# Biting off feet and nails? - Serious issue with hedgehog



## KTH5 (Mar 2, 2010)

O.k, so I've had my hedgehog Kipper for a little over two years and besides a little issue with mites, he has been in fine health, and he is a well socialized, friendly hedgehog. Yesterday at around 5:00 I decided to give him some original neosporin, which he has had in the past. he reacted very violently to it, which he has done in the past. He ate the neosporin (which he normally does), and acted very grumpy afterwards (again, something he has done before the 2 or 3 times I've given it to him). After that I put him down and noticed his feet were bleeding, so I panicked and put him back in his cage and left him there because my freind was here and I didn't want to scare him. After a couple hours, my friend had left and went to get Kipper and noticed that all his feet were covered in blood and there were a couple of his nails missing. I put him under a lukewarm bath to help with his feet and was tried wiping his feet with a soft towel. Since the vet was closed, I decided to bring him in tomorrow (which is today), to have him looked at. Throughout yesterday and today I have been checking on him and he has been acting very, very strange which included not going to sleep at all, acting aggressive and very huffy (which he does not do normally), staying outside his hut in daylight, running around his cage and wheel in daylight, not eating nor drinking, shaking, and having trouble walking. With lots of blood on his wheel and in his sleeping bag, he was losing a lot of blood.

Obviously he was in pain, but I had to wait for the earliest time to bring him to the vet, which was around 10:30 today. The vet didn't really know what started it but she put him into "Twilight" as she called it, and did some examining. Of our 2 or 3 vet visits, this was the first time Kipper had to be seduced, to put it in perspective because he is normally very friendly. After an hour and a half or so, she told us that he had bitten off layers of skin on his feet and bitten off most of his nails, but not fully. She said he should be fine (Thank God!!), however he was going to need some antibiotics and medication (his feet were infected), and it could take months of supplies for him to fully heal, which in turn leads to a lot of money. She said she attempted to put on little cloths on his feet, but when he awoke he took them off. Is there anything I can do to get little mini hedgehog slippers or socks to put on him to help him heal faster? Any other advice anyone can give me to help care for him? Other things to note are that it was regular neosporin, not extra-strength, we have no idea what made him try to chew off his feet (although it probably had something to do with neosporin), the vet asked to take out his wheel and give him comfortable surfaces to stay on (he is on a polar fleece bedding), and to give him foot baths so help clean off his feet. Any help would be appreciated, and by the way, I am 15 so nothing too harsh.


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## Olympia (Aug 4, 2010)

Poor Kipper! I had something similar happen to Clémentine about a month ago. I put a bit of regular Polysporin on her chest, near her neck because her skin looked irritated and she had pretty much the same reaction has Kipper: she became very agitated, growling at me and not letting me hold her and she kept biting the spot where I put the Polysporin until she broke the skin and really hurt herself. She now has a nasty wound that is healing extremely slowly, namely because she still bites at it sometimes and it's at the base of her neck so she's always stretching it when she moves. The vet gave me meds, something to desinfect the wound twice a day and a cream to apply on it also twice a day. Like your vet, she has no idea why Clémentine reacted that way and there is nothing like a bandage that she can put on the wound. 

I don't think there's any kind of bandage that would stay on hedgie feet. Keeping the wound clean and giving Kipper his meds is probably the best thing you can do. I hope your hedgie feels better soon.


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## ThePliny (Jun 3, 2010)

I wonder if you could try bandaging his feet with a clean cotton and vetwrap? Vetwrap is an amazing thing and adheres to itself; is easy to work with and really inexpensive. You would need to put some clean gauze/cotton underneath it though.
This thread had some discussion about vetwrap and other options for an awkward wound
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13670&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=afghan+hedgehog

Pliny has chewed himself before- usually in the armpits of his front legs. No idea what causes it. Whenever the vet and I think we have figured out the trigger, something different causes it. It is obviously stress related. He always heals fine - I keep it clean and apply a topical ointment. he has only had to go on antibiotics for it a couple of times.

Good luck!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

KTH5 why did you put the neosporin on him? Is it creme or ointment? I used cream by mistake one time and the hedgehog had a fit. Most hedgehogs tolerate ointment much better but some will react to it also. If a hedgehog reacts to something once, it should not be used again and chances are the reaction will get worse each time. 

What type of cage is he in? With not having his wheel, hedgehogs can find lots of other things to do that can injure them. Make certain there is a lid on the cage because a bored hedgehog will climb. Unfortunately a bored hedgehog is also more likely to chew at themselves. 

Hopefully he will leave his feet alone but when putting medication on, make sure you only use a tiny little bit until you see what the reaction is.


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## KTH5 (Mar 2, 2010)

Yeah thank you guys for the suggestions. I put on some neosporin for a really small bump above his nose, which he has had before and the neosporin has removed before. In hindsight, I don't think it was necessary for me to put on some neosporin because the bump was so small but it's too late. Anyways, I brought some food over to vet and she said successfully put on some feet bandages (I'll have to ask what kind and mention cotton and vetwrap). Luckily he hasn't tried to take them off, and hopefully he won't like earlier this morning. The vet also said, unfortunately that he chew off a couple of his toes (Yikes!), so the road to recovery lengthens. He is staying at the vet tonight, but when he hopefully comes home tomorrow, he'll be in his regular cage (a safe, rabbit cage from Italian company that starts with a "m", can't remember the name.), with a cage divider in the middle so he can't get to the other side. There is going to be his igloo hut with his sleeping bag and a towel laid across the cage on top of his fleece bedding. In addition his food bowl and water bowl.

