# what is the actual reason we cant feed hedgehogs fish based products?



## xXFooFooLaFluffXx

ive never fed fish based products to the hogs due to reading it somewhere on a forum, might have been this one, might have been the hog forum, cant remember, but either way, i cannot recall WHY? and what proof there is its detrimental? and when we say fish based products, what do we mean? like wet food with fish in it? or dry biscuits with fish derivatives? or both? what ARE we actually ok to feed?


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## Shell195

This is the same as for native hogs and nobody seems to know why. We are all busy feeding dried cat food but if you check the box most of them contain fish oil. I keep asking the same question and nobody has yet come up with an answer so this thread will be interesting


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## animal addict

no one really knows why - some-one told me ages ago that its come over from America and they have been keeping hogs a lot longer than us and it was a ? issue so hence its generally accepted as not advised for long term use rather than specifically not good for them- fish oil is a derivative and safe but it is in a lot of foods but not all of them - depends on the brand - please someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong - its what I was told when researching and have since avoided it


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## xXFooFooLaFluffXx

so they can be fed things with fish derivitives in so long as it isnt a perminant thing? i bought ten kilos of cat biscuits the other day only to realise they were pilchard and salmon flavour hence why im asking :bash:


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## Shell195

xXFooFooLaFluffXx said:


> so they can be fed things with fish derivitives in so long as it isnt a perminant thing? i bought ten kilos of cat biscuits the other day only to realise they were pilchard and salmon flavour hence why im asking :bash:


 
Feed them to the cats then:lol2:


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## animal addict

:lol2::lol2: shell!!!

I dont know foofoo otherwise sorry


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## xXFooFooLaFluffXx

the cats eat wet n dont like them!


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## Mrs Mental

xXFooFooLaFluffXx said:


> the cats eat wet n dont like them!


Bummer!!! 

Maybe the hogs will end up being able to concentrate really well with all the fish oils : victory:


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## LoveForLizards

I can understand the reasoning behind salmon and tuna (guessing its the same as with dog food?) but sardines/pilchards etc can't do no harm surely?


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## Shell195

LoveForLizards said:


> I can understand the reasoning behind salmon and tuna (guessing its the same as with dog food?) but sardines/pilchards etc can't do no harm surely?


Why cant dogs have salmon or Tuna?? Some hypoallergenic food is made from Salmon and potatoe


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## LoveForLizards

"Threats" of salmon poisoning (which is pretty much 0 in dog food as it is manufactured to avoid it!) and mercury in continous feeding of tuna. It's recommended that dogs, cats, ferrets, rat and mice get only a teaspoon or so of tuna every week due to the mercury intake.


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## quilson_mc_spike

xXFooFooLaFluffXx said:


> so they can be fed things with fish derivitives in so long as it isnt a perminant thing? i bought ten kilos of cat biscuits the other day only to realise they were pilchard and salmon flavour hence why im asking :bash:


this is why i stick to the same brands that i know the ingreediants are safe for but if they have none in at ASDA ill buy a cooked chicken some peas and sweetcorn and they get that as the dogs get the leftover chicken we bin the peas and sweetcorn....

tbh i tend to go for the chicken tiger cat food from ASDA as a main type its great realy low in fat =] x


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## Shell195

LoveForLizards said:


> "Threats" of salmon poisoning (which is pretty much 0 in dog food as it is manufactured to avoid it!) and mercury in continous feeding of tuna. It's recommended that dogs, cats, ferrets, rat and mice get only a teaspoon or so of tuna every week due to the mercury intake.


Thats ok then as mine never get it but the cats get a tin between them all about once a month


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## Heavenlyhogs

same applies to fruit n veg...many say DONT feed fruit n veg then you get those that do.Reason for not feeding them this is because its difficult for them to digest.Maybe with fish its the same no idea.


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## sophs87

Can you feed hogs lambs mince?? only we dont eat beef mince, would make life a tad easier lol


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## Shell195

sophs87 said:


> Can you feed hogs lambs mince?? only we dont eat beef mince, would make life a tad easier lol


 
I dont see why not tbh


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## Heavenlyhogs

neither do i see a problem but thinking about it REALLY thinking about it i dont see how in the wild they would hunt down and eat chickens,cows,and sheep :lol2:maybe things like this contribute to a lot of health issues we find in our domesticated breed.
Just food for thought.


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## sophs87

Heavenlyhogs said:


> neither do i see a problem but thinking about it REALLY thinking about it i dont see how in the wild they would hunt down and eat chickens,cows,and sheep :lol2:maybe things like this contribute to a lot of health issues we find in our domesticated breed.
> Just food for thought.


I dont see in the wild how they get scrambled egg, processed cat food, a bowl of water, steamed veg, steamed chicken...:whistling2:
I will give lamb a try tonight then thanks :2thumb:


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## sami

We did this in the wildlife module.. 

It's something to do with the fact that hedgehogs don't eat fish in their natural diet. They eat a lot of animal based protein, like frogs, worms, slugs, possibly even rodents etc (I'd guess they wouldn't say no to a mouse if they found it dead).. But don't hunt fish. 

Fish protein is different to mammal protein, maybe they can't digest it? Although slugs and worms would be made up of different stuff anyway..


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## Shell195

I know native hogs shouldnt have fish either but a very large hog rescue we deal with gives pilchards in tomato sauce to poorly hogs to kick start them eating. Not good as a longterm diet though


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## dexnos

I always thought it was to do with them not being able to fully digest the food and protien levels etc.

At the end of the day it may be worth cutting your loses and not feeding it to them to be on the safe side and help avoid any extra vet bills down the line.


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## amazoncat

I take in rescue native hogs and I just figured it was because they wouldn't get fish in the wild rather than there being tonnes of science behind it but there we go.

On a side note, as somebody else mentioned it. Slugs and snails are not really favoured by hedgehogs and they are a major cause of lungworm, which kills a huge number of native hogs every year.


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## Shell195

amazoncat said:


> I take in rescue native hogs and I just figured it was because they wouldn't get fish in the wild rather than there being tonnes of science behind it but there we go.
> 
> On a side note, as somebody else mentioned it. Slugs and snails are not really favoured by hedgehogs and they are a major cause of lungworm, which kills a huge number of native hogs every year.


 
A fellow Hedgehog carer :no1:
We are getting so many calls at the minute for tiny babies about the size of an egg that have been found wandering about in the daytime


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## amazoncat

Great to meet a fellow carer, Shell. Things are pretty quiet here but there are a few people who take them in in Norfolk including a woman who recently opened a rescue centre so I think a lot of them go to her.


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