# Injured Baby Hedgehog



## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

I know I don't come here all that often anymore, but I felt that this situation warrants it; it's fairly serious, and I need all the help I can get. I don't feel like I'm out of my depth, per se, but I would like some extra information/confirmation of my own knowledge so that I'm absolutely certain of what I'm doing.

I know a man who has a hedgehog with two four (or so) week old babies at a pet store I stop by occasionally to buy food for my family's rats. Today when I was visiting, I picked up the little girl and saw a fairly ugly-looking cut on her foot. He's not sure how it happened, but it's possible that she cut herself on her mother's quills, since he did see her climbing all over her mom recently, and mom wasn't being overly nice about it. (Huffing, spiking up and trying to knock baby off, etcetera.) As I understand it, this is about the age that babies start getting this kind of treatment from their mothers because the moms are trying to start weaning them and making them be a bit more independent, so this sounded pretty normal to me.

I used some warm water and paper towel (the guy added a little tiny bit of peroxide to aid in killing germs) to clean up her foot, and even after cleaning, it looked pretty rough. The skin wasn't exactly mangled, but it didn't look good either. It was torn up a bit, and I thought I may have seen a tiny bit of scabbing, and there was a fair bit of dried blood that wouldn't come off, both on the main part of her foot and around the nails. I didn't want to hurt her, so obviously I didn't try too hard to get it off, but the foot wasn't looking too good, and it was bleeding a tiny bit again when I was done. There looked to be bits of shavings stuck to the foot, and I couldn't get some of it off, so her foot still looks like a bit of a mess, but it's a little better now. (I know, shavings are awful. I did manage to get him to put them on paper towel instead, so she won't be getting any more of that stuck to her poor little foot, and he'll be able to tell more easily if she starts bleeding again.

Here's the big issue: this guy doesn't know how to take care of an injured hog, so I told him that, if it's still looking bad or worse tomorrow/Tuesday, I will take her home and get her patched up, then bring her back when she's better. However, there are a number of larger issues at hand, here. First and foremost, as I mentioned above, she's only about four weeks old and therefore not fully weaned yet. However, the injury is bad enough that it can't just be left, so there's not really a good solution here. I know that baby hedgehogs can be substituted with KMR, and she is eating some solid food, so I imagine a combination of KMR and whatever solid food she's eating is probably what I ought to give her. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I don't want to make her sick by feeding her the wrong stuff.

Secondly, this man has flat-out said that if this injury requires a vet visit, he would sooner have her put down than pay for it. Obviously, this is not acceptable to me, so I told him that if it comes to that, I will buy her. I'm not about to let her die so needlessly, not when there's nothing else wrong with her. She's otherwise healthy and very sweet, and it would be a waste of a life to let that happen. Due to my already having two hedgehogs and now, a service dog in training, I don't have time for a third, so I won't be able to keep her, but I can at least take her and get her fixed up, and then find her a new home.

For the foot, I know it's safe to use a certain type of polysporin on a hedgehog's cut, but I can't recall exactly which one. I'm not sure if it's possible to wrap it in gauze so that she doesn't worry at it or wipe off the polysporin, or cover it another way, so if anyone knows if that can be done, please do tell me. If there's anything else to be done about it, I'd also like to know what those things are, so that she'll heal as quickly as possible.

Secondly, I need to know about the feeding. How often does she need to be fed, and how many times a night will I need to get up to feed her? Or, is she okay to go overnight with just her kibble at this age? How much should she be fed at any given time, considering that she's just a baby? What type of syringe should I use for the KMR?

I also need to know whether or not I should attempt to give her a bath, as her skin is a mess from a combination of the shavings she's been on, and the fact that she still has new quills coming in even now. I know that hedgehogs should be bathed in the baby Aveeno wash, so I don't need to know how to do it or what to use, I just need to know if I should. I'm guessing no, due to the foot, but I want a second opinion. (And possibly a third and fourth and so on.)

As this is likely going to happen tomorrow or Tuesday, I'd really love opinions as soon as possible. I won't be going into this blind, obviously, since I do know my fair share about hedgehogs and have researched babies and hedgehog first-aid a bit. I just know that I'm most likely to get good advice here, rather than traipsing around the internet and never being sure of the accuracy of the information.

