# Dear Pet Journal or Adventures in Pet Ownership



## gracefulchaos01

March 25, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
I can't believe it is the end of March and snowing yet again! But there it is, falling softly on the grass. At least it isn't sticking. I'm glad I don't have any outside pets. 
Work has been fine. I find myself somewhere between duties and looking up various hedgehog info in any spare time I might have. 
The cats are doing well. I think Ping is suffering a touch of jealousy/separation anxiety because of the time Jason and I spend in the office with the hedgies. Closed doors bother him. But at least he doesn't jump against the door trying to open it, like Willow. Or Panama, who just sits right outside the door, waiting for one of us. I think Pan is just hoping we will come out with food. And just because I'm mentioning the rest, I have to say Loki is doing the best. He is presently asleep on the couch. He has never had any kind of anxiety against the hedgies. I remember Jason telling me right after we brought Sebastian home that he went through the process of introductions while I was at work. He said Pan and Willow were nervous of Sebastian, that Ping kept his disinterested distance (that is Emperor Ping for you) and Loki approached Sebastian, looked at her (him at the time) and licked her head and walked away. Seriously? And I was at work?!?! I totally should have seen that. 
Sebastian and Co. seem to be adjusting well to their new cages. A day or so shy of 6.5 weeks. Sebastian and Gayle are in one new cage and the boys are all in another. 
Everyone seems to love the new fleece liners I put in the cages. Sebastian and Gayle both spend most of their time asleep under the fleece under the igloo. Gabriel and Tiberius are also both under the fleece, but only one under the igloo at a time. Beauregard, my grumpy baby Beau, has spent under fleece time, but seems to prefer to stay cuddled up close to the wheel. On the fleece. But not so much under it. They all seem to be ignoring the carefresh I put down on top of the fleece to make them feel more at home. I guess the carefresh is done for now. Into closet storage! 
The new wheels all came in today. Big old chinchilla wheels. We already had one and we had also gotten some "silent spinners" mostly because they were out of chinchilla wheels. But the little slits on the spinners make me nervous. So, just so I would rest easier, we got more wheels. 
Chelsea has rats and I think she will like a spinner for her brood. We'll figure out what to do with the other 3. 
Oh my gosh! Watching all the babes try to take to the wheels has been just &#8230; awesome. They get on it, walk around a bit, turn around, run a little, stop like they are scared, turn around again, walk a little, turn around, run, and do it all again. It's so funny with the boys because one of the boys will get about halfway through this cycle and another boy will get on the wheel and try his own cycle. Except their running/walking/turning cycles of course do not coincide. Every once in a while though they will both get it at the same time and both be running in the same direction. And that makes my heart feel full. But then the third brother wants on too, and for all it's a big wheel, it's just not big enough for three. 
Gayle though&#8230; Gayle got on her wheel and was off like a rocket! Run run run run, slow down&#8230; run run run run! I think the little girl has some serious nervous energy to burn off. I wonder if Sebastian ever gets to use the wheel at night? 
Given issues with wheel time I'm thinking that by this upcoming weekend we had best have all 5 of our new cages ready for occupancy. I'm sure Sebastian is ready to be alone again, even though to my knowledge she was only ever alone for the first week we had her. She seemed to enjoy it a lot. And hedgehogs being naturally solitary animals, I'm pretty sure they will do just fine with socialization at designated playtimes. 
I'm thinking one of those kiddy pools with the high sides for playtimes, or maybe a play pen like they had when I was a kid. Couple boys sometimes, couple girls sometimes. A wheel, a couple balls with bells, maybe live crickets sometimes just for extra adventure. 
It's a random thought. 
And pictures! I need a camera and some serious lighting. I NEED to click pictures of these little ones for posterity. And they are just so darned cute! I love the cats, I really do. But they just usually don't take to pictures well. The hedgies? They could be super stars in my home! Besides, I think they are doing good things for Rhiannon. After losing her mom, the hedgie pics I had been taking were the only thing she would even talk about with me. And they have opened a new world for us. <3 hedgehogs! And cats!

(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## gracefulchaos01

March 27, 2014
Dear Pet Journal
Tonight was clean out the cages night. Should have been last night to keep it twice a week, but tonight it was. 
Pulled out the hedgies, ladies first, then gentlemen, pulled out the old fleece, wiped everything down, put down a new fleece liner, and then put down fleece scraps. Quills everywhere. I think it's that time&#8230;
Wow! They took to the scraps like ducks to water, snuggling in and going right back to sleep after playtimes without tearing up the fleece liners. Just yet anyway. 
I'm thankful that there are two of us humans too, one to watch the hogs and one to do the actual cleaning. 
Anyway since I was designated cleaner I didn't get much time to play with anyone until right at the end as I was putting everyone back. Gabriel here though decided he wanted a little licking, anointing and cuddling time as I was putting him back in and so here we have it. Gabriel and my hands. 
Dang they are so fricken cute!



