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Association Between Dietary Regimen and Renal Function Parameters in African Pygmy Hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris)
by
, , , , and
Kristina Spariosu
1,
Ana Pešić
2,
Ksenija Nešić
3
,
Diana Brozić
4,
Jelena Francuski Andrić
1
,
Branislav Vejnović
5 and
Miloš Vučićević
2,* 1
Department of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
2
Department of Equine, Small Animal, Poultry and Wild Animal Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
3
Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
4
Center for Animal Nutrition and Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria
5
Department of Economics and Statistics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2026, 16(13), 2066; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16132066 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 2 June 2026
/
Revised: 29 June 2026
/
Accepted: 2 July 2026
/
Published: 4 July 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition, Physiology and Metabolism of Companion Animals)
Simple Summary
African pygmy hedgehogs are increasingly kept as pets, but their optimal diet is still not well defined. In practice, many owners feed them commercial cat or kitten food, although these diets are formulated for cats rather than hedgehogs. This study compared serum biochemical parameters associated with kidney function in hedgehogs fed a commercial kitten diet and those fed an African pygmy hedgehog-specific diet. Hedgehogs fed a kitten diet had higher blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and phosphorus concentrations, while calcium concentrations did not differ between groups. These findings suggest that long-term feeding of non-species-specific diets may be associated with less favorable renal biochemical profiles in African pygmy hedgehogs. Further studies are needed, but the results support the use of diets formulated specifically for this species.
Abstract
African pygmy hedgehogs (APHs) are increasingly kept as companion animals, yet evidence-based nutritional recommendations for this species remain limited. Commercial cat or kitten diets are still commonly used by owners and veterinarians in practice, despite being formulated exclusively for domestic cats rather than for hedgehogs with omnivorous–insectivorous feeding habits. This cross-sectional study evaluated the association between dietary regimen and serum biochemical parameters associated with renal function in APHs. Blood samples were collected from 19 client-owned APHs aged 12–68 months: 10 hedgehogs fed a commercial kitten diet and 9 fed a commercial APH-specific diet. Serum concentrations of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, phosphorus, and calcium were measured, and the nutritional composition of the two diets was compared using manufacturer declarations and targeted laboratory analyses. Hedgehogs fed the commercial kitten diet had significantly higher serum blood urea nitrogen (p = 0.0133), creatinine (p = 0.0279), and phosphorus (p = 0.0279) concentrations than those fed the APH-specific diet, whereas serum calcium concentrations did not differ significantly (p = 0.3846). These differences occurred despite similar dietary phosphorus content, while the commercial kitten diet had higher declared fat and lower fiber content. The findings suggest that dietary regimen may be associated with alterations in renal biochemical profiles in APHs and support the use of species-appropriate diets in clinical practice.
