# Ive horribly horribly failed as an owner :(



## Litch (Sep 4, 2008)

Some of you might remember about Prick and that he lost his eye. Well tonight i went to feed him and there was blood in his cage. I checked for his right eye and sure enough its out of the socket. I feel like Ive failed him as an owner now that hes lost his eye sight. 


What can I do to make things easier for him? Im going to call the vet in the morning about surgery so theres no risk of infection.


Edit - As Im cleaning his cage to avoid any infection Im noticing that the blood is VERY fresh, not even caked, not dried which suggests it happened within the last few hours but Ive been home and in my room for a while now and even when he was running in his wheel there were no sounds out of the ordinary, no sound of him falling off his wheel or hitting any part of it.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Both of his eyes have now been injured or was it the same one? Sorry i'm a bit confused.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Don't blame yourself. Our Emma lost an eye and it happened in the middle of the afternoon. I had gone in the room to get the baby that was going to a new owner, went back in again within minutes and Em's cage was blood covered and her eye gone. 

There may be something going on that has caused the eyes to be lost. A while back on one of the lists there was a hedgie who lost one then the other eye and I believe it was caused by a tumour. Perhaps glaucoma or something that caused him to dig at it. 

He will do just fine being blind.


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## Litch (Sep 4, 2008)

LarryT said:


> Both of his eyes have now been injured or was it the same one? Sorry i'm a bit confused.


He lost his other eye earlier this year. He just turned 2 recently.


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## krbshappy71 (Jul 17, 2009)

Um, failing as an owner would be plucking out his eye yourself.

You discovered the situation and you're taking him to the vet. That's what a responsible owner does, not a failing one.

So sorry, that had to be horrible to discover!


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I'm sorry you both have to go through this. You are being a great hedgie parent. I can't imagine what would have happened to him if he didn't have someone responsible like you. Or someone who cared enough to check on him & notice his injury. I hope they can find out what the problem was.


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

And how exactly did you fail? From what I just read your first concern is the health of your baby and how to make his life easier and of quality. That does not sound like a failure to me.


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## Sheryl (Sep 9, 2010)

Oh, I'm so sorry - that must have been a shocking experience, to say the least! It sounds like you've done everything in your power for him and that you will continue to do your best with Prick. I don't think you've failed at all. Best of luck to you and to him with his surgery.


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

I'm so sorry! I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery!

As for making his life easier, try keeping everything in the cage exactly the way it was, so he can stay familar with his surroundings.


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## MoonbeamHH (May 3, 2010)

This is a dumb question- How does the eye comes out of the socket that easily? I agree with everyone, you're not a bad owner. Things happens, just repair it and move on. Just will be a little bit different than before. Hang in there!


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

MoonbeamHH said:


> This is a dumb question- How does the eye comes out of the socket that easily? I agree with everyone, you're not a bad owner. Things happens, just repair it and move on. Just will be a little bit different than before. Hang in there!


Eyes come out actually pretty easy on any creature, my family had pugs and via reading books on them, you never scruff a pug because of their eyes, cause they can pop right out, never happened but with them its not hard to see why.

With Hedgehogs there's probably a slew of things, I don't know jack but from reading and what has been said, like Nancy said there could be a tumor or growth behind the eyes that have pushed them out, its possible for them to scratch them out, poke them out. The one thankful thing about our little guys is they already have crappy eye sight, so if they go blind its only some adaptation to their habits.

You're not a bad owner at all, he's in the best care in your hands, but I would be thinking about an x-ray or as nancy said, the possibility of a tumor or something going on.


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## Litch (Sep 4, 2008)

The vet called me about 30 minutes ago and I my cell didnt have reception but she left a message. He pulled through surgery just fine but there was puss behind his eye and they said he will need to be on antibiotics for a time. Thats all they told me but that they might have more in the morning when I talk to them. I have orderd him a carolina storm wheel to make running easier for him. The vet said he would have to adjust his perception so I felt it was better for him to have a wider wheel to run on and one that I can back into a corner easier.


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## schmelderz (Jul 7, 2010)

That's good to hear. Hoping for Prick's recovery to go well  Keep us posted.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Litch said:


> I have orderd him a carolina storm wheel to make running easier for him. The vet said he would have to adjust his perception so I felt it was better for him to have a wider wheel to run on and one that I can back into a corner easier.


The CSW is a good choice for any hog with injuries or any large/obese hogs. I have sent several to hogs with WHS,the CSW is so much lower to the ground so climbing on and off is easier for them. I will ship your wheel this morning but it will have to ship parcel post and will take 6-8 days to arrive.


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## Jaimie (Sep 27, 2009)

So sorry to hear about your poor baby but I don't in anyway see how you were a bad or failed owner....There are some things that you just can't prevent from happening and this would be one, so please stop putting yourself down for it. You did your best and got him medical attention as soon as you could so that shows you never failed.


