# At the vet prognosis guarded



## Ari (May 12, 2016)

I got Ichigo on Sunday and noticed him sneezing and took him to the vet yesterday. He got antibiotics for a URI and we went home. This morning I woke up to him gasping for air, so I rushed him to the vet. They have him in an air tank and they took an X-ray. He has pneumonia and his heart rate was very low. They gave him an injection to bring his heart rate stable and an injection of a stronger antibiotic. Now I'm sitting here waiting to see if he gets any better while they have him in the air tank.


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## CherylMatthews (Apr 19, 2016)

*I'm so sorry to hear that your baby has pneumonia. That must be so hard for you having to watch him suffer like that. Sending your hedgie lots of prayers that he will get better. Hopefully the stronger antibiotic will do a better job. Good luck and keep us updated!*


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

We will keep our quills crossed for him. 

This post is a good example of why many of us become very adamant that if a hedgehog has a runny nose, or is sneezing that they need to seek veterinary attention sooner than later. URIs can quickly turn to pneumonia with them.


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

Here we have fingers and paws cross hoping he gets better soon. 

And to add to Kalandra, this is also why we make emphasis in not buying from pet stores, they don't know how to care for them and usually the new owner ends up with a sick and or pregnant hedgie.


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

We are home. They have him on two antibiotics and I'm to run a humidifier for 20 mins twice a day. I'm hoping he pulls through this. I'm so tired from crying but I got to be strong for him to keep an eye on him the next 24 hours are crucial they said. He's still gasping a bit because he's having trouble breathing. I hope the other hedgehog at the store is ok since they didn't even go look at her when I told them they sold me a sick hedgehog and that he was in the cage with their female they still have.


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## CherylMatthews (Apr 19, 2016)

*It's horrible how pet shops treat animals. They don't even care about them, just the profits they make from them. *


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Stay strong, and stay positive. You are doing what you can and he at least has you on his side. Keep in mind that if you are stressing out, it is going to stress him, which he doesn't need right now. Keep your vet updated on changes. Try to stay calm, keep him warm, and show him as much love as you can. Together you can survive this!


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

Thanks! I'm trying to stay calm and positive it's just really sad to see him struggling like this. While my husband is keeping and eye on him I'm running to the store to get a heat pad and humidifier. Also going to pick up a can of wet kitty food, a jar of baby food, and some chicken broth. He didn't eat last night and the vet wants me to find something he will eat and gave me those suggestions to try, if y'all have any suggestions to add let me know. I'll keep y'all posted on his progress.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

If you can, call the vet and ask if they carry Hills A/D. Its a canned recovery/rescue formula of cat food and is designed to be easily syringe feedable and palatible. Its a go to for me when I have one that is sick. Its a prescription only food, so you can only find it at vet's offices. 

Otherwise, find a pate style canned food. Pate will help you if you need to start to syringe feed him. If you get chicken broth, make sure its as low in sodium as possible. I honestly don't like using it.


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

I ran the humidifier through the night and Ichigo isn't gasping for breathe this morning yay! But he didn't eat at all which means he didn't take his medicine either. So called the vet since they didn't want me to syringe feed him unless they say otherwise today so now I'm waiting for a call back to see what I need to do.


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## CherylMatthews (Apr 19, 2016)

*Yay, I'm glad he isn't gasping for air anymore. That's a good sign. He's still getting over his illness so he may not be interested in his food just yet hence why syringe feeding him would be your best option. Good luck! Sending you more prayers for your little one *


