kelly Sosik-Hamor
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clutterbuster
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Re:overweight hedgie - 2007/08/28 11:06
I found a bag of PKC leftover from Pippi in the freezer, I will add that to her mix tonight if I understood you correctly, if not tell me now. I thought kitten food was higher in fat than adult food.
she can still ball up but she can't hold it very long. Actually she doesnt' look as fat as when she arrived at 440, her legs looked like turkey drumsticks but they don't now... I think she's grown into her weight.
I can't believe she's gained considering how much I've drastically cut back on servings and cut out most of the treats except watermelon. I really thought that would be a good substitute, maybe she's retaining water like the mommy person does!
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Stasi
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Re:overweight hedgie - 2007/08/28 13:25
Joy,
Since she can ball up, SHE IS NOT OVERWEIGHT. Relax. She's not holding the ball long because she doesn't feel threatened, or that she's trying to get away.
Stasi
Terrapin Hedgehogs
Joppa, MD
www.terrapinhedgehogs.com
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HamorHollow
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Re:overweight hedgie - 2007/08/28 13:36
clutterbuster wrote:
I found a bag of PKC leftover from Pippi in the freezer, I will add that to her mix tonight if I understood you correctly, if not tell me now. I thought kitten food was higher in fat than adult food.
It's not the fat content that is the issue, it's the complex proteins that can't be broken down.
The diet industry has given us the idea that fat, all fat is a bad thing. It isn't. People and animals need fat in their diets to survive.
-K
Kelly Sosik-Hamor
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clutterbuster
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Re:overweight hedgie - 2007/08/28 15:14
meal worms are considered a fat source not a protein source, and I've cut them out of her diet and replaced with watermelon. Maybe I need to bring them back so she has a little more good fat in her diet. Your thoughts?
and she does kick like a little Rockette!
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HamorHollow
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Re:overweight hedgie - 2007/08/28 22:34
Meal worms are an excellent source of fiber. Watermelon has a lot of sugar in it. I would ditch the watermelon. I know people want to think that fruits and vegetables are good and necessary in the hedgehog diet, but they really aren't and too much of them is dangerous and can lead to malnutrition.
-K
Kelly Sosik-Hamor
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clutterbuster
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Re:overweight hedgie - 2007/08/29 18:58
okay, I tell Aunt Georgie not to bring over any more watermelon. I thought it would be a low fat treat. I've added PKC to the mix. I may resume giving cat kibble mix at night and resume a small cap of hedgie kibble or insect body parts for snacking during the day or maybe that sunseed scription that I haven't opened yet. That's what I did the first two months before watermelon season and before she became a whole lot of hedgie!
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HamorHollow
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Re:overweight hedgie - 2007/08/29 21:07
clutterbuster wrote:
That's what I did the first two months before watermelon season and before she became a whole lot of hedgie!
It sounds like a lot of food and could be part of the reason she became a whole lot of hedgie. She really only needs about a tablespoon and a half to 2 T.
-K
Kelly Sosik-Hamor
Hamor Hollow Hedgehogs - a New Hampshire breeder, serving Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and any where else hedgehogs are legal. |
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clutterbuster
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Re:overweight hedgie - 2007/08/29 21:29
she really wasn't getting all that much during the past two months - a small scoop of kibble at night, her get up treat was watermelon since it was in season and during the day I'd put a little mazuri insectivore out (that she would pick at a little, she really didn't care for it but it was there if she was hungry). I had stopped all other insect treats over the past two months and she continued to gain weight. Okay, so now I'm stopping the watermelon.
I was really surprised to have the CS people email me and tell me that their lite food is really just higher in fiber. I am going to discontinue the lite I've been trying to get her to eat the past week since both the senior and the lite formula have that hairball additive and hedgies really dont need that.
So P-k's mix is half CS regular, and smaller amounts of PKC and blue spa and an even smaller amount of Fromm.
What is really annoying is having two hedgies on two different things, but I'm not going to screw around with Max. He is eating a combination of regular and lite Iams. He's probably been on it for four years and has not shown any interest in anything else I've given him... and I have no intention of putting any of his Iams into Pk's mix. Max has dropped from 479 a month ago to 463 so I am pleased with his progress.
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