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## GiveToHairy (Jul 24, 2010)

I am so sorry  
It sounds like a terrible ordeal for your hedgie AND for you. I can't begin to imagine. You have done everything right. Thank you for not just giving up on him. If he can still live a comfortable happy life he's in the best place for it.

And on a more selfish note, thank you for sharing. I had no idea how common this can be until I saw the thread. I thought if we just avoided seeds we'd be fine. Now I know to be extra careful and if the worst happens beyond our control then I can get help for Sam and he can still be happy.

Don't beat yourself!

x Sam and Joelle


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## Litch (Sep 4, 2008)

Hes home now and walking around his cage. I have to give him oral meds twice a day and a powder on his food once daily. Ive taken his wheel out so he can just walk around and get used to the cage in his current condition and not worry about falling off his wheel. 

Thankfully he tried to bite the syringe (no needle) when I put it right by his face. He couldn't see it but he could smell it. Hes looked better and I still feel bad but Im doing my best to help him out.


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## PJM (May 7, 2010)

I'm so glad he's home & doing well. Please continue to keep us posted. I'm sure he's happy to be back home with you.


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

Thats great to hear he is home and was excited to eat his food


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## Sheryl (Sep 9, 2010)

Thanks for the update. I've been thinking about you both and I'm glad to hear he's back home with you.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I'm glad he'es home and doing well. 

My blind girl KeiLei does great on her wheel. I have it set fairly low to the ground but she runs like crazy on it. What type of wheel do you have? Some are not safe for blind hedgies. Onces with cross bars, or that have no solid back to them are not safe. The blind ones tend to put their body against the back of the wheel so they know where they are positioned. 

What does he sleep in? If an igloo, padding the edges of the doorway helps so they don't hurt themselves on the edge. KeiLei is a bag lady so I have no worries. 

Keeping his cage arranged the same is helpful but I'm betting in a few months you will not be able to tell he is blind.


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## Litch (Sep 4, 2008)

Ya he had the crossbar wheel which is what I got from the breeder originally. He will have a CSW as soon as it arrives. The old wheel has been out of the cage since the incident. I took his igloo out because he mostly carred about sleeping under the blanket rather then the igloo itself.


He has two medications, one is a powder the others a liquid. The powder just goes on his food and he eats it. I thought Id have a problem with the oral meds since hes never liked those before but he loves the taste of this one so I just hold it up to his nose. When he catches the scent of it he just starts licking away at it. 


The two things about his behavior that have changed - Hes up at random hours, and despite his lack of vision, hes actively trying to find a way to climb out of his cage.


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## Puffers315 (Apr 19, 2010)

Glad to hear he's doing good. The random hours thing I know I've read from other owners with blind hedgies, its just because they can't really sense day or night anymore. I think I've read a few stories about their hedgies being active during the daylight hours after becoming blind. The climbing is probably due to the missing wheel, but little you can do until the CSW comes, maybe coroplast the sides or at least make sure he can't climb and hurt himself.


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## Litch (Sep 4, 2008)

Puffers315 said:


> Glad to hear he's doing good. The random hours thing I know I've read from other owners with blind hedgies, its just because they can't really sense day or night anymore. I think I've read a few stories about their hedgies being active during the daylight hours after becoming blind. The climbing is probably due to the missing wheel, but little you can do until the CSW comes, maybe coroplast the sides or at least make sure he can't climb and hurt himself.


If climbs all he can do is fall backwards and he has a very soft towel down for now.


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## Nell (Aug 26, 2010)

What caused the eye to pop in the end? Was it a tumour? Did he scratch it out?

I am rather disturbed that this is not only possible, but common.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Nell, Sometimes we never quite know the why. A veterinarian that was giving a talk at the Milwaukee Hedgehog Show earlier this month discussed the matter a bit. Sometimes its a tumor, sometimes they scratch it out, and sometimes they just cannot determine what happened and can only treat the outcome. I sometimes have to wonder if they poke their eye with a quill that was buried in their bedding and scratched at the eye due to the pain caused by the quill poke.

Thankfully once they heal, hedgehogs do extremely well partially or fully blind. I have had both types and have had people remark that until they looked at their eyes they couldn't tell the hedgehog was blind. He/she behaved just as any hedgehog would. My male actually walked up to the edge of the receptionist's counter (at the vet's office) and stopped right at the edge. He was fully blind. She was shocked.

The biggest things we have to remember is to announce we are there to not startle them when we pick them up and to not move their cage items around to prevent them from tripping.


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## princessbuttercup (Jun 11, 2010)

Nell said:


> What caused the eye to pop in the end? Was it a tumour? Did he scratch it out?
> 
> I am rather disturbed that this is not only possible, but common.


When my hedgie's eye fell out I was absolutely horrified that something like that could happen. But the vet said that hedgehogs generally have shallow eye sockets and a well aimed knock to the head could simply dislodge it. And sadly, because they're so small, replacing the eye isn't really an option even if it's still attached by the nerve.

Litch, I hope things continue to improve, don't let this get you down, Prick thinks you're great. Buttercup and I will be thinking of you. Let us know how you and Prick are doing.


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