(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## gracefulchaos01

March 29, 2014
Well darnit, Pet Journal!
Seems to be the boys were getting huffy with each other on Thursday overnight right after I last posted. And so the schedule had to be moved up for separation. 
Not so bad as they will be 7 weeks come Monday. ~sings Come Monday by Jimmy Buffett~
And so, last night a very grumpy Grace and an even grumpier Jason took the time right after a long day and a long week of regular work to put together the rest of the shelving and cages and accessories for our prickly brood. It's not like the hoglets were tired from a long week of processing equity loans or from the burdensome world of retail. Because hoglets don't care. Hoglets want to grow into happy hogs and that means their own space. 
Sounds like children, huh? 
One of the cages came broken (of course, that's why we bought 6) And I really feel like the hedgies are going to need a play space just to run around in because the cages seem so much smaller than I want to give them. But with space limitations and so on, this was the best we could come up with on short notice. 
All told, I don't think we did too bad.



Now if we can just convince Willow, the calico, that her tiny little paws have no business between the wires we should be in great shape! 
(for those who have valid concerns for the hedgies, Willow is actually quite afraid of those little quills, so the babes are all actually perfectly safe in their cages)

(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## Lilysmommy

(I only have one elderly dog right now, so not much fodder for a pet journal...but joining in in a different way if that's okay!)

Dear Wildside journal,

Y'know, I love working out there and being able to take care of wildlife and see so many different animals. It'd be fantastic if they would all stop attacking me though! Is there some way to tell the geese that no, I'm certainly not a rival for the one female in the yard, so no, all three of them don't have to mob & attack me as soon as I set foor through the gate?? This is in no way helping my extreme dislike of domestic geese!

I suppose I can't blame the barred owl for biting me, considering I was the one catching him to move for cage cleaning. But jeeze, that beak is sharp! Turns out the calmest guys have some good weapons to back themselves up with. Not to mention his super-speed when pulling legs out of my grasp as soon as I try to close my hand. We're not supposed to name wildlife, but I think Ninja would be a good name for that guy.

Now the opossums...I DO blame all of them for biting me! I know I have nice, thick gloves on, but jeeze, they can BITE! Here's hoping the weather will finally take a turn for the better soon...we need to get all of these grumpy tails out of the hotel and off to freedom. You'd think they'd be a little more cheerful considering they all likely grew up here and were the ones to come back for the free food and warmth. I suppose I'll accept the healthy attitudes as a thank you though. Better to have them attacking me than be too friendly for release!

Paulie though...I still have no idea what I did to that Harris's hawk, but he hates me now. Last year we were buddies, and since I was there so often (for internship), I could have him out to hang out on the glove at least once a week. Unfortunately, my time is much more limited this year, and there's been very little glove-time. That's the only change I can think of...but man, is he holding a grudge. Every time I go to move him for cage cleaning, my hand apparently turns into a nice tasty rabbit. Luckily his death-grab doesn't go through the nice thick welding gloves...But that doesn't help protect my feelings! Maybe I can win his love again once school is done and summer gives me more time.

So that was my day yesterday...one attack after another. :lol: The dubious joys of volunteering at a wildlife rehab!


