What to do if a hedgehog is choking?

[hemi_mygirl]

Tonight, I had a very big scare with 2 year old Vette. I was doing the rounds, checking water dishes and making sure bellies were warm when I noticed Vette having an issue in her cage. Her eyes were bulging, she was frothing and she seemed to be gasping. Her mouth was wide open and I could just make out the edge of a kibble.

I figured I'd watch her an additional few seconds to see if she would dislodge it herself. No luck. I was starting to panic, because I had NO idea what to do. I ended up picking her up, and quickly swooping her in a downward motion. No go.

She was still choking when I held her at eye level and gently stuck the end of a syringe (minus a needle) into her mouth and worked it behind the kibble. I felt it shift a bit, and swooped her downward again. She gave a little cough-gasp and a full CSFTCLS kibble popped out of her mouth and onto my lap.

Is it possible to have a thread stickied with expert input what to do in a situation like this? A quick search for 'hedgehog choking' on here didn't give any good answers, and I'm not sure what I did was the best thing. It worked, but I know it panicked her. I have this horrible feeling I came very close to losing her tonight, and I'd love to help some other hedgehog parent avoid that.

[shetland]

Thank goodness you were there at the right time Courtney-talk about fate. I am so glad little Vette is OK!!!! What a frightening experience for both of you.

[HedgieMate]

I'm glad that Vette was okay. :thumbsupwink:

It's very scary to see your hedgie choking. The first time I saw our hedgie choke on kibble, my blood froze. I had no idea what to do either. Fortunately, he worked it out after a few seconds and kept on eating as if nothing had happened, but those few seconds felt like a very LONG time to me helplessly watching him choke... :(

After the first incident, I searched for the info on choking as well and found the following info on the Laura Ledet's website (http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/comemeetmyfamily/hhcare2A.html) (see the bottom of the webpage):
IN CASE YOUR HEDGEHOG CHOKES:

"Hold hedgie with his head on the palm of your hand, and the rest of his body trailing up the underside of your forearm. Hold him at the 4:00 o'clock position. Shake him towards the floor a time or two. Now place your other hand on top of him and firmly squeeze (compress) him with your hand pressing down and your arm pressing up (like working a bellows) twice. Listen. If needed, shake and compress again."
I'm not 100% certain if this technique is correct or recommended by other hedgie experts. But if not, I certainly would like the more experienced members on here to provide us with step-by-step instructions as to what one should do when one's hedgie is choking.

[HedgeMom]

First try a simple mouth sweep. Using any blunt object such as a end of a eyedropper, handle of a spoon, wooden chopstick, etc, open the mouth and sweep around. If you can fit fingers in, open as above using the object to prevent being bitten and sweep with your finger.

Gravitational swing.

Hold the animal (any small animal) in BOTH hands, head towards your fingers, butt towards the heel of your hand, belly down. Hands together like you're praying (trust me, you probably are at this point). Hold firmly. Raise both hands over your head, fully extended and quickly but gently swing towards the floor. Make sure the ENTIRE animal is supported during this swing, especially the head, neck and spine.

During this time, someone should be getting the vet on the phone. If the gravity swing doesn't work, you may need professional intervention.

It's nearly impossible to perform a Heimlich manuever on a small animal and not cause life-threatening injury. It's easy to rupture internal organs and the amount of thrust needed can snap spines, break ribs, burst spleens and livers. I wouldn't try it unless I had a vet on the phone and it was my ONLY recourse.

[HedgieMate]

Thanks, HM. I hope I'll never have to use your instructions in an actual event, but I'll definitely keep them handy in case Geoffrey requires our assistance (I probably need to do a monthly drill so that I'll remember the technique as well). :)

[smhufflepuff]

(I probably need to do a monthly drill so that I'll remember the technique as well). :)
...but maybe with a roll of socks or something. I'm sure G wouldn't be too pleased with that drill :thumbsupwink:

[hemi_mygirl]

Phew! Thanks HM. Then I did do okay for little Vette. I held her in both hands, with the tip of her nose poking out of my fingers while I quickly swung her downward. Luckily, she’s small enough that I could use my thumbs to hold her in place and support her spine while the rest of my fingers supported her head and neck. It was my first instinct in a complete panic. I then used the rounded edge of a medicine syringe to open her mouth and work it behind the kibble. A second gravitational swing dislodged the kibble enough that the syringe tip popped the whole kibble out.

