# Instant Breakfast for syringe feeding?



## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

Hey guys, to make a long story short, Beck is still eating very minimally voluntarily. I syringe fed him about the equivalent of 10-15 kibbles yesterday, and gave him mashed banana and water every 4 hours to help hydrate him. PapilionRu has been helping (she's a lifesaver!) and we think that the dosage of furosemide he got was an overdose for him, and I'm just trying to help him ride it out until it clears his system. I can get Ensure and Hills AD diet tomorrow morning. 

In the meantine, I could continue syring the banana water, OR, I have a small carton of vanilla Carnation instant breakfast. Can I syringe him this for some nutrients and protein, or will it create more problems because it's milk (lactose) based? Any other tips on helping hydrate him would be great.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

I won't give my opinion on the Carnation because I'm not sure, but I want to suggest something to get him drinking water again on his own.

Last year my girl Mustard got sick and dehydrated very quickly. She wasn't drinking on her own so I would syringe her some water, and HedgeMom (RIP) suggested offering her water sweetened with a little bit of honey. It worked like a charm, she slowly started to show some interest and after a couple of days was drinking good amounts of sweetened water. I don't know if it will work with Beck, but it might be worth a try.


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## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

Thanks, I can try that too. Unfortunately I can't get that until tomorrow morning either... if I was a normal person, I might have some of these things around my cupboards, but alas. I can go to Meto first thing though. 

I feel better tonight than last tonight. He's more alert than he was, and he did eat a few kibbles on his own, plus I've been getting fluid and banana into him. Last night, not so much. I was a bit scared that I wasn't going to have a hog this morning. Hopefully he's feeling better soon.


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## Hedgiepets (Aug 21, 2008)

Nutrical is also very good to use for those not eating.


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## teencie (Aug 22, 2010)

i wouldn't feed him the carnation instant breakfast -- that stuff is mostly sugar...not even that good for people


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

I am just throwing this out there...I KNOW NOTHING...what about fruit juice? REAL juice...no sugar or other crapola...I'm thinking of the gazillion flavors you could get...just watch you don't get anything too acidy?

I just about blew up the microwave cooking a carrot, so....if this idea is waaaaaaaaaaaay out there, I blame the drugs. (To clarify: Prescription and new and necessary). :lol: I can actually feel myself getting dumber. :roll: I was no prize to begin with.


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## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

*Update: Hope yet!*

Just a quick update:

This morning I hit the grocery store, vet, and farmer's market, and Beck is looking like one spoiled hog. I got him Ensure, Hills AD, and a little pixie stick full of honey 

He still didn't eat or drink (at least nothing noticeable) overnight, so I syringed him about 15mL of the ensure at about 10am and gave him his enalapril heart meds. I put him away, then moved him to his carrier to clean his cage at 11:30. When I refilled his water, I added about a tsp of honey to it and put him back in.

At first he just scooted to his house. Then I heard this "sniff. sniff sniff sniff."

*Hedgie head pops back out*

Then he scuttled over to his water and DRANK. Never have I been so relieved. That hog drank for 2 minutes. I timed him. I was that happy to see him drink voluntarily. Could he really smell the honey in his water from his house? Anyways. He's resting now, but I'll get him up again in a few hours to offer him kibble. Otherwise I'll probably give him some more Ensure (or should I give the Hills AD instead?). I think he just really needs to get rehydrated, and the more rehydrated he gets, the better he'll start feeling, and eventually get back to eating.


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## CritterHeaven (Feb 21, 2011)

Sounds like honey should be part of the first aid kit for us newbies trying to gather supplies?


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## amber.vroman (Nov 2, 2010)

Good to hear beck drank on his own.  Still keeping you guys in my thoughts. Thanks for the update.


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

Glad to hear that he is drinking  That is amazing he smelled the honey from his house especially since it was mixed with the water, I will definitely have to remember that trick in case I need it.


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## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

He's regaining some strength now it seems. He took another 10mls of Ensure last night, and ate about 3 "finger scoops" (which amounted to a decent sized blob lol) of Hills AD last night. (I don't know the exact amount, but it was about half the depth of 1/3 of the can, so 1/6 of the can?). 

He slept most of the night, but finally got up at 5 and spent some time on his wheel for about an hour, which is less than usual, but at least it's something. 

Poops aren't very fun at this point. Pretty loose (I'm keeping a towel under him ALWAYS when holding him lol), but he's been under a lot of stress and food changes, so that's probably normal and hopefully not a sign of another health problem.

While he ate the Hills last night, he left the 4 pieces of kibble I left for him. How long should I continue to offer Hills to "build him up"? I must admit, I am just the slighest bit worried that he's going to just decide not to eat dry food again after he's been on the Hills lol.... will he go back to accepting his normal food once he's feeling better?