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## SpikeMoose

Oh, this was fun to read! My life is one big pet journal. 
Here was just today, which was particularly exhausting.
4:00 am- Girls I know you are small little dogs, but peeing the bed (spike) and barking (moose) is not acceptable. 
7:00 am- Paz, I appreciate that you are my big boy... I got you for the purpose of hiking the property. But we could walk at 8 sometimes too. Also, bringing me my shoes doesn't help. Alright fine, I'll get up and get things started. 
Checking the hedgies, Eloise is bored and has torn her cage apart. Make a note that she needs some wheel time while I steal her babies tonight. Milton has flipped his cage upside down, even his litter tray. Putting everything back together took about 10 minutes for both cages. Notes about food and water intake take another minute. Peeking at every adorable sleeping face takes another five. Paz, Spike, and Moose are at the door waiting for me. We head out- the goats (George & George) are loose, Paz does his thing hearding them back to their pen. Oops, Pretty George is going after Moose. The chicken coop is safe and dry, wonderful. Spike, get out you are not a chicken. 
Time to get the dogs inside... Moose you are very kind but I don't want that stick... OH MY GOSH THAT IS A DEER LEG. Okay. Ew. Wow okay the coyotes are back, I should check and secure the coop. Moose thanks for the gift, but you are disgusting. I need to get to the barn, don't breathe on anything. Stop growling at your brother. 
8:00 am (ish) - barn- oh, okay so it's going to rain. The morning people were ontime and the horses are already out. Okay, Ditto is over the rain and freaking out in the feild. Awesome. Thank you, all 27 horses outside, for deciding that you would melt in the rain. And making us walk to the middle of your muddy fields to bring you in. All three of us. Wait your turns you spoiled babies! 
10:00 am- Indy, the most spoiled retired racehorse in the world is screaming for his girlfriend. Indy... Stop. She's just not that into you. I literally just bought you a horse (seriously, I bought a miniature horse for him to bond with so he'll stop screaming, she comes Tuesday)... 
12:00 pm- Lunches. Okay Dew, thanks for biting me. That's exactally what I wanted when I brought you food. 
A child has fallen of a horse. Dear horses, can you chill with the naughty spring fever. Child is fine. Mother is crying. I signed up for the horses, not this nonsense. Ponies I AM BEGGING YOU JUST BEHAVE. 
1:00 pm - oops, loose horse. Again, ponies please just quit the spring fever.
3:00 pm - hi moose. Oh wait, GO HOME YOU NAUGHTY DOG. 
5:00 pm - all horses are fed. There are other people here... OMG I'm leaving before 7!!!
Then it's just dogs, hedgies, goats, and chicken time! Uneventful, thank goodness! 
Some other highlights: being stepped on by a horse. Shoveling 36 horses worth of poop. Getting bitten by a grumpy mama hedgie. Losing a boot in the mud, falling in the mud gettin it out. Riding two lovely horses. Lunging one very naughty horse. Hearing my horse, Zeus, call to me down the aisle. Watching the sunset while watching a 30 year old shire horse I've know since I was born graze on my lawn. See the first signs of spring on my hike with Paz. 
Life is such a blessing!


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## gracefulchaos01

AWESOME!!! those sound like wonderful adventures!

March 30, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
Not much to report today. All is well. 
Willow tried to open the front door. It was kinda weird. she was not successful in her endeavor. 
But something cool did happen today. 
Snuggle Sacks!!!!



(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## gracefulchaos01

April 1, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
I can’t seem to go but just a couple days or so without something going on. 
This morning I went in to feed the hedgies before work, clean out yesterdays food, put in todays food, and I found Beauregard sitting on his wheel. 
Beau? Wheel? 6am? Something is not quite right. And so I picked the spikey little bugger up and after about 3 minutes of coaxing managed to find that his tiny foot was not only covered in poo, which is normal, but also had little fleece bits and some of my hair on it. 
I couldn’t find anything else wrong. I looked and looked, and he poked and poked. Beau, for all he is my favorite, is also our pokiest hedgie. Longest quills and most… err… shy? Personality. 
So I pulled the funkiness off his foot, put him back in his cage and watched for a minute. Seems that was the problem. He toddled into his igloo with an attitude like, “took you long enough”. And settled in for his days sleep. 
Lint and a piece of hair. Really? But I have long pretty long hair, and it was definitely mine. Dangit! At least it wasn’t wrapped around his foot, just caught in his toes. 
And tonight Sebastian looked like she needed extra love when I was checking on everyone post work. She just had this sad look on her face. I picked her up, looked her over and everything *looks* ok. 
But she hasn’t been eating much. In fact, she hasn’t been eating much at all. She has lost a little weight since we separated the babes and I’m starting to get concerned. 
Right now she is eating a mix of BB kitten food and BB weight loss formula. We are in the process of switching to the weight loss formula because since she isn’t eating for 5 anymore I figure she doesn’t need all the extra fat from the kitten blend. 
I have been looking at other foods to mix up, but she seems rather finicky. She doesn’t go for treats much, or maybe I just haven’t found the right one. She will only eat one mealworm at a time. Two tops. 
The babes are all eating the new blend with no issues. They, in fact, seem to enjoy it. But Sebastian isn’t even eating her wet food at night. She loves the blue wilderness wet cat food and now… it is untouched the past 3-4 mornings. 
Maybe she misses her babes?
Tonight at bonding time I’ll have a scrambled egg ready and try that. All I have for fruit right now are oranges and kiwis and grapes and those won’t fly. I wonder if I have an apple stashed somewhere? 
I need to find something to tempt her. I guess for now put more of the kitten type into her personal blend until she eats again. 
The other babes all seem fine. No hairs, food appropriately eaten, no fleece fibers, lots of poo everywhere. And quills. Quills everywhere. How many depend on the babe but all of them are dropping quills. 
Now I have to worry about quill in the eye. 
Dangit! And I don’t even have a picture today!

(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## gracefulchaos01

April 1 2014
~ addendum
Scrambled egg and apple a no go. in fact not a one of the kids touched them except Tiberius nibbled a piece of apple and promptly spit it out. 
Sebastian did have 3 mealworms though. Everyone else got 2. 
I'm adding more straight kitten food to her blend before bed and hope she eats overnight.
Foot baths were a success though and everyone has pink feet again! yea!