If there are any questions I've forgotten to ask and you think the answers are things I need to know, please, by all means, tell me. I'll take all information into consideration, but help from breeders would be absolutely fantastic here, since this is a baby I'm talking about.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Hi, I can't help you with the feeding, I've never had to feed such a young hedgie before but I'm pretty sure Nancy has so maybe pm her about that. As for the foot, you can use plain regular strength polysporin on the cut. NO pain relief or triple strength polysporin. I would give her a bath in just enough water to cover the injury, so that you can get it good and clean. I wouldn't use peroxide any more as it can damage healthy tissue. You can try covering it with some gauze if she lets you and will leave it on. Try using some first aid tape to hold it on. If she leaves the cut alone leaving it open might be better but you'll have to see how it goes. 


Good luck!!


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

How about her skin, though? Should I try to clean that up, or wait until her foot heals a bit more? She really is a mess, her skin is all crusty-looking and I can't imagine it's overly comfortable. She's got stuff stuck on her quills too, it's really rather gross. I'll be sure to avoid the peroxide, and I don't know if she'll be willing to leave it alone, since she was nibbling at her foot a bit earlier when I was holding her to get a look at the injury in the first place. I'll have to play it by ear.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

You can clean up the skin and if needed give her a full bath, just make sure to keep her really warm after. Can you post a picture? 

Oh by clean up the skin, do you mean make it less ragged? like debriding it? triming it? if so then no I wouldn't do that unless its dead skin


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Sadly, I can't, as I don't have her with me yet. As I said, we were going to leave her with mama until at least tomorrow, since we don't know how mom will react to her little one going missing for however long it takes the foot to heal, so I don't have the little one available to me at this moment.

I just mean giving her a bit of a wash, with some aveeno and a soft-bristled toothbrush. Just a regular bath. I think a lot of it probably is dead skin, but I don't want to mess with her too much since she'll be stressed out enough as it is, so I never had any intention of trying to remove anything.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Ok that's what I thought you mean but just wanted to double check. I see no problem with giving her a bath and making sure her leg and cut is completely clean as long as you make sure she's warm till she's completely dry.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Great, thank you. I just don't want the poor thing in any more discomfort than is absolutely necessary, and her skin does look pretty sore.

How would you advise that I go about cleaning the cut properly, if peroxide is out? As mentioned, there's a fair bit of dried blood still stuck to it, and I'm not positive, but I think that she may have a little bit of ripped-up skin under her nails that I couldn't manage to remove earlier. Obviously I don't 'want to hurt her, but I can't just leave her foot like that, either.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

I think a diluted chlorhexidine solution as a foot soak might be best. It will disinfect and is safe. I found mine at a local reptile store(I use it as and all round cleaner as well), other people have been prescribed it from the vet for foot injuries(like the recent case with the hair around foot). You can try calling your vet and asking about that.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Imortalia, that's a great idea, I never thought of using that.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

I've never even heard of that stuff, myself. I'll see if I can find some, thanks for the tip.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

I don't remember what area you're in, but I got my bottle from the Hamilton Reptiles(very original, I know), in Hamilton Ontario. Though it's probably closed tomorrow for the Civic holiday. If the cut doesn't look like it's getting infected, you could probably wait until Tuesday. I doubt an emergency vet clinic would just give you some, since the regular vets are closed tomorrow too. 

Something else you could use is betadine. It's a surgical scrub, essentially. I have used it to clean wounds on my horse, and we use it as part of the scrub down process at the clinic pre-surgery. Though I don't know how safe it is for hedgies, it's an iodine solution. So honestly, I'd go with the chlorhexidine if you can find it, since it is proven to be safe as others have used it. Though this one is more easily found at the pharmacy. (lol I know this seems like redundant information, but who knows, maybe someone else may have used it and can comment )


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

I'm in London, unfortunately, so Hamilton is a bit far. Our emergency vet is complete garbage, we know this thanks to the debacle with Quillamina a few years ago, and now they won't treat any exotics at all. They won't even see rats or hamsters, just cats and dogs, so they're useless. I can check multiple pharmacies if necessary, though, hopefully it won't be too hard to find. My regular vet may even be able to get me some if I can't find it anywhere else.


