Member- Mrs Hedgehog
- 9 years ago
- Wedding: July 2011
Mr. Hedgie and I have been desperatly trying to nurse our sweet baby girl hedgie back to health. We stated having what looked like seizures a few months ago and we took her to the vet who could find no problems. She was slightly concerened about the way she wasn’t steady when she walked but chalked that up to a slipper exam counter. She gave us calcium and said, it was a Hail Mary in hopes that it isn’t cancer or Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrom but rather a simple calcium deficiency. After a while we knew that wasn’t the case but we still kept our hopes up, fruitlessly. She started to become more and more lethargic, would east some nights and not others, and couldn’t even run on her wheel. (Which a few months ago, if that wheel wasn’t in her cage, she would stop at nothing to escape and find it. It was kinda cute!) Finally, the last few days we notices she was freezing cold, and has completely stopped eating. She was a fraction of the size she was when we got her. At that point we knew it wouldn’t be long and there was nothing anybody could do about it but to desperatly attempt to reverse it. We started force feeding her liquid food and water. And finally, last night she started showing signs of getting better. She was warmer (though, the heat lamp we gave her probably did that) and could move around a little easier. Not perfect by any means but certainly better! So, this morning I got up and went to go feed her and noticed half her food was gone!
But, she had gotten a peice of bedding in her food and tried to eat it, not having the energy or coordination up enough to get it out, she passed.
It may seem a bit odd to be telling you guys all this but it really boils down to, we did everything right for her. We got her eating again. But because we did that, she died. It just seems to unfair! For her most of all! She was trying! Some people think of hedgehogs as just rodents but these guys are smart. They have a personality that doesn’t fit their tiny bodies. And, obviously, we adore them. Mr. Hedgie is devistated and coming home early for lunch so we can say goodbye. I feel like I failed her and I should have moved her out of her home. I should have known something like that could happen. I did nothing and she paid the price. But, I also know she was sick, and there was nothing I could do about that. In the end, she did have Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome and there is absolutely no cure for that.
This is the only picture I have of her on my computer. It was right after we adopted her and realized just how fat they had let her get without a wheel and on cat food! But, fat or not, she was a total sweetie! Moodie and very cautious but very loving once she warmed up to you. The dogs LOVED watching her run and run and run of her wheel for hours a day. Amie, we love you!
