# Therapy.... Hedgehog?



## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Has anyone heard of anyone using a hedgehog as a therapy animal, similar to dogs, cats, and horses?
I'll be working with the mentally ill, and my professors have always said "anything you can do to get them to open up to you, do it". As long as the patient wasn't scared of it, who wouldn't open up to one of these cutie pies? Even if they don't think they're cute, they're covered in spikes... come on now. That's pretty awesome.


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## CrazyDogLady (Oct 21, 2011)

The Delta Society unfortunately does not certify exotic animals as pet partners http://deltasociety.org/Page.aspx?pid=261, so probably no official therapy hedgies. If you can bring animals in to the facility without needing an official certification I'd say go for it if you have the right hedgie for the job. I'm sure the patients would love it.


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## alsohere (Dec 26, 2011)

My shrink thought a hedgehog would be a great idea for me. And while I was the hospital ward dogs were brought in, but never cats nor horses. I know that where I was --the VA-- that they would've let hedgehogs in, and I would've loved to play with one for awhile. It would have been better than puzzles and dogs.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I know of one or two that have successfully been registered with the Service Animal Registry of America as service animals.


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## alsohere (Dec 26, 2011)

SARA will register about anything as a service animal. Not knocking the hedgehogs. Also, there are no requirements that an animal be registered as a service animal to be allowed into a public space. Only that the animal be trained to mitigate a disability of its owner. The owner must meet the legal definition of disabled spelled out in the ADA, and the animal must be able to help with one of the disabilities the owner has. 

ie., a little hedgie could help ameliorate a mentally disabled person's panic attacks. I don't know if the argument would hold, because of the reality that the animal needs to be trained for this purpose, but, perhaps, the hedgie calms the person enough to prevent the panic attack from occurring or something like that.

My point is --and I am well versed in the areas of disability rights, because of the blatant discrimination that occurs to this days against peoples with disabilities, and my own disabilities-- that any animal can act as a therapy animal. If my hedgehog make it so I have something to look forward to everyday then that is therapy in of itself. Despite, whether she huffs and puffs and attempts to head butt my fingers.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

I mean, I couldn't train it to 'sense' it, but just to be a conversation starter.


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## alsohere (Dec 26, 2011)

Absolutely, I am saying that'll be great. The difference between a therapy animal and a service animal is merely that a therapy animal gets brought to the ward by someone and the service animal is trained to help the disabled person be less disabled.

Some facilities limit access to their wards to only pre-approved individuals and animals, but as another poster said hedgehogs aren't one of the animals that get certified; however, lots of facilities do not even require any certification. Generally, the liaison will meet with the individual bringing in the animal or wanting to bring in the animal, and then decide whether it would be a goo d idea whether or not do that or not. If they decide that it is a animal that presents no risks to the individuals on the ward --whether this be a mental health ward, where I have lived or actual physical ailment ward, where I have lived. 

Hedgehogs would be terrific. Bring up the list of facilities you want to take your critter to and start calling. If you are working with specifically with mental health individuals I encourage you to call up the VA's and tell them what you want to do. Many veterans would love the hedgehog. The VAs have a ton of residential treatment units looking after PTSD and MDD and MST.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

I am a CNA working in a Community Based Residential Facility where we have 4 mentally handicapped permanent residents. I also do in-home care for a 25 year old woman with fetal alcohol syndrome who needs supervision when she isn't at work due to some legal trouble she has gotten herself into in the past.

I can't tell you anything about laws or anything, but Mildred and I visited my CBRF back in October and I can share with you.

The severity and type of mental illness is really the key in deciding whether or not a hedgehog would be a good tool to use. For instance, at my CBRF, we have a wonderful resident (we'll call her L) with down syndrome-like behaviors - she is the nicest and most genuinely happy person I have ever met. But, she is blind. When my co-worker told her that I was there with my pet hedgehog to visit, she was very excited because she loves animals. I took a baggy with a few of Milly's quills in it and had L touch one of the quills to help her understand what exactly quills are, and then I warned her that Milly could huff and puff a little and that it might hurt her hand. L decided not to touch her, and became agitated later because she was jealous that another resident did touch her.

