# Hair wrapped around Phoebe's paw



## SarahBuffington (Jun 5, 2012)

In my last post, I asked what I should do with my hedgehog Phoebe who had a very swollen back paw. I had an appointment with the vet as soon as possible and the vet checked her out. She was able to find that there was two hairs wrapped tightly around her foot and cutting off circulation. On one part of her paw, it looked like it was beginning to cut into the skin. With me holding her, the vet was able to remove two hairs without having to sedate Phoebe. I just know how intense that pain was for her  my poor little girl. The vet prescribed her an oral antibiotic and the antiseptic Chlorhexidine to scrub her foot with. She wasn't prescribed an anti inflammatory or pain pill. Poor little thing. I still feel like this is all my fault, but I'm just glad that I called the vet immediately and didn't wait. 

All day I have kept her comfortable and cozy while she's been asleep by making her a nest in her travel carrier. I woke her up and gave her her oral antibiotic and a foot bath and let her poop on paper towels. Her stool has become less runny, but has this really unpleasant smell and a greenish tinge. 

I thought her paw looked a bit better this morning when I looked at her, but as I'm examining it now it really scares me. I'm so worried. I don't see any hairs, but the separations from where the hair was on her paw cutting off the circulation is still prominent. The paw is still swollen. The coloring on the bottom of the paw is better, but the top looks bad and bruised. I'm just so scared that there is still hair in there. I would think that if there wasn't still any embedded in there, that the separations wouldn't be there any more where it was. I'm just so scared. 

Should I call the vet tomorrow? She told me to come back in one week unless things get bad. She sad it might be worse before it gets better but I'm so scared there's still some in there. They were nervous about making it a full blown surgery last time because her paw is so tiny and they would be using gas to put her to sleep. They didn't want to damage her paw more too because she can still use it right now. I just know it hurts Phoebe though to use it. 

Could someone please give me some more advice on how to keep her as comfy as possible? And should I call the vet tomorrow about this? And what all should I ask about, should she be on an anti inflammatory and pain meds? And can anyone give me advice on giving an oral antibiotic more simply? 

I am just so worried about her and need help. 

By the way, these are Phoebe's hedgehog stats for more info on her: she is female, 4 months old, 225 grams, and being fed chicken soup for the cat lover's soul. 

I love her and need all the advice I can get.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I saw your other thread and while I'm sorry that you guys got such a scare with this, and are both going through it, I'm glad that you reacted so quickly to get her into the vet - that right there says much more about you as an owner than this happening in the first place. It's not something most people think about as a concern, and it's an accident that can happen to anybody.

The poop could be the beginning of "antibiotic poops" - antibiotics tend to make poop green and smell pretty bad. You can help her GI tract out by getting some acidophilus from a pharmacy or pharmacy section in a Walmart store (or store like it) - get the highest count you can. You can give her a little pinch of the powder midway between antibiotic doses and it'll help her out a bit. Just make sure it's not at the same time as antibiotics or it'll be useless - the antibiotics will kill all the good bacteria too.

Do you have her wheel out of her cage already? She may not like it, but not running on it will help. If she starts to climb though, you might have to figure out a way to prevent that - more toys, hide some treats, block the walls better, etc. Do you have a magnifying glass or anything like that by any chance? Maybe if she'll hold still enough, you can use it to try and get a closer look at her paw and see if you see anything. If you're still really concerned with how it looks tomorrow, I don't think it'd hurt anything to call the vet and ask. I'm not sure about more meds, I don't have a lot of experience in meds with animals, though I know that with my dog's vet, they're pretty careful about managing pain and such and I think they would've prescribed pain meds of some sort (but I can't say for sure, with not experiencing this exact situation, of course). Again, it wouldn't hurt to ask and see what they say.