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## zookeep (May 8, 2012)

That disinfectant is also known as Nolvasan. We use it in the zoo world for literally everything from cleaning enclosures to cleaning wounds on animals to cleaning our own wounds. It can be expensive though... I bought a gallon of undiluted and it was about $75. Granted that will make up to 128 gallons of actual cleaner. Just thought I'd mention that so you'd have some more info.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Another vote for chlorhexidine (also known as Nolvasan and Chlorhexiderm). This stuff is awesome, works, and is totally safe (though best to avoid eyes/nose/mouth). I just wish it wasn't so expensive, since I use it for disinfecting any wounds and also for cleaning some of my medical equipment.


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## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

If the wound is not infected, you could probably just wash it with saline solution. It's cheap (you can buy it at the pharmacy) and it works for cleansing wounds. It's what they use at the hospital for wound care. After cleansing, you could either apply the regular strength polysporin, or simply dry the wound and cover it with dressing. I agree with no hydrogen peroxide. That kills cells and then you're left with dead tissue that's a great place for bacteria to grow.

If the hedgehog is dirty all over, I would recommend bathing him, drying him, and then keeping him warm until he's completely dry. It will make him feel more comfortable to be clean, and it will be less dirt around the wound area (ex. if he touches his dirty body with his injured foot).


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

How expensive is chlorhexidine, exactly? I'm going to try to get some no matter what you tell me, so don't worry about the cost affecting my willingness to buy it. I'll try the saline solution only if I can't find the chlorhexidine; with so many positive votes for the stuff, I'd rather try to get my hands on it before resorting to something else.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Well, from the vet it costs about $75 USD/gallon. You can get it a lot cheaper online though depending on where you look: http://www.amazon.com/Bimeda-Inc-Chlorh ... orhexidine

I had actually forgotten how cheap it was online. Totally reasonable and a gallon will last you a lifetime.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Ouch. Wonder if it's any better here in Canada. I have enough to pay for it, but wow, that's worse than I thought.

I'd rather have it immediately, for obvious reasons, but if I can't find it anywhere else, I'll order some online and use saline until it arrives. Thanks so much for the link.


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## zookeep (May 8, 2012)

The $75 gallon jug is should also be the concentrated version, so be sure to add water first! It's 1oz/gal. So really you're spending about $1.70 per gallon. NEVER buy it diluted because you're just paying for water. The concentration can be kicked up to 2oz/ gal if you're cleaning an enclosure for a sick hedgie or if you need to super clean something. NEVER use that high a concentration directly on a hedgie. Some larger animals can handle it but only if a vets says it's okay to avoid possible chemical burns.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

I haven't been able to find any so far. I called the pharmacy this morning, and, get this, the person who answered the phone told me that the pharmacist said it was prescription-only.

Yeah. No it isn't. Not if you can buy it on amazon.com. That's what it's looking like I'm going to have to do, unless my vet is able to get some for me.

Exactly how much should I dilute it to use it to clean up her foot?


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

The dilution is only two tablespoons per gallon of water, which isn't much at all.  I usually use a stronger dilution just because I have that bad habit of "I should be able to actually see the stuff in the water" mentality. So, I add in enough so the water is light blue.


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## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

If you use chlorhexidine, be sure to avoid contact with the eyes. So don't let your hedgie put his injured foot up to his eye.

I like your idea of starting with saline solution until your chlorhexidine arrives. Honestly, if it's not infected, the saline will cleanse a small wound adequately until the wound closes. The chlorhexidine is only more effective if there is a high risk for infection or if the wound is already infected (in which case antibiotics would be required).

I found an article that compared tap water, saline solution and chlorhexidine for cleansing wounds on rats and they found that saline was best for clean, healing wounds and chlorhexidine was better for cleansing intact skin and dirty, traumatized wounds. 
http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/ijmorphol/v24n4/art25.pdf


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

As far as I know, it's not infected, but a lot can happen in two days. I won't be able to get her until tomorrow, I couldn't get hold of the guy today. Today was a civic holiday, but he had told me he was going to be at the store today. Apparently I missed him when I called, but we're going to stop by tomorrow and have a chat.