Thanks so much everyone. Beck and I appreciate it.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

I'm glad he's regained some strengh. Maybe you could try moistening his kibble a little bit. If he is feeling weak, crunch the kibble might be a little too hard for him. Just a thought.


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## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

I actually do always moisten the kibble for him, for the last six months or so when I noticed that the crunching was getting a bit tough for him.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

You could try making your own soft food with his kibble. PJM does that to her Zoey. I think she gets 1 cup kibble and mixes it with 1 cup water and let the water absorb. Then she blends that with a piece of cooked chicken and cooked fruits/vegetables. I'm thinking that you could also add some probiotic and flax seed oil to it.

These threads might give you some ideas: 

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=42

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Hedgieonboard said:


> Glad to hear that he is drinking  That is amazing he smelled the honey from his house especially since it was mixed with the water, I will definitely have to remember that trick in case I need it.


No kidding!!! And buying those honey pixie sticks...pure genius!! I am off to buy a handful this afternoon. I always see them on the counter at Nutter's (our health food store) and think who the heck would spend THAT much on organic honey - who needs organic honey? - in useless little sticks that are marked up so high just cuz they are cutesy.

I guess I have my answer.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

I just wanted to add that the honey trick is a great way to get a hedgie to start drinking water on it's own again, but it does not substitute a vet visit. Dehydration can be very serious and if you do think your hedgehog is dehydrated he might need to see the vet as what's causing dehydration can be something very serious. When we used this trick with Col. Mustard last year, she had already seen a vet and received sub-q fluids and medication.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

It's so good to hear he's doing a bit better. Drinking on his own. Yay! I hope he keeps it up. 

You're doing such a good job!


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

How's Beck doing?


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## emeko (Nov 28, 2009)

Day by day, we're getting there. Last night he ate close to 1/4 of the can of the Hills AD and two or three pieces of kibble. Poops were still an explosive mess though, which was negating my rehydration attempts a bit. 

I had seen pumpkin recommeded before, and PapilionRu encouraged me to try it. Although I was skeptical (my instinct would be that that would add a lot of fibre and really get him moving), I decided that I had gotten excellent guidance from the HHC community so far, especially PapilionRu, so I went out and got some pumokin this morning. I got about 5ml into him this morning (and about 15ml all over him lol), and it seemed like a such a tiny amount that it couldn't possibly do anything.

But, lo and behold. I took him out at 5:30 tonight, and he ran to his litterbox and produced a perfectly normal looking log. I could not believe it. This morning when he pooped, I literally had to run him to the bathroom and give him a bath right then and there. It was THAT bad. I have been amazed many times by the intricacies of the hog these past few days. I am a pumkin convert. Never again will I doubt. I gave him another 1ml this evening, not much, but apparently it doesn't take much lol.

I really want to start getting him back on his regular food though. This may sound selfish, but the stench when I walk in my room is enough to choke a donkey. The combo of Hills food + Hills poop + explosive hog diarrhea is more than a little overwhelming. This evening, I gave him some of his normal kibble soaked in water with a little scoop of Hill's stirred in to give it some flavour. I am *quite* happy to report that he ate 17 pieces of kibble earlier this evening, and andother 15 just now. Which is just about a normal night for him. He still doesn't seem entirely happy, and I really get the feeling he's partly eating because I won't stop harassing him about it. Small steps though. We'll get there.

I also got him HealX Booster, Rivolli's recommendation, to... give him a Boost I guess. Hoping the Coenzyme Q10 will help strengthen his little heart. 

I spoke to my vet, and she felt that I was doing pretty much everything that could be done. She said I could take him off the furosemide for a few days, or forever if it isn't agreeing with him. I am a bit leery to try it again, to be honest. We'll see how he does I guess. She said I could bring him in for more tests, but anything else that we test would require sedation and stress and general invasiveness. And I'm not totally sure what more tests would accomplish, other than give me peace of mind and him a whole lot of stress and pain. I want to make sure whatever I'm doing, I'm doing FOR him, not TO him. And for him, not for me. I'll do whatever I can to keep him comfortable and healthy, but I really want the remainder of his life to be pleasant and familiar. When he can't live his normal life comfortably, I'll have a decision to make I guess. In the meantime, he seems to be recuperating. 

I'm quite proud of my little guy for being such a fighter. It's funny, we've kind of adopted the song "My Bosy" by Young the Giant as our theme song lately. It's on all the time when I'm nursing him, and it is quite fitting.


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## amber.vroman (Nov 2, 2010)

Keep up the amazing work emeko! Beck couldn't be in better hands.


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