Then there's R - cerebral palsy, bound to a wheelchair, severe speech problems. R decided to hold Milly in his lap with some fleece. I sat in front of him and at one point, I picked her up (she was about to poo) and he held his hands out. Milly was being a champ that day and didn't have a single quill raised, so after she did her business I set her in his hands for a minute or so. I helped him hold on to her to make sure she didn't fall when she was squirming, but she was sitting right in his hands. He had the biggest smile on his face the whole time and didn't want Milly to move on to the next client. Now whenever I see him, he cups his hands in his lap and I know he's asking if he can see her again :lol: 

J hasn't been diagnosed with anything in particular but she is classified as suffering from extreme mental retardation (IQ lower than 50). She also has Alzheimers. J was happy just to look at Milly after she touched one of her quills. She fed her pieces of apple and sat on the floor with Milly and I while Milly tottered around. She was a bit nervous with her, but warmed up pretty fast and now she, too, asks when Milly will be visiting again.

And then we have M - anxiety disorders & depression coupled with an IQ low enough for him to not be able to live on his own. He is our highest functioning resident (assists with meal prep & chores, does his own laundry, etc) and he wanted nothing to do with Milly. He asked lots of questions and was interested, but he was a little too paranoid to interact with her.


Mildred was so good during all of this and the residents were happy to meet her. I wish I could've taken pictures, but alas, client rights don't allow that without their guardian's consent and the visit was on kind of short notice. We are planning another visit in the spring and I think some of my co-workers are actually going to come in because they're so curious. :lol: 

I don't know if any of that helps you, I just wanted to share.


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

That's the group I'd most likely be working with are the extreme PTSD cases (still waiting for a call back from Walter Reed....). 
If I could train a hedgie to sniff out gluten and when I'll start a Lyme flare it'd be awesome. :lol:


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## alsohere (Dec 26, 2011)

Yes... I would recommend the VA. The active duty military generally gets a lot of attention while the veterans don't get the treatment they need. 18 veterans a day commit suicide. I understand this isn't the forum to pontificate on the injustices of the VA medical system, but I know that hedgehogs coming into the residential treatment units would greatly improve the morale on these wards. 

I am not telling you what to do. I am only suggesting that a visit from a hedgehog would benefit some veterans a lot. Generally, as time goes on, family falls away with the disabled so by the time the active duty personal gets to be a veteran at the VA she has less support.


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## Rachel W (Mar 26, 2014)

Christemo said:


> Has anyone heard of anyone using a hedgehog as a therapy animal, similar to dogs, cats, and horses?
> I'll be working with the mentally ill, and my professors have always said "anything you can do to get them to open up to you, do it". As long as the patient wasn't scared of it, who wouldn't open up to one of these cutie pies? Even if they don't think they're cute, they're covered in spikes... come on now. That's pretty awesome.


have you found any info on this? I am also a counselor and am getting a hedgehog that I plan on using for therapy purposes.

Rachel Wills


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

This thread is a couple years and the OP hasn't been on the forum since last June, so I don't think you'll get an answer from. If you're interested, you could try starting a new thread to see if anyone has any information about it.  I haven't heard of anything regarding therapy hedgehogs past one person who considered her hedgehog a therapy animal for herself.


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## aclarino (Oct 12, 2013)

My dog and I are registered through Pet Partners and they do not register exotic animals.


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## Rachel W (Mar 26, 2014)

Yeah, I tried them yesterday and might actually petition to have them allowed. It would be great if others who are currently incorporating their hedgies into therapy of any kind joined me I don't understand why guinea pigs and rats would be considered and hedgehogs wouldn't.


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