Also " If a hedgehog reacts to something once, it should not be used again and chances are the reaction will get worse each time. "
That probably explains why. I have given it to him in the past and he has had bad responses to it. This time when he reacted it was the worst by far! Being grumpy for a couple of minutes to biting off your toes is a huge difference. I can't imagine if I were to give the neosporin to him again.

I'm not getting home tomorrow until late, but I'll be sure to update. Thanks though.


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## KTH5 (Mar 2, 2010)

Yeah so I got some bad news, apparently Kipper's liver and kidneys are doing really bad according to blood-work. The vet said that he is not doing to well and is "grim" conditions. He is at home with me and I just gave him all 3 medications, which I'm going to have to every morning and night for the next two weeks. Apparently it's a toxic infection of some sorts, which is pretty bad. She said that if isn't eating at all or being extremely lethargic, then that's a really bad sign. Luckily, he is actively seeking to eat out his food by himself and drink his water, and he eagerly gulped down his meds. He is also pretty calm and lazier than he normally is, but is still moving (or kind of limping with his "casts") and appears to be in o.k health. Tomorrow I will go with my dad to get him some mealworms and pedialite to help him. I don't really know what else to say, I just really really hope that he will end up okay. Any suggestions will be appreciated to how to deal with this situation or tips on caring for a sick hedgehog. Thanks, Jordan.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

How often did you use neosporin and in what amounts?

Neosporin is not ment to be ingested, and if it has been applied relatively regularly, and in a place where it can be licked off...
It's made up on polymyxin b, bacitracin and neomycin. They are all toxic to kidneys, especially neomycin(an aminoglycoside), which is excreted 100% through the kidneys. (reading off my pharmacology notes...)
Did you tell your vet about him ingesting neosporin everytime you put it on? Depending on how much and how often, it could have just been a slow process thing. While in very small amounts it's relatively safe, it is still not meant to be ingested and is hard on the kidneys. 

Make sure he drinks lots and he is kept well hydrated.


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## KTH5 (Mar 2, 2010)

Thanks for getting back, it was about the amount of two little pea drops that he ingested. I've been giving him all this medication recently, and he is do to the vet tomorrow. He has been fine with has been eating and drinking a lot. Just a couple of minutes ago, however, I gave him all his meds and then about 10 (amount in the little syringe) of pediolite and right after that he threw up. He threw up a lot also. I really don't think that's too good, and my vet is out of the office (just tried calling her). Other than that he seems to be in decent condition, moving actively, and is not lethargic at all. Anything I can do about him throwing up?


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## Stellara (Nov 12, 2011)

To help with vomiting, try giving him his meds and fluids at separate times. GIve him his meds, make sure he has an hour or two to make sure he keeps them down, and then give him his fluids. If he still vomits, don't give him all of the meds at once - give one or two, wait a couple hours and then give him the rest of the medications. Also, when you are syringe feeding him regardless of whether it is medication or pedialyte make sure that you push down the stopper slow and in tiny amounts so that he is able to taste and swallow each time- to avoid aspiration. Do small amounts more frequently rather than a large amount all at once to avoid stomach upsets. 
I highly recommend getting A/D from your vet (the wet version) and mixing it with some Boost (Vanilla flavoring). My girl would gobble that up on her own- and since he is battling sickness you could offer a bowl full of that every night along with dry food on the side. The wet food mixed with boost will help keep him hydrated and strong- wet food alone has a very high (around 96-98%) water percentage. I would talk to your vet about that sooner than later, since he could go downhill quickly and this could aid in his recovery and strength. Not to mention, if he is being fed A/D every night and eating it, you don't have to get as much fluids in him via syringe during the day. A/D has done wonders for my hedgehog as well as all of the very ill newborn kittens I've given it to- it's great at keeping their strength and fluids up and is very appetizing to them.


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## KTH5 (Mar 2, 2010)

Thanks Stellara, I'll be sure to mention that to the vet. But what got me back to this topic is that Kipper really is in critical shape now. From what the vet tells me, his kidney and liver are failing and of his feet, one appears to be dead, therefore will have to be amputated _if_ he recovers in the end. External, he seems perfectly fine - eating, drinking, pooping, peeing, moving around, doesn't seem like he's in pain, etc. But internal apparently he is not doing okay at all. I'm in a really tough situation because the vet and me parents have hinted at pulling the plug for Kipper, which is really upsetting to me because he seems fine. I don't know if I should call it quits on him or continue to argue my case that he seems okay and can bear it out. The vet said to look for signs of him being in bad shape/dying: lethargic, not eating/drinking, blood coming out of eyes/anus, vomiting - and nothing of that has happened to Kipper, at least not yet. And if Kipper were to survive this ordeal and have to have a leg cut off, would his quality of life be so bad that it's not worth it? He's only 2 years old by the way, which isn't too old for a hedgehog...
I meet with the vet tomorrow afternoon and would really appreciate any advice or wisdom on this situation. Thanks, Jordan


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## alyssinreality (Jan 18, 2012)

I don't have any advice but to say that no matter what happens to stay strong! If you decide to put him to sleep, then remember that it was for the best and don't beat yourself up about it.(I'm not saying that's what you should do, I have no clue. Hopefully someone else chimes in with a medical opinion.) We may be putting my 18/19 year old cat down tomorrow and I've been crying off and on about it all night. (have had her since I was 5 and I'm 19 now) So I know how hard it is, as I'm sure a lot of us do. 
I am sorry you are going through all this with your hedgie


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