# Matted Fur



## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

Gave Quinn a bath the other day and he had some crud on his face so I washed his cheeks with the aveeno baby shampoo (careful not to get it in his eyes) We dried him off really well but the past 2 nights his fur has been matted down on his cheeks when we wake him up. Does anyone know why this would be happening? The fur is not wet, it feels oily.


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## Hedgehog Grove (Jul 21, 2010)

My guess it would be from Boy Time lol


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

Oh, ew!!! Haha.

He scared us to death this morning. My husband flipped his light on at 7 as usual and found Quinn laying with his head in his litter box. Usually by 7 he's under his blanket asleep. It's almost 75 in his cage which is slightly hotter than it has been lately because we really cranked the heat in the house last night, but still... 75 isn't THAT hot. Is it possible he's got a fever? I held him and he didn't feel that warm. I mean, no warmer than usual. I ask because my husband is worried the matted fur might be his ears draining and he might have a cold. He's also going through one of his periods he has about once every 2 months where he's not eating much. He's scaring me, especially since we're about to leave him with friends for Thanksgiving.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Is it possible that the Aveeno didn't get completely rinsed out and left a residue on his hair? Like in humans that don't rinse out the conditioner completely?


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

Yeah, nikki it helped with the matting after we rinsed his face again. However, he hasn't eaten in about 72 hours so we have a visit with a vet this afternoon.  I hope our baby is ok.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I hope he's OK!


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

how did the vet visit go?


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

He was a ham as always, annointing off a dog treat, rolling around and exploring... He wouldn't poop at the dr's office so they couldn't get a culture, but the doctor prescribed him an antibiotic, a probiotic and gave him a shot of Vitamin B in his butt. (He said it would make him hungry...) I'd love ANY advice on how to force this antibiotic and probiotic down his throat. I'm not as good at wedging his mouth open as the nurse was that gave him his first dose. If he doesn't eat soon... what do I do? He hasn't eaten in days.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

it's recommended that you start syringe feeding him after 2 days without eating, as fatty liver disease can develop very fast.

You can offer him Ensure or Boost tonight. Tomorrow you can call your vet and pick up some Hills A/D food, it's easy to syringe feed and most hedgies love the taste. 

Have you tried wet cat food, cooked eggs and cooked chicken?


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

is he eating mealworms / crickets? you can try to inject the medicine in a treat. 

make sure he's not dehydrated. To see if he is, pinch the skin on his back and see how long it takes for it to go back in place -- it should go back almost immediately. If it takes a few seconds, he might be dehydrated. You can offer him some water with a tiny bit honey in it. You can also use a syringe to give him some water.


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

He won't eat anything...He's picky at the best of times, but now he won't even eat his favorite food. My vet didn't even recommend this Hills A/D business. Do you mean ensure like the drink older people drink? You're scaring me about fatty liver disease. He's just a baby... I feel so lost in all of this. I wish I had someone more experienced to help. I shelled out 140 dollars at the vet and I still feel like I'm not fixing anything...


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Sorry, I don't mean to scare you!  

The Ensure is the drink you can buy at pharmacies, yes... you can also get some wet cat food and mix with some water and use the syringe to feed him. 

Where are you located? Maybe someone experienced lives nearby and can help you out.


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

I'm in Middle Tennessee, USA.

I had to drive an hour just to see a vet... I wish I could take him back every day for help because he's the first vet I've met (got his name from hedgehogcentral) that knew what he was talking about. I felt safe with him... but now that I'm home I'm panicking that I can't take care of him on my own...


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

contact the hedgehog welfare society, maybe they have someone around you who can help you syringe feeding him. here is their website:

http://www.hedgehogwelfare.org/

in the meantime, make sure you feed him something tonight. 

poor baby, I wish I could help.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I wish I had some advice for you, but I've not gone through any health issues yet. I'm glad you were able to get in to see the vet. 

Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you guys & hope that he starts eating soon.


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

Successfully got some ensure down. I found that if you drizzle it in the side of his mouth long enough, he'll finally start licking and eating it. I got probably a .06 mL in him. How much should I do? It's REALLY agitating him to hold him down and force it between his teeth. I will go searching for Hills A/D tomorrow. Will any vet have that or just hedgehog vets? I am able to get his antibiotic in him because they came in the small mL syringe but if anyone has advice on the probiotcs, they came in a HUGE (probably meant for a puppy) size syringe and I CANNOT get it in his mouth. Too big. I was trying earlier and sobbing hysterically while he was wrapped around my thumb and popping. I probably looked like a crazy person.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

QuinntonsMom said:


> Successfully got some ensure down. I found that if you drizzle it in the side of his mouth long enough, he'll finally start licking and eating it. I got probably a .06 mL in him. How much should I do? It's REALLY agitating him to hold him down and force it between his teeth. I will go searching for Hills A/D tomorrow. Will any vet have that or just hedgehog vets? I am able to get his antibiotic in him because they came in the small mL syringe but if anyone has advice on the probiotcs, they came in a HUGE (probably meant for a puppy) size syringe and I CANNOT get it in his mouth. Too big. I was trying earlier and sobbing hysterically while he was wrapped around my thumb and popping. I probably looked like a crazy person.