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## gracefulchaos01

April 2, 2014

Dear Pet Journal, 
4 pieces of kitten kibble and 3 meal worms. I'll take it! 
And playtimes! 
Gayle 1



Gayle 2



And of course both the girls were out so here is Sebastian! Unfortunately both in the snuggle sack was a level of cuteness unable to be captured on camera&#8230;



And Tiberius showed us his grumpy face: 


Gabriel totally made up for it&#8230;



But for all Tiberius thought he had a grumpy face he has NOTHING on Beauregard, who was quite like this most of his bonding time:



OUCH!

But finally, at the end of his playtime, he was more like this&#8230;:



Whew! My hands still hurt! 
Love them all <3

(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## Aether

April 2, 2014

So a few weeks ago, I made a little hanging house for my hamster, Captain.

He loved it! He climbs in and out and hides his food up there and everything.

Then this morning I got up to feed him before work and discovered he had chewed a hole in the top to help him climb up on top of it! :lol: If he starts gnawing on the straps he'll have to wait a few more weeks for me to make him a new one, naughty hammy!

Pic BEFORE he remodeled is attached.


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## gracefulchaos01

April 5, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
Well, Spring has finally sprung. About darned time too! It's beautiful and breezy out today and I'm getting ready to make a big pot of beef stroganoff for a Women's Pot Luck I'm headed out to tonight. 
Last night though something pretty cool happened. 
The new playpen I got for the hedgies came in and Jason and I cleared out most of the living room to set it up. That sucker is 56 inches wide! But I did kinda do it on purpose. 
So, while watching Vikings and 47 Ronin Jason and I also watched the hedgies all take time to explore their new out of office quarters. 
Mostly they explored around a little, tried to eat the Jersey fabric sheets that were on the very bottom and then curled under their snuggle sacks to go back to sleep. 
Sebastian did exhibit interest in the saucer wheel though and she ate some of the food that was put down in there. Gayle also wandered around a lot. She was voted most likely to eat the t-shirt sheets. 
The boys also did the wander around stretch the legs thing. 
But the very best part was after wander around time was done I was holding my grouchy Beauregard in his snuggle sack and he curled up on my hand in the sack and went to sleep right there on the couch mid movie. 
~melt~
Here is a picture of the three boys right after they were put in the pen. That is about&#8230; half the pen  






(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## gracefulchaos01

May 3, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
Wow, I know it has been a while! 
Well, the cats and hedgies have all been doing pretty well. For the most part Jason and I have been keeping up with everything and in truth it has been nice and uneventful.
At least 5 times a week the hedgies get time out in the play pen we bought them. They all react differently to it. 
Sebastian will burrow under whatever fleece she can find and goes right back to sleep. 
Gayle will run around for a minute or two and then she will also burrow and sleep. 
Gabriel will wander a bit, eat a bit and then sleep under whatever first fleece he goes for. 
Tiberius LOVES the pen, he will run all around over and over, then he will burrow, but instead of going to sleep, he will wander around under the fleece exploring that way. He is the only hedgie to use the wheel in the pen, he eats, drinks water and truly loves his out of cage time. 
Beauregard will sit and huff. And then huff some more. Then go back into his snuggle sack and huff even more. Beauregard has attitude issues. 
Mostly though it has been pretty sedate. Feed, water, hold, watch. Clean the cages, replace the fleeces with clean ones, twice weekly bathing. Anyone who owns hedgies should be familiar with the routine. 
Until last week. I, yes, me, started showing signs of ringworm on my chest. Great. Brilliant. Ok, dealable. It's right in the spot on my chest where they cuddle. I figure I got poked and then it got dirty inside and that was that. 
I started an anti fungal cream treatment immediately. It looks much better, and I keep it well covered, especially during hedgie time. I have been keeping an eye on all of them, any signs of extra itchiness or redness, or skin spots. I haven't seen anything yet and I'm hoping I continue not too. 
Except for Tiberius. But it is quite obviously not ringworm. Tonight at bathtime, and I'm on my own this week so it's me caring for all 9 pets alone, I chanced to notice 2 small wounds on Tiberius's foreleg. 
Small, not bleeding, very shallow. But definitely open wounds. 
I'm very concerned. How could these have happened? Did he bite himself? Did he scrape his leg on his wheel? Has he been sitting in his own urine? Are they urine burns? What does a urine burn even look like? I bathe them twice a week and the fleeces get changed at the same rate. Is it not enough? Am I being a bad hedgie mommy? Is this just like a kid scraping his knee? But how would it have happened? 
I will be keeping a very close eye on him for the next few days. Daily foot/leg baths, daily clean fleece. If they worsen he will be going to the vet. I'm sure everything will be just fine though&#8230; I hope.

