# Should I force feed her?



## pietmau (Feb 3, 2013)

Hi,
Thanks for your help.
Our little hedgie is in very poor shape 
A month ago we took her to the vet because she had blood in her mouth; the vet said she had a abscess and he pulled two teeth and put her under antibiotics for a month.
During this month she kept on having infected material in her mouth, and the antibiotic apparently did not help, we took her again to the vet who prescribed a stronger antibiotic for four days.
This is her second day on that antibiotic and she is really weak and in the last two days she has not eaten (she drinks tough).
We are really worried, she is seeing again the vet in a few days.

We were wondering if it is the case we force feed her.

Thank you for any recommendation.


----------



## Melanie G. (May 29, 2014)

Are you referring to syringe feeding? I would start syringe feeding her. If her mouth is still bothering her it would likely make it more difficult to eat. And the antibiotics might be upsetting her stomach.
Are you familiar with how to syringe feed?


----------



## phoenix1964 (Jan 23, 2014)

Absolutely syringe food her with a good quality wet food. I used A/D when Penelope was very sick. Don't wait any longer to do it. There are some very useful tips in the nutrition forum. Try to get at least 4 cc into her at a time. If she will take more then give it. You want to aim for about 16 cc per day for her own appetite to kick back in.
Good luck to you


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yes, I would definitely start syringe-feeding. Two days is too long without food for a hedgehog. Here's our sticky on syringe-feeding - http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/foru...yringing-tutorial-syringe-feeding-sticky.html


----------



## pietmau (Feb 3, 2013)

Thanks, 
I started syringe feeding her, and she is responsive, she eats, that is good.
I hope she will get over soon...


----------



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Glad she's eating for you! If you can get them, probiotics would be good to add to her food as well. You'll want to make sure you give it at a different time than her antibiotics, since the meds will kill the good bacteria in the probiotics too. You can get either Bene-bac for small animals (from the pet store or vet) or acidophilus (usually found in pharmacies with the vitamins). If she's on a strong antibiotic, it's probably upsetting her stomach and digestive system quite a bit, and that's probably what is causing her to not want to eat. Probiotics can help make it a little less awful on her system.

Good luck, I hope she gets past this darn infection! Let us know how she does and what the vet says.


----------

