# Hedgehog is losing weight



## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

Hello everyone,

The previous thread about my hedgehogs got no reactions anymore, so I am just going to make a new one 

-Hedgehog 1(Fluffy) drags with her back lags and doesn't walk good. the vet gave her an injection with vitamin B, it didn't work, now she got a painkiller medicine, there is still no improvement (after 6 days)

-Hedgehog 2 (Prikkie) Doesn't want to eat. when she arrived she weighted 497Grams, it then went all the way down to 415, the vet gave her A/d to syringe feed her, it went up to 440 and she started eating again on her own (but then she got diarrhoea) and now she doesn't want food anymore. i have to syringe feed her forcefully. she now weights 425 again  her poop is still thin.

I am now seriously clueless about the problems, i just don't know what causes it? 

Things I tried:
-changed the light schedule
- Installed a CHE, temperature now stays between 24-26C
- changed bedding material to Flax(If that is the english word) with aspen shavings
- seperated the hedgehogs
- gave them anti-parasite medication (Now for 6 days)
- removed exercise wheel (Now placed it back, but Prikkie doesn't do anything with it)


What do I do?? I can't keep syringe feeding her for the rest of her life? she hates it!
I am considering euthanization if it keeps going like this? 
I really don't know what to do anymore..

Please help, is there anything I can still try to get her to eat?


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## Tongue_Flicker (Jun 11, 2013)

Increase heat a little more, make sure your hedgies are well hydrated, try giving them like a pinky or waxworm just pump them up. You could also make a slurry recipes for picky eaters and recovering hedgies. Try googling it up..

Obviously they'll poop watery or thin because they're not eating anything yet.


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## DesireeM81 (Jun 14, 2014)

Did the vet check her mouth? My girl, River, wouldn't eat for the first two months I had her and I syringe fed her the whole time. All she had was a hurt tooth. 10 days of painkillers and antibiotics and she was eating on her own again. My girl lost over 100 grams in the process. When she arrived she weighed 475 and now her weight is at 362. She isn't underweight though, she was just overweight when I got her. If your girl loses a little weigh, as long as her sides don't sink in like this )( then I wouldn't worry to much about the weight loss.


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

went to the vet again today. she made a radiographic photo, checked her mouth and did some more tests... but she cant find anything! on the radiographic photo everything looked fine(but she had almost no body fat) she gave her an IV with water and nutrition, and now we are going to try antibiotics... but no one knows what's wrong with Prikkie 

I thought maybe it was an hibernation attempt, but Prikkie is still very active, the cage is at a constant 25 C... 

Does anyone knows what the problem could be?


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## rodanthi (Feb 7, 2014)

I don't know, but would they eat wet food (I'm assuming they usually eat kibble).
If the hog who isn't eating wants to but can't then it might reduce the amount of syringe feeding you have to do.


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

Today i tried to feed her a cricket. she really wanted to eat it. she took it in her mouth, chewed it, and then spit it out! then she did that a few times and then she lost her interest. But it isn't a tooth problem? i don't know what's wrong!


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## CashmereSkeleton (Nov 28, 2014)

I am a new hedgehog owner and don't know ~that~ much about them, but could Fluffy have Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome?


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

I thought about that too, but her previous owner told me that she has always walked like this.(I didn't see it when I bought her but I contacted him later.) she probably fell sometime and mayby has back issues? hernia? and for now it isn't getting worse than not using her back legs and she doesn't really seem to have a problem with it. she eats enough (maybe even too much ) and she can move her back just legs a little bit, enough to wobble around on her wheel, so she is okay 

The real problem is Prikkie, she now has antibiotics but i hasn't worked yet.. also a medicine which will make her hungry. she acts really hungry, bites the food or sniffs it, but she then drops it out of her mouth again..


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

She now weights 392g and doesn't eat again. the vet is now considering euthanisation


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

Forgot to say that when she does eat something now, she makes really weird shakey movements... like she has to vomit?
she is now on anti-nausea medicine and some kind of antibiotics.. she does seem to be interested in the food but doesn't eat. she only wants to eat crickets (about 10 small ones a day, which it not enough for an adult hedgehog) 
the kibble, wet food and mealworms are absolutely ignored or even hissed at if I keep them in front of her.
What can I do?

Pleas help because I really dont want her to be euthanised


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

I have been googeling around abit, could it be Fatty liver disease? When she arrived here she was probably pretty fat for a hedgehog, 497g. previous owner didn't have a wheel, and food was many worms and little kibble. so fat could build up pretty quickly? but on the other hand, being lethargic is one of the symptoms but prikkie is still very active.


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

No one reacts? 

she eats some things lately, now she wont eat again. she is now on a medicine that makes her hungy, power up her digestion (it works  ) but it also shuts down her imune system.

The vet put the x-ray of my hedgie on her site, thought you might find it interesting  it is the last picture. few pics before that it is her getting her teeth checked. http://dierenartsdelaak.nl/afrikaanse-witbuikegel/


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## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

Wow you certainly have put a lot of work into her! We had to force feed out hedgie when she was sick as well. I made sure she got a minimum of 16 ml per day. When she showed interest in eating on her own I measured out how much 16 ml would weigh and i made sure to give her at least that much of the same food she was being syringed. When I knew she was eating all her food without my help I very slowly started putting kibble back into her diet. She would have nothing to do with it! I then switched her very slowly to a wet cat food mixed in with the A/D formula until it was all the new wet cat food. She has never taken to kibble again!
She will occasionally eat a canned cricket, but has never touched a meal worm or wax worm. You might have to go right back to the begining and start very slowly.
If the vet can find no reason why she wont eat then she may just being extremely fussy


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## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

also that shaky wobbly thing that you think might be her trying to vomit might actually be something called anointing. Hedgies will do this when they REALLY like the smell or taste of something. It is the weirdest thing to see! The first time my Penny did it I thought I had killed her with cauliflower! She twisted her head around, fell on one side and then started foaming at the mouth and licking her sides! Scared the crap out of me!