Tiberius


Beauregard


(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## gracefulchaos01

May 10, 2014

Dear Pet Journal, 

Well, Tiberius’s leg seems to be healing up just fine. That is awesome! I still have no idea how he managed to hurt it, but hey, kids do stuff… 
Sebastian and Gayle are looking more and more alike every single day that Gayle grows bigger. If you didn’t know better you would think they were litter mates and not mother and daughter. Only Gayle’s freckle and personality give her away nowadays. 

Gabriel is doing well. His spines are all silky, kinda short, and sharp as blue blazes when he decides he wants to raise them up. My cuddler has probably bled me more than any of the rest of them. I guess it’s because it always takes me by surprise. I’m always prepared with Beau and Tibers. Gabe just pricks up out of the blue sometimes.

Something really cool happened the other night though, and that is what I wanted to share. 

Jason and I had Beauregard out on the livingroom couch a couple of nights ago. Jason had been holding him and gently playing with him for a good 30 minutes, opening Beau up, getting him awake and aware and just handling him for a while. With 5 hedgies and minimum time on work nights, none of the hedgies really get the long term time they need and Beau especially needs extra time. Well, that night he got it, and when Jason passed Beau over to me Beau was as relaxed as I have ever seen him. Spines only around half mast, easily pettable and wanting to cuddle. I pulled him close and pet him softly and sang my marshmallow song to him. 

Beauregard my spikey marshmallow, my big beast with spikes that tear and claws that catch. My giant coward who is afraid of the world so much that you never let your spikes down… 

(ok, I never said it was a good song, but Beau likes it) 

And Beau looked over at me and gently nipped my nose, not once, but twice, and then crawled into my hair and began to purr. 
No, seriously, he purred. A lot. 

He also made a solid attempt at eating my hair. But he purred the whole time. 
…
…
…
And times like this are why my troubled emo hedgie child really is my absolute favorite. 
But don’t tell the others, I really do love them all very much. 

(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## CoffeeKat

I enjoy these little updates so much! Thank you for sharing


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## gracefulchaos01

*6 months and counting!*


Dear Pet Journal: 
Jiminy! It seems like only last week I was posting regularly and now it looks like quite a bit of time has passed. Well, Pet Journal, the reason I have been away so much is because of not only the normal grown up day to day stuff, but also that, well, these little hedgies of mine are just a plain handful! 
You know the deal, play, wash, feed, clean, wash, play, water, play, wash wash wash. I do more hedgie laundry than I do my own laundry! And don't forget my little acrobat Tiberius who is constantly injuring himself. Those little legs of his&#8230; I don't know what to do. But I'm working on something. 
Anyway, a quick rundown!
Sebastian is doing awesome! Fully recovered from early motherhood and all the trials that came with it, our momma hog is as calm as a still pond. Excellent attitude and she and I are even developing a sweet little relationship. She still prefers Jason, but at least now she will cuddle up with me and knows I am one of her people. 
Our girl Gayle! Omgosh! Gayle is our biggest hog weighing in at just under 13 ounces. She isn't showing any fat though. She is just a big hog. Gayle is not exactly social, and not exactly anti-social. She is really just kind of there, prefers to do her own thing, tolerates us and usually eats everything in her food dish. Not a real cuddler, not really into being pet, but also not generally grumpy or difficult. She does still enjoy running every night, but she can't hold a candle to Tiberius. 
And my Tiberius. A passionate runner, as I mentioned in another posting today. Tiberius is usually too busy running (anywhere) to be much of a cuddler, however he does have his sweet and quiet moments. Usually right after we wake him up for about 2 minutes. Always on the go, Tiberius has a good attitude, doesn't quill up much and loves us but would much rather be doing laps on his wheel, or in the pen, or all over my arms and shoulders. 
Sweet Gabriel is still very sweet. Except sometimes he likes to bite. In fact all the babes like to bite occasionally. But only Gabriel has drawn blood. However when he isn't biting, Gabriel loves to snuggle and cuddle and be pet and loved on. He and Tiberius both will semi-climb up the sides of their cages when it's time to pull the hedgies out, letting us know that they know we are there and they are ready to be released from brutal captivity. And to be fed. They like to be fed. And cuddled. I missed out on cuddles one night last week and when I went in the following night, Gabriel came out from his sleeping place and looked at me like&#8230; pick me up, hold me, I miss you. And I picked my tiny boy up (the smallest and just around 10 ounces, and occasionally less) and we cuddled for dang near an hour before I passed him off to Jason who also cuddled him for about 45 more minutes. 
Beauregard. My spikey marshmallow is still a super spikey emo punk who, while usually a pain in my butt, can occasionally be the sweetest most cuddly and loving hog we have. 
The past 6 months have been pretty amazing. Watching our tiny babies grow into adult hedgehogs. Each developing a distinct personality with likes and dislikes, no two exactly the same. 
We have switched from bathing them in the sink to the bathtub. It seems to be less traumatic on them and that means less traumatic on me! Whew! I have a friend who makes soap who is making me a bastille soap mix with beef tallow to ensure extra moisturizing and no artificial ingredients. It should be ready in another 2 weeks. I like good smelling hedgies, but I also like non perfumy and healthy skinned hedgies. 
We have also had many toe nail clippings. And woe the hedgie who wiggles too much. I keep a bowl of cornstarch in the office where we keep them now. In fact Gayle still isn't speaking to Jason right now because he trimmed her quick 3 days ago. Oh, the blood seemed to be everywhere. It really wasn't, but it sure seemed to be. 
And finally, I have had my niece over the weekends this summer and the hedgies are getting used to her as well. They are nervous, but so is she. Her favorite is Gabriel and Beau scares her a bunch. But they are all getting along well under super watchful eyes. I had to explain to her that hedgehogs can smell fear. As soon as she understood, she won most of them over. 
Even the cats are getting into it. Though I think the cats may be more disturbed by the hedgies than the hogs are by the cats. It's very interesting. 
All told, it has been a very busy time. Lots of everything going on. And I am excited to see what is yet to come. My lovely little heart melting hedgies are such a gift. I'm hopeful to see what happens over the next few months.