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

So I will not be bringing Ichigo back to that vet after yesterday's ordeal. When they got back to me they did not want me to syringe feed Ichigo they just want me to keep putting food in the cage and "he'll eat eventually". Then they also wanted me to come back in so they could administer an antibiotic that stays in the system for 7 days so he's getting his medicine, why they didn't do that on Thursday knowing that he wasn't eating I don't know. Then a few hours after they gave him his injection he started laying on his side gasping again so I called them to see if it could be a reaction to the medicine seeing that he had stopped gasping and was just heavy breathing prior to the injection. They never answered my question instead they told me I needed to bring him in and they would put him back in the oxygen tank and give him another antibiotic injection and the other injection they gave him Thursday to raise his heart rate, but to be honest it probably wouldn't do anything. So I told them well if y'all don't think it's really going to help and honestly I don't have another $500 for y'all to do that I'm just going to keep him home and hold him in his baby blanket by the humidifier and see how he does. They got really snappy with me and told me fine but just so you know he will die in the next few hours. They haven't wanted me to hold him or syringe feed or anything. Well I took him out and put him in his baby blanket and snuggled him. An hour later he wasn't gasping anymore just breathing hard and he was actually snuggling closer to me so I take that as a good sign. I've decided to syringe feed him since the last time I know he ate was Tuesday and they did give him fluid Thursday and yesterday at the vet but otherwise I haven't seen him eat or drink. He made it through the night so I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing and hope for the best and start trying to find another 'exotic' vet in the area.


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## CherylMatthews (Apr 19, 2016)

*Oh no way, it sounds like you need to find another exotic vet. Fingers crossed the little fella makes it! I can't believe how much of a rough time he is having. *


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

Good for you!

It sounded odd to me that they didn't want you to syringe feed him and waterbed towards the medicine intake since its key to recovery that they eat. 

You are his advocate, when something doesn't sound right you need to push for them to do the right thing, it's the same as with a human patient. 
I hope he improves and you find a better vet. 

Where are you locate? Maybe someone has a suggestion


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

Tucson, Arizona. The vet we saw was Acacia Animal Hospital.


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## Prue (Feb 20, 2016)

I agree, always do what you feel is right. Exotic vets is Arizona can't possibly be very experienced with hedgehogs seeing as they just became legal. It sounds to me like they were just figuring it out as they went along. Hopefully you can find a vet with more knowledge of hedgehogs.


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

I'm about to make a run to Petco to try to find a can of kitty food that I can mix with water and give him. Any suggestions? The vet kept telling me to just use mazuri (spelling?) and raisins which I know they can't have.


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

Also they wanted me to keep him in his carry cage that is only 11x9 but I'm constantly having to change out the paper towels because he's spilling his water and I'm afraid that since I have to sleep and he does this at night and he can't get away from the wetness this would just make him worse. Should I put him back in his cage 40x22 just with his water, food, and snuggle blanket?


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

This link is for the hedgehog welfare society, your vet is in the list but you can try any other from it.

That food is really low quality, try to get your hands on hills a/d I think, you can only get it from a vet but the experts on here recommend it for syringe feeding.

Also, try to apply for a care credit card to help you with expenses and when he recovers, get vet insurance.

http://www.hedgehogwelfare.org/vets_by_state.asp?s=AZ


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

I have care credit but because of the reason I got it (my dog broke his leg and had to have pins put in which was a very expensive procedure so I got the care credit to pay for it but since that wasn't too long ago I'm still paying that off) and then with Ichigo's last two bills from the vet it's about at its limit. I will definitely check into the vet insurance after he's better! 

This morning he actually was biting at the syringe and eating the food as I syringe fed him. A big improvement from yesterday's just letting it run down the side of his mouth and I wasn't sure if he was getting any since I didn't want to aspirate him so I was being careful to just slowly put some at the side of his mouth. His poor little nose keeps running and I keep having to wipe it for him since it starts trying to cake onto his nostrils. However he's more alert looking today and he was up this morning running laps in his cage for about 30 minutes before going back to sleep so I take it as a hopeful sign that he's getting better!


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

OK, I don't like your vet either. Any time a hedgehog hasn't eaten for 2 days it needs to be syringe fed. These little ones start to get fatty liver very quickly. Anyway...

How is your little one doing today? It sounds like you saw some improvement over the weekend.


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

He ate a lot last night with the syringe feeding (like almost 8 ml) and the same this morning! He was up running around his cage at midnight and when I got up this morning he was still running laps at 8:30 so he's getting his energy back. I told him once he's cleared from a vet he can have his wheel back but not till then. He didn't have as much snot this morning for me to wipe from his nose and he wasn't making any crackling noise when breathing or breathing heavy! I have high hopes at this point that he'll make a full recovery!