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

Thanks for your reaction!
Jep it is a lot of work( and money ) if this doesn't work now she'll probably get euthanised..

I'm not sure if she is just picky.. i have tried 2 types of kibble, 3 types wet food... mealworms,waxworms,crickets.. she doesn't even touch them.

The vomiting thing could maybe be anointing? but she didn't fell on her side but there was some spit/drool on her mouth.

The previous owner thought that maybe she was sad because she was seperated from her male? :S the first weeks she ate good and after that she started to lose weight, so im not sure..

When i keep food in front of her she sniffs it, licks her nose and then walks away.. I have to syringe feed her again now..

The medicine she gets now is called Dexamethason, it is what they give to animals when they have no idea what the problem is  (Used for: Reuma, lung problems, stomach and bowel problems, kidney problems, cancer and skin problems)

But if this doesn't help, should i get her euthinised? the vet didn't find anything so it would be pretty bad to euthanise a healthy hedgehog.. but she won't eat so maybe there is something wrong... :s


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## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

How much food is she getting over 24 hours? She must have at least 16 ml or cc's in order for her own natural appetite to kick in. Some say it may take as much as 20 to 24 ml. This is what happened to our Penny. I know it is difficult to keep this up, but euthanizing a healthy animal is not fair. If you can't cope with the workload that is understandable but please try to find her another home.
Keep going you are doing wonderful and please keep me updated as I would like to know how she does


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

She does get about 16 ml a day. 
Did your hedgehog stop eating for no reason? or did she have a disease or anything? and how long did you syringe feed her before she started eating on her own?

I am pretty willing to do the work, but my question is if she will start eating on her own. she is struggling a lot when i feed her and really seems to hate it. 

When she gets the dexamethason injection (it was a real pain getting that inbetween her quills) she starts eating again. 4-5 days later she stops eating because the medicine left her body. 
I'm just not sure if she is sick or just doesnt want to eat. I will keep syringe feeding her for a while but then sha has to do it on her own..

If she does have a disease(cancer, liver problems, stomach problems, everything on the dexamethason list) then the next step would be to do blood tests or that sort. If this is the case, she will be euthanised.

do i have to contiune on the dexamethason or only syringe feeding?


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## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

Penny was syringe fed due to a upper respiratory infection. She got very weak and nearly died. It came on very quickly. The first set of ant-biotics helped but we needed todo a second dose. Hedgies DONT like to be syringe fed at all! but it is necessary. Try wrapping her up in a cloth like a burrito so she can't struggle so bad. Also up it to 20 ml a day. She may need more to stimulate her appetite.
We also used to put a little bit of chicken and broth baby food on top of her wet food. They seem to like it and it is really cheap. Continue to syringe feed but put a little wet out with the baby food at night. If she eats all that then you can cut back slowly on the syringe feeding and increase the free feeding.
If it is a bad disease then that changes things and we can talk about it later


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

Thanks for your reaction,
I called the vet, they said I can keep injecting her dexamethason once a week, as long as there are no bad side-effects. After the dex she started eating like crazy! But only crickets and ''Royal Canin Convalescence support'' it is a powder that you mix with water. she loves it! She doesn't wan't the a/d anymore. should i syringe feed her a/d or royal canine?


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## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

Feed her the Canin if that is what she will eat for now, if that is what she will eat


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

the RC powder is really the only thing she wants. I bought some canned snails today, she ran away from it, really scared xd


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## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

Oh no!!I'd probably run away from them too? Is she starting to eat the RC powder on her own at all?


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

she stopped eating again, i injected the dexamethason, and then she started eating like crazy again! after a week she stops eating, and after dexamethason, she eats again..then she eats less and less until after a week i inject again. so the dex is good for something.. 

yesterday she woudn't eat, today she got her dex injection, she ate 15 crickets and some RC on her own! (i kept it in front of her, then she ate it) 
She now weights 405, it is pretty constant. the other hedge weights 479 (she is getting too fat xd ) 

i think i will continue to inject dex once a week and then i will try to make the interval between the injections bigger.


Btw, i put the canned snails outside for the birds to eat lol


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## saskia (Nov 28, 2014)

*She died *

I just want to give an update after a very long time

Prikkie is dead   
The dexamethason helped her for a while, for about two months she was doing ok, but the dexamethason also made her seem very tired/dull/inactive.

After 2 months she started eating less and less. I started syringe feeding her again but it was very difficult. She made shakey movements with her head and had drool koming out of her mouth after eating (nausea, I think) ,and after a few tries she started throwing up her food. I've tried feeding her again the next day, but she puked again and she had green diarrhea. It was just very sad to watch..

When we weighted her for the last time she was 315 grams (when she came in it was 511 grams) and she was just very underweight, a lot of loose skin  we then made the decision to euthanize her, and brought her to the vet. The weight loss just went to far..


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