With giving Lily antibiotics, I got baby food such as chicken, sweet potato, and peas, her three favorites. I would suck up the prescribed amount of meds first, then suck up some baby food (at least equal amount). Then shaking the syringe around gently would mix the two up a bit and help mask the taste of the meds. I used to shoot the meds into a bowl and mix them up with baby food with a spoon, but stopped that when I realized it was harder to be sure she was getting the exact amount of meds. As far as positioning and such, there's a video that another user posted on how she was giving her boy syringed meds - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=17071 That might help a bit to watch that.


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## SarahBuffington (Jun 5, 2012)

I still feel TERRIBLE that this happened to her. It reminds me of seeing an abused dog before who's collar became embedded in his neck from the neglectful owner not changing it to a bigger one when he grew from puppy size. I just know how painful this must be for her. The worst thing is is that I can see the pain in her eyes and face! Poor little girl.. I know the night before it happened I played with her and it was fine. It must have become tangled during the night because that morning it looked terrible. She must have been running on her wheel that night too and it became even more tangled and tight and probably cut the skin. I bet the infection happened pretty soon after too. The vet said that if I had not seen it for a few days there could've been tissue death and an infection that could reach the bone. 

When I got home I kept her in her travel carrier all comfy and deep cleaned sanitized her cage so it'd be extra clean for her. I took out the wheel immediately. I can't imagine how her infection could increase if she ran on that foot and pooped on the wheel and it got in there! I tried to make it extra comfy and she ate and drank normally last night. Now I'm wondering if she shouldn't be walking as much so I'm thinking about switching her to a medium sized plastic bin I have and really lining it and padding it to be soft and giving her her bare necessities without as much room to run around on that foot. Good idea about hiding the treats though! I want her to be happy. I'm watching her right now and she'd acting very happy and curious, walking around and eating her food. 

Thanks for the advice about the antibiotic too. I'm about to give her her third dose right now and soak her little foot. Poor girl. 

What do you think about me moving her to a smaller kind of "quarantine" cage right now?


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## SarahBuffington (Jun 5, 2012)

And do you think its strange that the swelling is still seperated in sections as if it was still constricted by the hair? Shouldn't it have been released after the hair was cut off? That's what makes me worry that it's still embedded. Also, maybe it's just a bruise but the top of her paw is very dark purple and red. Is this bruising in a hedgehog? It's just so dark.. I would think that if circulation was cut off though to where it was wrapped, then the whole paw would be purplish. I just don't know


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm not really sure on constricting her space even more or on the separated sections. I don't really have any experience in this specific situation, so I'm not sure if it'd remain like that for a couple days after removal of hair or not. I think if you're still very concerned tomorrow, it's worth asking your vet if you guys can get a closer look. But we have several other people on here with much more experience than I, and I'm sure they'll be around later in the day to offer more advice. Just hang in there! You're being a fantastic momma to her.


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## SarahBuffington (Jun 5, 2012)

Awe thank you so much  I'm trying to be the best mommy I can to her but she is starting to get a little tired of my close observation and being handled a lot. She's acting a bit more sensitive about her paw being touched and examined all the time. I did see another post on the health forum that was exactly like my situation. The hedgie got a hair wrapped around his paw too. I think his name was Piglet. His paw was a lot worse off than Phoebe's it looked completely purple and black. The owner said she took him to the vet and he had to have surgery immediately and was put on a pain med and antibiotic. The foot looked like it healed well after too. I just hope there's not still hair embedded in her paw. My worst fear is amputation or painful nerve damage.


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## newfie_nurse (Apr 28, 2011)

sorry for the late reply.. the cream the vet gave me for chloe's toe/foot was Healx- soother plus. you can google it, but I have to say it seems to work.. I rub a little tiny bit on after a after a foot bath when her feet are dry.. 
On the information I read it says it is good for large and small animals.. comes in a 1oz tube for like 10-20$ which for a hedgie will last for Forever.. 

hope this helps


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## Marlboro (Aug 10, 2016)

The same thing happened to my hedgehog yesterday I have to take him in today he's running on his foot fine and has all feeling in it but it's still swollen and red do you think they'll have to take it off? So worried it was on there at least an hour because he was a walk in and they went by appointments


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