# Lucy's injury after 3 doses of antibiotic



## Tym4myself (Jul 17, 2012)

Day one, when I found the wound: 









Day 3 after 3 doses of antibiotic: The red blood bubble is from a piece of bedding being pulled off.  


















I have not bathed Lucy or done much with her other than hold her for a little while yesterday. Does this look better in your opinion? I mean, aside from the oozing blood which was my fault for trying to remove it. You can see there's still a piece on there that I don't want to take off. I palpitated the wound a little to see how thick it felt compared to 3 days ago and it's noticeably thinner (it was VERY thick under the skin on Wednesday) but still thicker than normal. Is the loss of hair over it normal? Do you think I should put some kind of ointment on it? Also, do you think she should stay on bedding or put her on fleece lining? We are on baby watch, but I don't like that bedding sticking to her wound.


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## Tabi (Jun 24, 2012)

Oh my goodness  poor lucy. I hope she feels better soon 
Also, I'm definitely no doctor (yet hehe) but I would get the wound as clean as I could  If it were me, I'd pull that piece off and then wash the wound with a little no tears soap. But again, I'd wait for someone more medically savvy to chime in (like LG)


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## Hillybean (Jun 10, 2010)

I would try to clean the area, with a warm bath. I would not pick the bedding off, but even wiping with a warm damp cloth might help in getting off. Picking could make it worse.

I can't help on if you should use fleece or not..considering the baby watch. Someone with more experience is needed for that.

I would try to keep that area clean and bedding free if at all possible. My concerns is that the bedding won't help in preventing or prolonging an infection.


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## Tym4myself (Jul 17, 2012)

Would Bacitracin be okay to use on that wound topically?

I just can't believe the size of this wound. And Lucy still doesn't bear weight on that leg a lot of the time. She holds it up under her.  The vet said we might need to do an xray if the limp doesn't improve with the antibiotics. sigh. I can't imagine what the male she was housed with (before I got her) did to her to cause this...I mean are males really capable of causing this kind of damage? I'm starting to wonder if something else happened to her at her previous owner's home.


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## Tabi (Jun 24, 2012)

It doesn't seem like another hedgie could do that. Maybe , but the most I've kept a boy and girl together for is two weeks, and they didn't injure each other, they just constantly chased each other and squeaked. (breeding) Did they only have one wheel? Maybe while one was running, she tried getting on and got hurt?


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## Tym4myself (Jul 17, 2012)

They were housed in a bin for 3 weeks together with no wheel at all, no igloo or shelter nor a place to hide.  She basically had no where to run to get away from the male.


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## Tabi (Jun 24, 2012)

Ugh that's absolutely horrible.  poor Lucy


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Yes another hedgehog could do that or far worse. Poor little girl. 

I'd give her a bath with Aveeno body wash but don't try to pull the bedding off. It may come off on it's own but if not, pulling it is going to create more of an open wound. At this point in time, I wouldn't put anything on it unless the vet told you to. If you put something on it that captures her interest and she starts to bug at it, she could make it worse. Hopefully it will heal fast and she'll start walking on it.


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## moxieberry (Nov 30, 2011)

It doesn't look infected (meaning the antibiotics are doing their job), just very nasty in the beginnings of healing. I agree - just soap or a gentle wash with water. If there's fuzz stuck in there, leave it be unless it comes off on its own from a gentle bathing. The body will reject something foreign like that, so if it's stuck in a scab, eventually it would be pushed out and fall off.


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## Tym4myself (Jul 17, 2012)

Thanks everyone. I feel better hearing that it looks improved and not infected. I was thinking it looked better but it's good to have that reassurance from others. It's also a good learning experience for me. Hopefully Lucy will keep getting better...I have a feeling we'll be getting an x-ray before we're done, but whatever she needs we'll get done for her. She's just too sweet to not want to make her feel all better.


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## Tabi (Jun 24, 2012)

Totally ! I feel so bad for lucy


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## Shell (Aug 23, 2012)

I feel so bad for Lucy...and you. 
You're doing everything right and I do hope you don't need the xrays. I agree with everyone else not to pick at it and just wash it off the best you can. Healing vibes heading your way for Lucy.


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

I probably wouldnt use shavings or whatever type of bedding you use(i use Critter Care Soft bedding that i can find at my local walmart but some reason it isnt listed online? http://crittercare.com/products/ i dont use the confetti stuff but the other bag behind it that i use for the litterbox) for her and start using a fleece liner to prevent bedding from getting stuck inside her and it getting reinfected.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Maddie The Hedgehog said:


> I probably wouldnt use shavings or whatever type of bedding you use(i use Critter Care Soft bedding that i can find at my local walmart but some reason it isnt listed online? http://crittercare.com/products/ i dont use the confetti stuff but the other bag behind it that i use for the litterbox) for her and start using a fleece liner to prevent bedding from getting stuck inside her and it getting reinfected.


Tym would, except there's a chance Lucy is pregnant and fleece liners are not good to use with mama/babies since you can't clean the cage.


