Hedge hogs

[phaedraeos]

FYI, (and I'm not trying to bash your sister, I promise!) Meow Mix is probably one of the worst foods one could feed a hedgehog, or even a cat for that matter. It's main ingredients are corn gluten meal (highly indigestible, especially for carnivores and used specifically cause it's a cheap filler), and meat by-product meal (noses, organs, tails, you name it.)

My general advice to people considering pet food (and yes I've taken numerous animal nutrition classes and worked with vets on this), is

1. Never feed your pet anything you can buy at a supermarket,

2. Never feed your pet a dry food that has kibble bits of different colors - your first indication that something isn't right with the food is when they dye it.

3. ALWAYS read the ingredients on the food, and avoid anything with corn gluten meal, animal by-products, artificial colors and flavors, etc. Pet food companies rely very, very heavily on marketing and the fact that pet owners are happy to believe that the food companies are out to make their pets healthy, not to make money. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. For instance, Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, all use very poor quality ingredients in their food and rely on advertising and events like dog shows to spread their brand name around.

Sorry for the rant!

 

[evilxyardxgnome]

hmmm my parents have had the same cat for about 6 or 7 years now and have fed her nothing but Meow Mix. I am sure its not the best to feed but its obviously not going to kill them.

 

[sharksledge]

my parents feed our cat Wellness right before the whole big glass thing in the food

 

[Plasticmotif]

FYI, (and I'm not trying to bash your sister, I promise!) Meow Mix is probably one of the worst foods one could feed a hedgehog, or even a cat for that matter. It's main ingredients are corn gluten meal (highly indigestible, especially for carnivores and used specifically cause it's a cheap filler), and meat by-product meal (noses, organs, tails, you name it.)

My general advice to people considering pet food (and yes I've taken numerous animal nutrition classes and worked with vets on this), is

1. Never feed your pet anything you can buy at a supermarket,

2. Never feed your pet a dry food that has kibble bits of different colors - your first indication that something isn't right with the food is when they dye it.

3. ALWAYS read the ingredients on the food, and avoid anything with corn gluten meal, animal by-products, artificial colors and flavors, etc. Pet food companies rely very, very heavily on marketing and the fact that pet owners are happy to believe that the food companies are out to make their pets healthy, not to make money. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. For instance, Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, all use very poor quality ingredients in their food and rely on advertising and events like dog shows to spread their brand name around.

Sorry for the rant!

Name brands aren't bad, they aren't great either. No food is ideal. If your animal likes the food, feed it to them.

Vitamin supplements are cheaper and better than buying overpriced 'whole' foods.

 

[phaedraeos]

hmmm my parents have had the same cat for about 6 or 7 years now and have fed her nothing but Meow Mix. I am sure its not the best to feed but its obviously not going to kill them.

It won't kill them fast, but neither will smoking cigarettes.

Additionally, if the cats go outside they supplement the Meow Mix with real meat and protein. That's what kept my parents' cats alive 15 years, even though they ate Grocery Store Brands (Deli Cat I think.)

 

[evilxyardxgnome]

Nah its an in door cat.

 

[phaedraeos]

Name brands aren't bad, they aren't great either. No food is ideal. If your animal likes the food, feed it to them.

Sorry, but this is awful advice. Would you do this for your children? Would you feed your dog cooked chicken bones? I guarantee he'd eat them.

Vitamin supplements are cheaper and better than buying overpriced 'whole' foods.

This is also very bad advice. Vitamin supplements are absoultely useless if they can't be digested and incorporated into the animal's system. The more digestible and efficient an animal's diet, the more energy it will have available to put towards utilization and synthesis of essiential proteins, vitamins, and amino acids.

Do you think that eating fast food every night and then popping a Centrum would have the same effects as eating whole, balanced meals?

Just like humans, animals can live long lives while essentially eating crap. Just like humans, this increases their risk of obesity, organ disease, tooth decay, diabetes and other health problems. Yes, you can have an 18 year old cat that has eaten Friskies its entire life. Yes, you can have an 80 year old man that drinks a fifth of vodka and smokes a pack of cigarettes every day. A long lifespan is not proof of a healthy existance.

 

[phaedraeos]

Nah its an in door cat.

6 or 7 years is still early middle age for a cat. Just like humans, it takes a whle before you'll really start to notice the effects of poor nutrition (think about the number of Americans that develop Type II diabetes later in life).

Do an experiment, if you truely believe that this food is good for your cat. Suck up the price difference and buy a decent cat food (or have your parents buy it; whatever) and switch the cat's diet for 3 months. If you don't see improvements such as less shedding, less smelly and less frequent poops, fewer hairballs, etc. then switch back.

 

[evilxyardxgnome]

I'm not saying it's good for them, it just won't kill them and they still live a long life.

 

[Plasticmotif]

Sorry, but this is awful advice. Would you do this for your children? Would you feed your dog cooked chicken bones? I guarantee he'd eat them.

This is also very bad advice. Vitamin supplements are absoultely useless if they can't be digested and incorporated into the animal's system. The more digestible and efficient an animal's diet, the more energy it will have available to put towards utilization and synthesis of essiential proteins, vitamins, and amino acids.

Do you think that eating fast food every night and then popping a Centrum would have the same effects as eating whole, balanced meals?

Just like humans, animals can live long lives while essentially eating crap. Just like humans, this increases their risk of obesity, organ disease, tooth decay, diabetes and other health problems. Yes, you can have an 18 year old cat that has eaten Friskies its entire life. Yes, you can have an 80 year old man that drinks a fifth of vodka and smokes a pack of cigarettes every day. A long lifespan is not proof of a healthy existance.

Aside from the dyes in Meow Mix and the corn gluten for bonding.....it's not bad.

As long as the meat product isn't 4-D it's still gives tons of fats and omega-3s. It's just 'unsightly'. The fish meal that they add is the exact same stuff that every farm raised trout you've ever seen was fed.