(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)​


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## gracefulchaos01

Dear Pet Journal, 
Note: Never put neosporin on Tiberius again. 
Poor little guy went nuts scratching his whole body and biting on his leg after I put the barest bit of neosporin on his most recent leg wound. It's the biggest I have seen so far and it has me worried. I washed him with water and a touch of soap to clean it day before yesterday but he ripped the scab off today and I thought I would try neosporin. 
Back into a warm bath, no soap but lots of coconut oil. He calmed down immediately. Poor itchy little guy. Now he smells like suntan lotion  

(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## Lilysmommy

I've had that reaction before with Lily - she got horribly upset with me when I tried putting lanolin on her ears once. I think she just didn't like the smell, but she threw the biggest tantrum she ever threw in her life. :roll: Scared the crap out of me! I'm glad little Tiberius is feeling better after his bath. I hope his wound heals up quickly!

Well, since no one else has joined in on your journal much, I'll contribute a bit since I'm pretty excited.  I started my dog on a commercial raw diet last Thursday. I've been trying to be cautious & not get my hopes up for how much it may or may not help her. But I am pretty sure I'm noticing a boost in her energy! She's an old girl, a 14-year old ****er Spaniel. Normally our evening walks around the block take 25-30 minutes and go relatively slowly. Tonight...we made it around the block in 20 minutes at the most!!! And she did her usual amount of sniffing, so that wasn't the time difference. I noted it down in the log I'm keeping and celebrating!  Seriously hoping it continues to help with that and other issues she has.


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## gracefulchaos01

Kelsey, that is awesome news! I would be super excited too. My Loki is an older cat (14) and while I have casual interest in a raw diet for the hedgies to have diet variety I also would love to see Loki gain back some of the weight he has lost since my husband passed. He took it as hard as I did in his own way. He is just so blasted picky. I'm actually leaning towards a high fat fish addition to his diet. Some tuna or yellowfin. He likes canned tuna so I'm thinking it's a logical next step. The other cats though... lol. They will all want semi fresh fishies. 
Also, on the Tiberius front. I will be bathing him in coconut oil for all his wounds now. Tonight his big leg gash that had me so concerned the past couple of days is barely 1/3 the size it was just last night. It's an amazing result. 
I read around the forum recently someone asking an opinion on using honey for wound care. Honey has been used for centuries on animal wounds with the bonus side result of no scarring in the fur or coat of the animal. But it's the antibacterial properties that really are cool. I would have gone for honey for Tiberius but for the concern he might get poop dust stuck to his leg and then lick on the honey for the sweet smell. Valid concern lol. Blech. It seems the coconut oil will do well for minor open scrapes and scratches. Great news for my little acrobat.


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## gracefulchaos01

Dear pet journal
Sorry if this post is sloppy it's from my kindle but I really wanted to do this real time update. Sebastian is curled up asleep in the crook of my arm. Gayle is in the pen digging around. Ping the cat is laying on my feet with Loki resting at the end of the couch. Willow kitty is watching the pen with way too much interest but then she is young. As long as she doesn't jump in...
I hear wheels squeaking from down the hall. Gabriel and Tiberius have already been out tonight and are beginning their evening routine. 
I want to get Gayle but Sebastian is seriously cute. And asleep. On me. 
Wow.