I heard some...less than flattering things today, actually. I stopped by another store that opted out of the holiday and picked her up a snuggly toy so she won't miss her mom so much, and the woman there told me that he wasn't likely to take the hedgehog to a vet to have her put down; he's more likely to drown her.

Needless to say, I'm going to try to get him to just give her to me. It's not worth the risk.


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## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

Yeah, if he's just going to drown her or put her down, he should seriously just give her to you for free. He'll make back his money in supplies that you'll be buying at his store over time anyways, and he saves himself the trouble of killing her. Plus you'll be the one forking out the money for wound care, vet care, meds, food, etc. You're doing him a favour!!!


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

He wouldn't be losing any money on her either, since he paid for her mother, not her. Mom wasn't pregnant when he bought her, so baby and her brother were free stock.

I'm still trying to puzzle out exactly what I'm going to say to convince him. I will buy her if I have to, but I won't be pleased about it if I do.


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## habs_chick (Jan 23, 2011)

Sela said:


> I heard some...less than flattering things today, actually. I stopped by another store that opted out of the holiday and picked her up a snuggly toy so she won't miss her mom so much, and the woman there told me that he wasn't likely to take the hedgehog to a vet to have her put down; he's more likely to drown her.


People like this make me sick. I hope you can save her and find her a good home! If he's drowning his pets that require medical care (or that just are costing him money), maybe he should be reported to the SPCA. Pretty sure that would be considered animal cruelty.


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## AngelaH (Jul 24, 2012)

The thought of someone drowning a hedgie made me get teary-eyed. Please get this little girl away from there and report him if euthanizing really is his intention!


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

They're not his pets, actually; this is a pet store, my family goes there to buy rat food, which is how I found out about the baby hedgehogs at all. I'm going in this morning and I'm going to try to talk him into giving her to me; wish me luck, I'll let everyone know what's happening when I get back.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Good luck!!! Hope it works out for you. Feel bad for all the animals under his care.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Luck was on my side today. I've got her, he doesn't want her back, so she's safe. The foot has gotten significantly worse since Sunday, though. It's been bleeding more, he put them back on shavings because mama was dragging the paper towel around and wouldn't leave it alone, so there was shaving dust stuck to it, and it's started to swell. She also won't weight bear on it. We're taking her out to Glencoe to see the vet that, since our own has no one in today who can see her, nor do any of the other vets in town that normally see hedgehogs.

I'll get some pictures and upload them later, once I'm off the iPad and on an actual computer.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

I'm so glad you have her now! She is one lucky baby. Please keep us updated!!! The vets should have chlorhexidine, even if just a little to tie you over if you decide to buy online. It lasts forever.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm so glad you got her! Poor little girl...I hope the vet visit goes well, please let us know.


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## AngelaH (Jul 24, 2012)

Yea! I'm so relieved she's in your care now!  Good luck with everything!


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Okay, update time. We're home from the vet, and nearly $300 later (Yeah, ouch. That was pretty much my entire bank account.) we've got her some antibiotics and a foot washing solution, confirmed she doesn't have parasites, and a theory as how this may have happened. The vet told me that it looked to him, due to the severe swelling and the way her toes have spread out, that her mother may have bitten her and crushed her foot.

When I brought her home, I gave her a bath, lukewarm water in a large salad bowl with a bit of Aveeno, super-soft bristled toothbrush. She's cleaned up and looking a lot better now, and doesn't smell quite as bad either. That done, I cleaned her foot with the solution he gave me, and got some antibiotics into her - she wasn't impressed, tried to spit it out and then anointed with it - and fought for a good ten, fifteen minutes to get her foot wrapped in some gauze after applying regular-strength polysporin. She's currently sitting in a little cage at the foot of my bed with three dishes, one of water, one of dampened cat kibble, and one of goat's milk Esbilac. She's ignored that last one pretty much entirely, but made a beeline for the kibble when she noticed it was there. I'm leaving her to settle for a little while, then I'm going to pop her into a scrap of fleece and have her in my lap for a bit so I can keep an eye on her and ensure she doesn't rip the gauze off and get at her foot. She was chewing it earlier and made it bleed, so I figure it's best to keep it covered as much as possible right now.

