It's been a rough week

[hedgie girls]

Hi everyone,

Just thought I would drop a note on the girls.

Snuggles is doing good at this time. She went to sleep outside her snuggle sack the other night and was a little wobbly in the morning. I warmed her up as soon as I found her. She is doing good.

Cuddles had some kind of pus, mucous bacteria plug in her vulva. That required an emergency vet visit on Sat. She is now on antibiotics for that. She urinated real good this morning. The vet she saw was not sure what caused it.

Huggles was found "lifeless" on Tuesday night right before I left for work. I check her vital signs and there was a very faint heart beat and very shallow breathing. My husband and I said our goodbyes to her. When I got home she was more responsive and diarrhea that was just running out of her so I brought her into the vet. They think she had a major seizure and then crashed afterwards. She bit her tongue during the episode. She was not strong enough to go through testing so they are waiting a week before doing any test.

Their room is kept in the mid 70's and they each have snuggle discs. We have no idea what is causing the problems.

[Melody]

I'm just a newbie hedgie owner, so I won't be of much help to you advice-wise. I so feel for what you are going through. They make us feel so helpless. The hardest part of owning any exotic is that so relatively little is known about how to treat them when they are ill. You are in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope everything turns to the better for you and your babies! Keep us posted!

[hemi_mygirl]

I'm so sorry! Your hedgehogs are in my thoughts.

A note to the pus and mucous on Cuddles' vulva...Hemi just got over that. What my vet did was prescribe her Baytril for 14 days. What happens is that, when a hedgehog curls into a ball, moisture from urine sometimes gets caught in the skin folds. Put a bit of antibacterial soap on a q-tip and wipe in that area really well every couple days, even after the infection clears up. Then, just because I'm a paranoid mom, I followed the bacterial soap with another q-tip saturated with warm water, just to wipe off any remaining soap. It seemed to work for Hemi.

Good luck with your little ones.

[hedgie girls]

Thanks for the info. I will be washing her every couple days and rinsing her well. We did not see her normal vet there was only one vet in that day.

[hemi_mygirl]

No problem, it may not be the same ailment, but it never hurts to try. Female hedgies are most prone to it, since everything is pretty close together.

[Melody]

Hedgie girls -- how are your babies? I have been worrying about them and you! Hope things are better!

[hedgie girls]

Melody,

Snuggles is back to running 8 to 11 miles a night.

Cuddles is still on her meds and no signs of further problems.

Huggles is slowly improving. She had x-rays taken Thursday afternoon and it showed a questionable area at the front left shoulder. She has two large fat deposits on each side. They aspirated some fluid from the area and the vet said there was no cancer cells, just bloody serum. They called it a seroma. We are to watch it closely and if it gets bigger they will have to go in and remove it. Her blood work up showed excess stress levels, but nothing that would help determine what happened. It could have been a pain induced seizure. She was put on Buprenorphine on the 17th and that seems to help keep her comfy.

[Melody]

I'm so glad that things seem to be improving! Sometimes I know WE feel the stress even more than our babies. And, no matter how much we do, we feel sooooo powerless to help! You and your trio are in my thoughts and prayers daily, so let me know how things progress. I wish you all the very best!! Keep us updated!