Pet News Hefty Hedgehog on cat food diet | Hefty Hedgehog on cat food diet |
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| Written by MyPetFriends | ||||
| Wednesday, 23 April 2008 | ||||
 With all the talk about the new breed of African Pygmy domesticated hedgehogs as house pets (see full My Pet Friends article, by clicking here), pet lovers across the UK are being warned not to leave food out for hedgehogs. Such acts of kindness can have the opposite effect as wild animals gorge on treats left out by well meaning animal lovers.- - A hefty hedgehog has lost nearly a fifth of his body weight after wildlife vets put him on a special diet. Podgy George had grown to the size of a football after gorging on the high-fat treats left out for birds. - After a diet of a few spoonfuls of cat food each day, he has gone from 2.2kg to 1.7kg but experts still think he needs to lose another 850g to be a healthy weight. - Excess weight can have severe effects on wild animals as it can domesticated pets – in the hedgehogs case, those layers of extra insulation meant that he didn’t feel the cold weather and did not hibernate; in the case of our pets it can have effects on their major organs such as their heart, liver and lungs as well as their joints and reduce overall life expectancy. - Remember – wild hedgehogs are not pets and it is illegal to take a wild hedgehog out of its natural habitat. However, you can find details of specialist breeders of African Pygmy Hedgehogs that have been bred to be kept as pets by searching the My Pet Friends pet business directory, where you can also find details of pet shops and pet stores that have additional information about suitable pet foods for domesticated and outdoor pets. -  Add as favourites (0) |  Quote this article on your site | Views: 1137
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