I've managed to get only one good picture of the foot, and it looked a lot worse than this earlier; this is post-bath and post-cleaning with the solution.

http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr66/GM_Sela/Piggyfoot.jpg

(I'd post the actual image, but I don't want to crop it any further, and I keep being told 'Images can only be up to 768 pixels high' or something like that, every time I try to preview it.)

It's a lot cleaner than it was, it had been absolutely caked with blood, and now it's easier to assess the damage. You can see that the skin is somewhat shredded there, and it's fairly discoloured; I couldn't get her to hold still long enough for me to get a shot of the top, but the nail bed seems to be receding a bit, and it's discoloured, which the vet said he was concerned about, and to watch closely. So, obviously I'll be keeping a hawk's eye on that.

Thank you so much to everyone for your advice and support, I greatly appreciate it. I've been making myself sick with worry over this little girl, and for a while, I was worried he would refuse to give her to me. I've been lucky today, and I owe a lot of my ability to suck up my anxiety and do what had to be done to all the encouragement I've had from all of you.


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## AngelaH (Jul 24, 2012)

Oh! She is so precious looking! Her poor little footsie


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

She's absolutely tiny, too. It's been such a long time since I've had a baby hedgehog in my house, I can't get over how little she is. Bigger than she was when I first met her at two weeks, of course, but still, super small. The little gauze cast I've got on her foot somehow makes her look even tinier, it breaks my heart that she even needs it.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

What a little cutie!! I'm so glad that you have her! I haven't been around much myself lately, it's good to see old names.


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## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

She is absolutely adorable. I feel so bad for her! Her foot looks raw and painful. I'm so glad you saved her. Did he give her to you for free? You are such a good person for saving her and taking her to the vet!


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Yes, she was surrendered, so I didn't pay a cent. Her paw is much worse today, she was at it and has dug a small crater in it. We took her back to the vet and she has a special bandage on now, with a gel usually used for burns, but it also works for injures of this nature.

Small bit of detail to add to the story: My mother was out of town, and therefore didn't even know about this until yesterday. She's just as disgusted by that man as my father and I are, and is fine with the hedgie being here. (More than fine, actually; as long as I consent to the name "Emily" for the hoglet, a new home isn't going to be necessary.)

It's starting to look like the foot may need to be amputated, though; the damage is fairly extensive, and as far as I can tell, she has removed at least one of her own toes. Still, better than the alternative; if I hadn't taken her, she would most certainly be dead by now.

I'll keep you all informed, and I'll try to get some better pictures.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Did they give her some pain killers? I know other members have used metacam with no problems. Perhaps with the pain relief, she won't bother it as much. 
I know that with hedgies that have been spayed, as long as it wasn't hurting, people found they didn't bother the stitches, so maybe same idea?

And I'm so happy that you found her, and I love parents like that lol 
And Emily is a perfectly good name. My horse is named Emily


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

They didn't, no, but I think that's largely because of her size. She's absolutely tiny, it would be very difficult to find a dosage that wouldn't cause more harm than good. He had enough trouble finding a proper dosage of antibiotics.

I'm sure the name will grow on me; I didn't like Quillamina's name at first either, but that grew on me enough for me to tattoo it in my arm last Saturday. (Along with a pair of hedgepiggy paw prints.) I'll probably just call her Em anyway, I shorten the names of most of my pets. Quillamina just gets called "Pig" half the time.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

True, the small size would be hard. Here's to hoping she won't have to lose the leg!

Hehe, I call mine "Emiloo" lol


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

I have heard of vets using benadryl to stop an injury from itching when it heals. Alot of the time that's why they chew at it when its healing, its itchy.


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## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

A free hedgehog... I have always dreamed of going into a pet store and getting a free pet. 

I think Emily is a lovely name. I hope she doesn't need an amputation. It would be great if she could heal up nicely instead and keep her lovely little toes and foot.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Haha, well, that wasn't the intention, I assure you. I went into the store to check on a flyer I'd put up, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Em is a very fortunate little hedgepiggy that way.

