# Cut tongue, Anemia, Tumor, and Liver trouble



## Alfredo (Jan 4, 2011)

Alfie will be 4 next July. So he's a 3 year 9 month old. I have had him since he was 6 months old. I'm heartbroken that he's developed so many health problems at his age. 

Everything started when my grandmother went out of town for the weekend. She had been taking care of him these last couple months since I've had a lot going on. My uncle was supposed to feed Alfie while she was away but admittedly forgot to feed him one night. The night of the Blood Moon (lunar eclipse) my grandmother returned home to find his cage covered in blood. She gave him a bath and put him to bed and called me in the morning. Upon picking him up I saw that there was still more blood. 

I took him to the vet immediately. They said he had cut his tongue either by falling or feinting. They ran some tests, sent me home with pain meds, antibiotics, and Carnivore Care. He was reluctant to eat or drink. Two days later I got a call about the blood work. His hematocrit was somewhere around 5% (normal cut off being 35%) and his liver function was low. The vets were stunned that he was alive. They concluded that his hematocrit had to be dropping for a long time now. When I brought him in again his hematocrit had risen to 11%. They hospitalized him overnight to do an xray and give him nutrients and a hormone to stimulate his hematocrit. 

Next day they called me to tell me he had a couple infections in his mouth (including E. Coli) and a huge tumor in his abdomen but to come in to discuss doing an ultra sound to see if it is operable. His hematocrit is currently too low for him to undergo surgery. And it's highly likely that the tumor is bleeding. So we discussed palliative care. In the vets office they administered his medicine in front of us and he appeared to have fainted. The vet offered to euthanize him on the spot, which I found baffling since minutes beforehand she was discussing surgery as an option. 

We went home with two antibiotics - Clavamox and Baytril as well as Lactulose/Silymarin (Hepasil). He has been home a couple days now. Alfie tries to do his normal activities: walking around the couch and getting on his wheel, but he doesn't have the strength. He is so exhausted by any physical exertion that he will sleep for long periods of time. And the vet has instructed us not to allow him to be active. One of the weird things is that he always is arching his back and doesn't seem to have strength in his back legs. Sometimes he almost seems to be dragging his hind legs. Could his tumor be pressing on his spine and making him paralyzed? 

He only occasionally eats or drinks but he tries to eat and likes me to syringe feed him carnivore care. Giving him his antibiotics is a bit of a struggle but worst of all is that the lactulose seems to have strange side effects. Right after consuming it he arches his back and tries to crawl over my arm. Last night he did this as though he was trying to go somewhere. Where I don't know since I was seated in a chair. Then he proceeded to stand very still next to me, arch his back more and hyperventilate. But then he calmed down. The vet said that this behavior could be the result of stress and that his blood pressure is likely too high for him to handle feedings. But I have noticed that he only behaves this way right after he takes the lactulose. 

A couple other things afterwards he continually tries to rub his nose on things and trying to scratch his face with his foot. I don't know why this is. Can anyone explain this behavior? Tonight I spaced out his meds so that he wouldn't be completely overwhelmed. And I gave him half his lactulose followed by a break before giving him the other half. After the first dose he immediately went and peed. Then ran around frantically and tasted his food. He did the uncomfortable arched back thing again and his heart was beating very fast before he settled down. After the second half of the dose he similarly ran about, drank some water, tried scratching his nose, and then lay down to sleep.

Oh and he hasn't been pooping very much. I need to ensure that I syringe feed him more. But I also am not sure how much his tiny stomach can hold with the weight of that giant tumor pressing on it. And his poops are just tiny bits of loose green black poo. They said that would be from the lactulose. He seems to be peeing normally although maybe not enough.

Does anyone have experience with hedgies with giant tumors, low hematocrit, or liver trouble? What are the survival rates for removing giant tumors from hedgies? Does anyone have experience feeding a hedgie lactulose? 

Any advice for taking care of an ill or dying hedge? I want to make sure he gets all the food and water he needs and that I'm there for him if he has any distress, suddenly collapses, or passes away. So I'm finding it difficult to ever want to leave the house. When is the right time to euthanize a hedgie? I was told that if he is unable to catch his breath that we should call the emergency vet. But are there other tell tale signs? Right now he doesn't appear to be in a lot of pain. And he still loves to eat several meal worms in a row. And when I put him in his house he looks out at me almost imploringly. He loves cuddling up to me anyway he can and will happily sleep away the day in my arms. How much contact should I have with him? On the one hand I'm worried he needs his rest and shouldn't be stressed by anything. But on the other he seems content in my arms and I want to love him as much as possible before he goes. <3


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