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## gracefulchaos01

July 17, 2014

Dear Pet Journal, 

So, I was sitting on the couch watching Gabriel run around the pen. I’m on my own for the next few hours and so it’s not hard to just pop the hedgies in their pen for evening run about time. 

Reading these lovely forums and looking at a very emotionally evocative posting about little Charlie. My heart goes out to Charlie’s mommy. This must be a terrible time for her. She is in my thoughts and prayers. As I read the full thread though I noticed the other contributors discussing how their hedgehogs would play, and how that play decreased towards the end of life. 

Play? My hedgies really don’t play. Perhaps I haven’t given them enough opportunity? How do hedgies play? Mine run and eat and sleep and cuddle. 
And I begin to wonder, am I giving the hedgies enough stimulation? How would they like to play? Do all hedgies play? Or is it like most hedgehog personality traits in that some will, some kinda do, and most really don’t so much? 

What will I do if one of my babes gets sick? What if I have to face these very same issues so much sooner than I believe I will be ready too? Will they have had a good life? Will they know they were loved? 

The past two years have been so very difficult for me… the hedgies were a shining light in a bleak deep darkness and they probably kept me sane and alive during a horrific time on top of other recent horrific times. They gave me life, and hope and kept my heart from freezing over completely. There is still room there for love. 

Have I loved them enough? Have I done everything I can for them? Is there more I can do realistically? 

I see in my head little images of hedgehogs pushing toy trucks and opening plastic easter eggs and surrounded by lavish lux cages where they can run for days without ever getting bored. Ping pong balls and cat toys with bells. 

And as I sit on the couch cuddling Gabriel, who I have picked up, tears running down my face as this train station of thoughts races through my head, I wonder what do I do? Who am I? Where has my husband gone? Mom? Amanda? Will the hedgies go too soon as well? What about Loki? And the other cats? 

(and yes, I am well aware that I suffer from a small host of emotional issues at this point in time) 

And Gabriel… 

Gabriel leans his little head over and bites the ever living bleepity bleep bleep out of the tip of my middle finger. 

OW OW OW OW OW !!! QUIT IT OW OW OW !!! :!: :!: :!:

Couldn’t push in, the angle was wrong.  Couldn’t pull or I might well have lost my finger pad. Could only yell and pray it was enough. It wasn’t. He let go in his own sweet time after a solid 20 seconds of biting. 

Ya. It’s still bleeding. Seeping anyway, from both top and bottom sets of teeth.

Someone got swatted about the nose for all that and it wasn’t me. 

Mom used to say “I’ll give you something to cry about…” 
I’m not sure this is really what she meant, but dang it sure did work. 

So, anyway… 
How do your hedgehogs play? What do you do to enrich their day to day lives?

And how do you handle your hedgehog biting on you? Gabriel has gotten pretty bad about it lately. 

And yes, different soaps, check. Not the food fingers, check. Nothing usually new and interesting, check. Move when they begin to lick, check. On all that. 

Gabe specifically has been particularly bad recently, biting Jason usually (no, that is not the husband) and apparently now me. At least with Jace it’s more like he seems to want to play a game. Going after the finger at the edge of the snuggle sack, biting the sack edge and tossing his tiny head back and forth like a dog with a rag bone. 

Do they make rag bones for hedgies? Maybe he needs one. 

(this little journal spot is for everyone! what pet adventures did you have today?)


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## CoffeeKat

I too have been reading this, and Charlie's Mommy's dilemma with tears running down my face, knowing that my time is coming, as is yours, and every person who falls in love with these little heartbreak pets. I've had the very same questions that you so eloquently asked, Grace. I wonder too about hedgehogs who play and the toys that delight them. Mine does not play. She doesn't seem to "explore" either...it's more an effort to find a place to hide. She does cuddle, though, and for that I am grateful. Every evening we hold her and stroke her, and allow her to remain with us as long as she wants. When she starts climbing on us, we put her back to bed. She stays with us for 4 to 5 hours, so I have to assume that she enjoys our company, right? She has stopped biting my husband and lets him hold her. She lays on his chest now and yawns ("Good Gawd! Have you seen her teeth???") and cleans her feet and farts.

She enjoys her food now, since we have switched her to a commercial raw diet. When I go to feed her second course before bed at midnight, she's waiting for me and licks her bowl clean every night. She doesn't seem attached to her wheel as much, but dearly loves her bed.

I sometimes wonder what wild hedgehogs do for fun, and aside from sex (do the females enjoy it?) I can't come up with much. If a wild hedgehog came out of his burrow at night and found all the food he needed at his doorstep, would he just go run for the **** of it?