Being as she’s a little spooky and shy, I couldn’t get my fingers near her mouth without her hissing and balling up. She doesn’t bite, but a scared hedgehog isn’t the easiest patient. Luckily, two quick sweep were enough to dislodge the kibble just enough to pop it out.

I’m really praying this never happens again – I’m still shaking and it happened last night! I barely got any sleep last night because I was so wound up and listening for signs of choking. I broke up all her kibbles last night and moistened them a bit to safeguard against this happening again. She’s getting older and I don’t know how good her teeth are, so I’m a little nervous. When the weather warms up, I’m going to take her to the vet so they can give her a once-over and check her teeth. She’s missing one front tooth that I can see (but has since she was just a baby), so it’s entirely possible she’s missing more in the back.

Thank you everyone! Is it possible a mod could sticky this, or add it to an already stickied thread? If so, that would be wonderful.

[HedgieMate]

...but maybe with a roll of socks or something. I'm sure G wouldn't be too pleased with that drill

Heehee, I never thought of using G in the drill, but you could read it that way, couldn't you? :laugh: Yep, I was just thinking of practising the gravitational swing move WITHOUT a real hedgie in my hands.

When I read your comment, I pictured myself doing the drill with G actually in my hands... Seemingly so prone to motion-sickness, I'm sure G would be throwing up all over me during the drill! :rofl4:

[Hathery]

Thanks for all the useful info, everybody. I don't know what I would have done if Laika was choking--good someone brought up this subject before it ever happened. I'd probably be trying to do a tiny little Heimlich maneuver on her...not good.

[Nancy]

First off, remain calm. Sometimes a piece of food will get caught in the roof of their mouth. This doesn't inhibit their breathing but they can become frantic trying to dislodge it.

What I do is put my thumbs on either side of the mouth and gently work them between his teeth to open the mouth. I leave one thumb in between his teeth. The end of a spoon will work well also. If there is kibble in the roof of his mouth, I use a blunt object, usually the tip of a syringe, and put the tip behind the object and pop it forward.

First try a simple mouth sweep. Using any blunt object such as a end of a eyedropper, handle of a spoon, wooden chopstick, etc, open the mouth and sweep around. If you can fit fingers in, open as above using the object to prevent being bitten and sweep with your finger.

Gravitational swing.

Hold the animal (any small animal) in BOTH hands, head towards your fingers, butt towards the heel of your hand, belly down. Hands together like you're praying (trust me, you probably are at this point). Hold firmly. Raise both hands over your head, fully extended and quickly but gently swing towards the floor. Make sure the ENTIRE animal is supported during this swing, especially the head, neck and spine.

During this time, someone should be getting the vet on the phone. If the gravity swing doesn't work, you may need professional intervention.

It's nearly impossible to perform a Heimlich manuever on a small animal and not cause life-threatening injury. It's easy to rupture internal organs and the amount of thrust needed can snap spines, break ribs, burst spleens and livers. I wouldn't try it unless I had a vet on the phone and it was my ONLY recourse.

Taken from Laura Ledet's website. http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/comemeetmyfamily/hhcare2A.html

IN CASE YOUR HEDGEHOG CHOKES:

"Hold hedgie with his head on the palm of your hand, and the rest of his body trailing up the underside of your forearm. Hold him at the 4:00 o'clock position. Shake him towards the floor a time or two. Now place your other hand on top of him and firmly squeeze (compress) him with your hand pressing down and your arm pressing up (like working a bellows) twice. Listen. If needed, shake and compress again."