Mini Heart Attack....

[razzle]

I just had a scare....

Razzle was eating his crunchies as usual, when all of a sudden I noticed he looked like he was struggling. He apparently got one stuck on the roof of his mouth and was trying to dislodge it. His breathing wasn't impared at all, but his tongue was going a mile a minute trying to break free of the lodged crunchie. I, of course, was panicking, but didn't' want to make matters worse by scaring him. However, I needed to do something and finally picked him up and attempted to dislodge the food myself (risking those ferocious hedgie teeth! What a mother will do for her baby! :lol: ). Anyway, I couldn't get it with my finger, so I used a Q-tip and got it out. He's fine, but I'm still shaking.

This has never happened before, so I don't know why now it would. Unless it HAS happened and I just never saw it and he dislodged it by himself.

My question is -- what is the right thing to do in a case like this? I was soo worried of dislodging it and having him choke on it. Has anyone had this happen before?

[Nancy]

I've had it happen numerous times and probably alot more than I realize as I don't see them everytime they eat.

As long as they are breathing and working on it, I leave them alone. I stand back and talking quietly tell him/her that she will be ok and that I am here and will help if they need it. I've never had to help and although it seems like hours it is usually less than a minute. Usually they start to drool and the spit seems to loosen the food.

Of course if they seem in distress or it continues for too long then help is needed but I too am afraid of pushing it back farther and causing more problems.

It seems to happen to the same ones over and over. Smokey in particular has it happen alot. Perhaps their mouths are a size that the food gets caught more easily, or they don't chew enough.

[HedgieMate]

I had a similar incident recently. Geoffrey didn't used to snack much during the day, but lately he is sneaking a few pieces twice or three times during the day. On one occasion, he choked on a piece. Fortunately for me, just before this happened, I had read Nancy's post on HHC about choking (http://hedgehogcentral.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1191).

I tried my best to remain calm and spoke softly to Geoffrey saying that he would be OK and I was there if he needed help. After a few minutes (although it felt like hours at the time), he managed to dislodge it himself. But it was VERY scary and upsetting...

I have a feeling that HHs do choke on their kibble more often than we care to know. Most kibble pieces for adult cats are hard and relatively large for HH mouths. It's not hard to picture HHs choking on them occasionally.

I just hope that I'll be able to help Geoffrey if he ever needs me to get rid of whatever is choking him... I wish someone offered first-aid courses for HHs! The basic skills such as the equivalent of Heimlick manoeuvre or CPR would be very helpful...

[bigmack]

Two times Mack has gotten a kibble stuck in his cheek. The first time, I thought, I didn't know they carried food in their cheek! And then he started hitting hit. I knew it was stuck. I picked him up and he didn't squirm or anything and he let me gently push the kibble out. I think he knew i was trying to help him :)