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

hmm thats interesting? why not? i never knew that. but congrats on her being pregnant  i hope shes healthy and has healthy babies, and i hope the pregnancy goes well


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

i can kinda understand when she has the babies but can the momma use a fleece liner until she heals before she has the babies?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Since it's hard to be absolutely sure of when she'd give birth (given the wide date range she was with the male, and the general uncertainty on when a specific female will be ready to give birth), it'd be best to just keep her on the bedding - you could have her on the fleece for too long and before you can change it back, oops! there's babies and you can't do anything about it. While it's hard to tell whether she's pregnant or not 100%, it's best to be safe. And fleece liners are not good because you cannot do a full clean of the cage until the babies are weaned. If you do, it'd be way too much disturbance for the mother and she would likely kill the babies. With a fleece liner, that means you're stuck with disgusting poop-covered fabric for 5-6 weeks. If you have the mama on loose bedding, like Carefresh, once the babies are 2 weeks and Mom has started letting you handle them a little bit, you can take out a handful of dirty bedding (away from the nest) and replace with a clean handful. It's not perfect, but it helps, and it allows you to keep the cage somewhat sanitary while also keeping the babies safe.

And to be honest, the pregnancy isn't a good thing here - Lucy's 12 weeks old, so she's a couple months too young to be pregnant. However, she's MUCH better off with Tym than the previous owners who kept her with the male.  Hopefully she ends up not having babies, but if she does, everyone stands a much better chance now.


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## Tym4myself (Jul 17, 2012)

Maddie The Hedgehog said:


> hmm thats interesting? why not? i never knew that. but congrats on her being pregnant  i hope shes healthy and has healthy babies, and i hope the pregnancy goes well


She seems healthy aside from her horrible wound. Stools are normal, eating and drinking very well, busy at night in her bin (I am addicted to watching her on the streaming video, lol).
This was not at all a planned pregnancy, nor a desired one. I rescued Lucy on Tuesday from someone who had her housed with a male for 3 weeks with no wheel, igloo and not such a great diet. The people just didn't know any better. Lucy is only 12 weeks old. 

The reason not to have her on the fleece while on baby watch is because once babies come, I will not be disturbing her at all for at least 2 weeks...changing fleece to bedding could really upset her and cause her to harm the babies or cannibalize them. Fleece will be a lot dirtier than bedding after a couple of days. I'm just hoping she doesn't have any babies until she finishes her antibiotics (3 more days) and her leg is better. Her first due date is Sept. 4th so I think we're ok on being able to finish the meds at least.


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## Tabi (Jun 24, 2012)

I use fleece with my litters and I find it better than shavings. I tried shavings and the ammonia created from it was unbearable, my hedgie got sneezes. I'm against most bedding choices besides fleece..even with mom. I admit the fleece gets a bit stinky after the two weeks, but compared to the shavings or bedding, its way better, in my opinion


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## Tym4myself (Jul 17, 2012)

I have Sparty on fleece, and Lucy will be on fleece after this whole ordeal is over. I took her out tonight to give her her medication and the piece of bedding that was stuck to her was gone so I didn't have to bathe her. She is just so darn adorable I'm going to be totally crushed if she doesn't make it through this. 

Thanks everyone for your well wishes and good thoughts. We really appreciate them!


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

ah ha i see (from reading eveyones comments^^ lol) so fleece bedding is bad for momma hedgies? but its good for ones who are not mommas? mine uses a fleece liner and shes litter box trained sometimes i think shes pees under her liner. i prolly wash maybe once evry 2 weeks or 3. is that bad or good?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Maddie The Hedgehog said:


> ah ha i see (from reading eveyones comments^^ lol) so fleece bedding is bad for momma hedgies? but its good for ones who are not mommas? mine uses a fleece liner and shes litter box trained sometimes i think shes pees under her liner. i prolly wash maybe once evry 2 weeks or 3. is that bad or good?


Yup. It's generally recommended not to use them for mamas, but fleece is recommended for any other hedgehog (barring any other unique situations). Personally I'd probably wash the liners more often, but it depends on the hedgehog and how messy they are.  If they're not too stinky & she's litter box trained, then it's probably fine!


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

shes litter box trained so her fleece never ever gets poopy. pretty soon when she gets her CSW im gonna clean her old litterbox out and fill it with some cut up fleece pieces that i can wash so she burrow in them and put her litter stuff in the new litter box under her wheel


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

maddie is always clean, her liner doesnt smell but her litter box does generally lol^^ idk if hedgehogs have their own like natural scent or something but i noticed that lately she has like this sweet smell on her and idk what it is. its not anything different that im doing but oddly enough she smells good haha


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

idk it sounds a bit silly though, maybe its just me


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

This thread is about Lucy's injury so please keep the thread on topic.


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## Hedgie1234 (Sep 2, 2012)

Hope she gets better soon!


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## Maddie The Hedgehog (Jul 28, 2012)

Nancy said:


> This thread is about Lucy's injury so please keep the thread on topic.


sry about that xD if you want you can delete the posts


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