I'm glad you got some down. I'm no health expert, and I can't find the info here, but I'd say you can try to give him something every hour. It does stress them a lot, so in the intervals between syringe fed, let him relax and do his thing. 

Any vet will have Hills A/D, it's a dog/cat food for debilitated animals.

I have no experience with the probiotics so I'll let someone else give you advice on that.

Try to relax, they can sense you're nervous and will get nervous too. 

keep us posted please.


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

I so appreciate the support and the tip about the ensure. He seems to be ok with the taste of it (it's vanilla...) but he just doesn't have any appetite. Maybe after a few days on the antibiotics. I will be sure to keep you posted, thank you.

Anyone with advice on probiotcs that's given their hedgie them or used the big syringe? For further info its a thick paste so it doesn't work to suck it up in the smaller syringe. I've tried rubbing it on his lips but it just got everywhere. I'm calming down quite a bit since he got all that ensure. Thanks again for any and all help!


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

make sure you keep him warm tonight.

A couple of weeks ago Col. Mustard got sick with a URI and she was barely eating too, but she loved the Hills A/D. You can see if Quinnton will like it and if he does, maybe you can mix some of the probiotic with the food? I remember Nancy saying that it's very rare to find a hedgie that will not love it.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Forgot to say one more thing, you can leave some kibble in bed with him tonight, in case his appetite comes back but he doesn't want to get up to eat. Count the kibble so you know if he ate it.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Get Hills A/D and syringe him it. You can mix a wee bit of water or the Ensure in with it if you want. He should be getting 3-4 mls/cc 3-4 times per day. He needs to get food into him. The less he eats at a sitting, the more often you have to syringe. Sometimes they only take a small amount so try again in an hour or two. 

Once they go without food, or very little food, FLD can start. Once it starts they feel yucky so they don't want to eat. 

You can give him a wee bit of sugar water which might help stimulate his appetite.


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

Ok, thank you for the info. I got really good at pinning his little arms down and making him eat last night as sad as it made me. He drank a LOT of water last night but I don't see that he ate anything. (I didn't count his kibbles.) If FLD has set in, is that reversible? Is it something we can live with or is it going to kill him? I will syringe feed him the rest of his life if I have to...


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

FLD can be reversible sometimes. Get food into him and see if he will start eating on his own. How much weight is he loosing?


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

I don't think he's lost any weight. We hadn't weighed him in a few weeks, but the doctor said he was 280g which I think is good for a 5 month old? He seems small to me but I'm used to seeing full grown hogs.

We got the A/D which I'll feed him tonight. Still no luck with the probiotics but we're going to try serving it to him on a chopstick and a q-tip tonight to see if we have any luck. The vet that sold us the A/D gave me several sizes of syringe so I'll experiment with that. Unfortunately the probiotic is a gel so it can't be sucked up in a syringe.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

You can't judge size by age. I've had 5 week olds that were over 280. If he hasn't been eating, he has to have lost weight.


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

Finally got the probiotic in him so if anyone else ever uses Bene-Bac, I have the solution on how to feed it to hedgies.

Also, he smelled the warm A/D and ate 2 of his kibble, haha. I guess I should take that as a good sign even though I'm going to syringe feed him a few mL anyway.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

2 kibble is better than nothing! And now I know where to go if I need help with Bene-Bac.
Glad things are improving.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Glad he's showing some improvement! Please keep us posted.


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

Quinn ate 20 kibble last night on top of the 10mL of A/D we syringe fed him! He didn't run much on his wheel, but for now I'm going to chalk that up to him needing to build up his strength. Hopefully he's fully on the mend. I really appreciate all the help. Another positive from all this is because of that Bene-Bac he's on (it's loaded with sugar to make it more appetizing) he smells like sugar cookies! I wish my Christmas contest photo could be scratch and sniff... I'd win for sure.  Thanks again, guys.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

So glad to hear he's eating again! Keep up the good work and pretty soon he'll be cruising on that wheel again!


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

QuinntonsMom said:


> he smells like sugar cookies! I wish my Christmas contest photo could be scratch and sniff... I'd win for sure.  Thanks again, guys.


 :lol: That would be an unfair advantage! :lol:


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## QuinntonsMom (Aug 11, 2010)

Quinn wants to thank everyone for their help, support and kindness. He may fight me when I syringe feed him, but deep down he loves being babied. Check out this silly pig! A cutie, even covered in A/D.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

Hahaha Quinnton sure is a silly baby!! I'm so glad he's doing better! Mustard and I are keeping our fingers and toes crossed for a speedy recovery.


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

I'm so happy he's doing better now! You did a great job at syringe feeding and being a cautious parent!


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