Even if she does lose her foot - although I really hope she doesn't - I'm sure she'll get around fine. I imagine some of you have seen the video on Youtube of Beine, the hedgie who was born without back legs, and you wouldn't have known they were missing if the guy hadn't picked her up and shown her belly to the camera. If Beine got along just fine, I'm sure Em will, too.

...Oh lord, this means I have to buy another huge cage when she gets a bit bigger, and another ceramic heat emitter, and another Carolina Storm Wheel. My wallet just started crying. 

(Still. Worth it.)


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## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

You should join LarryT's photo contest so that you can, at very least, get $5 off on your next wheel purchase! Maybe you could even win and get a free wheel!


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Oooh, is that on right now? I'll have to check that out, then~ I need to get some baby pictures of her anyway, so I may as well.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Small update: We took Em back to the vet yesterday to have her bandages changed; the swelling has gone down significantly, although the crater she made in her foot is still looking pretty ugly. Still no definite answer on whether or not amputation will be necessary, we'll find out more tomorrow, as we're taking her back to have the bandages changed again.

On a related note, (Not entirely sure if I'm allowed to do this, but I haven't seen anything saying I can't; if it's not allowed, please do let me know and I'll remove this part of the post) as the vet bills are getting sort of stupidly high, my mother has encouraged me to create a ChipIn and ask for a bit of help. We're going to keep taking her back to the vet until she's patched up, no matter what, but it would be great if a few people could toss a little bit our way to assist; she's having to be sedated every time her bandages are changed, because she just won't hold still long enough to get it done otherwise, and that's getting expensive.

The ChipIn can be found http://injuredbabyhedgie.chipin.com/injured-baby-hedgehog <== here, for anyone who is able to lend a hand. For those who can, thank you very much for your help, and for those who can't, thank you for your advice and well-wishes. Here, have a picture of the baby, on me.


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## MurE (Aug 29, 2011)

I love the giant yellow bandage. It's so cute! She's actually a very good looking baby


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

She's a little fatty, too. Gaining weight well, that's something I forgot to mention. She gobbles up her kibble, she's drinking water right out of her dish with no trouble, and she's getting two 1ml syringes of Esbilac (the powdered goat milk kind, like Nancy said to get) a day. She's looking pretty good, aside from that foot.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

Hey guys, figured it was about time for an update.

Em is going to be eight weeks old on Saturday, and she's gotten significantly bigger. Gaining weight at a steady clip and eating/drinking well, all good signs. Her foot looks a lot better, the top is healed and the bottom is nearly there, but we can see now that she has, in fact, lost a toe. So she will definitely have a deformed foot for the rest of her life, but that's better than no foot, or worse, no life at all.

However, the vet bills total well over $2000, and the family credit card is maxed. She has an appointment tomorrow, and it's going to have to be her last, because we simply can't afford another one. My mother has asked me to ask for help again, since the ChipIn didn't do very well. We now have an Indiegogo campaign running, found http://www.indiegogo.com/savingemily <== here, in order for us to try to get some money to help pay for her vet care. Even if you can't afford to chip in, likes and shares on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/savingemilyhedgehog Page found here) are appreciated.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Yay!!! Good to know she's doing better!

Might I also suggest joining the fb group https://www.facebook.com/groups/hedgehoghappenings/ and let them know of your situation as well. It's become a group where people try to pitch in where they can. Many have taken to making bags/random crafts to sell for the sake of getting their hedgies through vet costs. So it may be something to try as well.

It's essentially a fun group full of pics and stories, but we do have owners who are like you, who take in rescues and do what you can. Even if you go there and share her story, people would love to get to know you and Emily.


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## Sela (Apr 10, 2010)

I had never even heard of that group, that's fantastic! Thank you so much, I'll be sure to check them out.

The thought of making pouches and blankets did occur to me, but I don't currently have anywhere I can set up my sewing machine, and as I have carpal tunnel syndrome, I have a hard time hand-sewing for too long. I've put up a few ads on kijiji to try to sell some things I don't need anymore, so hopefully that will bring in some money; if I can clear a space big enough, I may attempt to get some sewing done; we're pretty desperate at this point, to be honest.


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