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## CherylMatthews (Apr 19, 2016)

*Oh that's great! Lets hope he keeps it up and continues to get better *


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

Yay!!! I'm so happy for you!!!


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

Last night Ichigo barely ate he kept letting the food fall out of his mouth and he could barely use his back legs. He slept all night last night and this morning he still would barely eat. We tried putting him in his cage away from his hide to see if he would walk to his hide. He was wobbly and basically dragged his back legs. He slept all day. Tonight he refused to be syringe fed he just let it fall out of his mouth again. He's back in his hide sleeping and I'm really worried that he won't make it much longer. I don't understand I thought he was getting better. Now he won't stand or walk and if he tries he's wobbly and falls. His breathing isn't heavy and he hasn't had a lot of drainage so I was thinking his URI is going away with his meds. But now I don't know what to think.


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

So sorry to hear. Were you able to find another vet?


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

Not one close for me to get to. I don't want to take him on the bus and my mother in law can't help take us anywhere until this weekend so I'm doing everything I can to make him comfortable and trying to get him to eat. I don't know what else to do besides that at this point.


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

Ichigo passed away this morning


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

I'm so sorry. He knew love from you and all the care you provided for him.


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## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

I'm so sorry for your loss .


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## CherylMatthews (Apr 19, 2016)

*I'm so sorry for your loss. At least you provided him with a lot of love and you did everything you could to help him. You did your best and I am sure he appreciated it.*


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm so sorry.


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

Thank you everyone! I really miss him. Even though I only had him for a short time he wiggled into my heart. 

I went up to the store to talk to the owner since I'm friends with him and have never had a problem getting things or animals from him. My ball python I got from him 6 years ago is healthy and never had a problem and so is my 2 year old bearded dragon. This is the first problem I have had and wanted to see what was up. We were talking and he told me that usually he gets them locally which is what I had thought (the cats and dogs in the store are all from the local pound he has a contract with them, the rest of his animals he sells are always from local breeders that's why he only has what he has and won't just order more) but his local hedgehog breeder didn't have any babies ready and his brother ordered Ichigo and some others from a different out of town breeder since they were selling so fast and his brother thought that it would be OK to try to find other breeders. Ichigo passed and the other two he learned passed as well (they were not showing signs of URI instead they just got wobbly, stopped eating and refused syringe feeding and then stopped walking and died). He then told me that he couldn't refund my money his brother wouldn't allow that but I could take home an 11 week old girl that the local breeder he uses had brought in with her sister. I know who this local breeder is he supplies them with the ferrets and they are always healthy. I agreed to hold her and see if I wanted to try again. So he went and got her and she is younger than Ichigo was but is double the size (he fit in the palm of my hand and she takes both hands to hold her). He has her on hold for me until I can decide if I want to try again. Ichigo was so sweet and I don't want anyone to think I'm just replacing him because he can't be replaced.


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

Is he giving her to you for free? If not, I'd go directly to a breeder, they usually give warranty over the animals

I had a 6 month congenital defect warranty and lifetime for WHS. 

I know he is your friend but if they are not willing to take responsibility for the animals they are selling (no matter where they are getting them from) it's not worth dealing with them. He should had man up and do the right thing, specially since other 2 died.


And no one will judge you for getting another pet.


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## Ari (May 12, 2016)

Yeah he's letting me have her for free. He feels bad about what happened with Ichigo.


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## CherylMatthews (Apr 19, 2016)

*Don't feel guilty about getting another hedgehog, no one is judging you, we know you can never replace Ichigo but having another hedgehog can help heal your broken heart. Also, be careful about getting a hedgehog from the same place because it sounds like they didn't look after them properly. When you next buy one, look out for symptoms of illness such as a runny nose, crustiness around the eyes and check to see if it's walking properly without wobbling. I wish you all the best anyway. *


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