I think they know if they are loved, but the question is....do they care? I would like to think that they do, but they probably don't since they are solitary creatures. I don't know now to tell if a hedgehog is happy or not, so I just carry on doing the best I can and wondering how I came to be so infatuated with this small, adorable animal.

My five-year-old grandson was watching LuLu in her playpen today, not really able to understand why she wouldn't come to him when he called her name. After she took a flying dismount from her wheel and rolled a few times, he laughed and made this observation: "She's not very smart, but she sure is clumsy! "
Yep, that's my girl and she's just perfect.


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## gracefulchaos01

July 20, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
Good morning journal! Once again I'm posting from my kindle so this posting may not be as tidy as I prefer. My niece is asleep in my office this morning and I'm not going to wake her for this update. 
Fixing the broken Gabriel volume I. 
As you know if you have been reading this little corner of the forums my tiniest hedgehog Gabriel has been exhibiting some disturbing aggressive behavior of late. I have been concerned and have begun to address the issue through various devices. 
1. I gave in and bought feeding tongs for treats such as mealworms and well squashed crickets. The recent damage to finger tips was just too much to bear. 

2. Additional fleeces have been bought and cut not only into cage sized liners but also other smaller strips. Just the right size to hold a hedgehog with without a bunch of extra hanging off. This should be helpful for holding for the immediate future and for deep burrowing in the longer term. They all enjoy extra fleece. 

3. I have purchased some Instinct raw diet meat bits to try on all of my pets. We started with chicken last night. The cats had nothing to do with it. Every single hedgehog ate their chicken bit. Even the ones who won't eat their wet food. 

4. Jason had the idea that maybe the kibble hurt Gabriel's mouth. He would only eat 2-3 kibble bits at a time. But he ate them and I hadn't given it much thought. I figured it just wasn't his favorite. Well I moistened his kibble last night like I did when he was just a hoglet and he tore into it. I watched him devour no less than 8 bits of kibble in one sitting. In fact he ate so much kibble he wasn't able to finish his wet food and normally his wet food bowl is polished clean every night. 

And so I begin to wonder if perhaps he was just hungry and we just smelled tasty. 

We shall see as the next several days pass. 

Nancy offered some great advice that we will be following until Gabe is back to his normal sparkly self. Also I had already planned on diversifying all their diets and this seems like a great time to start in on that. I'm sure Gabriel isn't the only one of my 5 that could use a change. Gayle eats her kibble like there is no tomorrow and I'm hoping she will add in the raw meat from the Instinct since she refuses wet food. Sebastian also should be eating just a bit more than she does. Some days I wonder if she ate anything at all but her weight hasn't slipped so I know she isn't starving. 
Tiberius is due a new cage and wheel any time now. He is getting the same cage type he has but I'm buying a Carolina bucket wheel for my athlete. 
And Beauregard. He will get the most pleasure from the new fleece. As soon as I have an empty tissue box he gets his own in cage dig box all for himself. 

Let's see how this goes. I have a feeling that tonight's cuddle time is going to go pretty smoothly. 

What pet adventures did you have today?


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## CoffeeKat

That sounds like a great plan! It's always a puzzle trying to figure out why these complex little creatures do what they do....they have a perfectly good reason for whatever they do, we just don't know what it is. Keep us posted


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## gracefulchaos01

You know it might not be so hard if I only had one or maybe two. Or if I had had experience with one or two before having 5 at once. I sometimes feel like I got thrown into the deep end of the pool with just a tiny life preserver of forums and I'm so busy paddling just to keep up that I miss little things that could make a big difference in their lives. 
Cats are easy. Hedgehogs are hard work!


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## gracefulchaos01

*small steps*

July 23,2014

Dear Pet Journal,
Just a little update on Gabriel. Tonight during Gabriel's bonding time I was holding him and preparing to put him in the pen for some run about time. The past couple of nights we haven't held Gabe too much because of his biting issue but he has been held and snuggled and in no way put aside. However in deference to preferring to keep blood on the inside of our bodies hand/hedgehog time (even with fleece protection) has been limited. 
Tonight, because I'm by myself, I was a tad lax and was letting him wander a bit on the couch pillow next to my chest before I put him in the pen. I rested my hand in front of him because he was headed towards the abyss and he got me. Ok. Yes. He bit me. HOWEVER! The bite was quick and while it was hard it wasn't hard enough to break skin and it wasn't vicious like the previous bites. And there was no head tossing or anything. So once he stopped I grabbed the small fleece bit next to him that I cut for just this purpose. I dangled the bit in front of his face and he went for it. Clamp down head tossing kill that horrible fleece went for it. 
Good boy! 
Small steps in the right direction. And the bite to my finger doesn't even hurt anymore. The last one I got hurt for at least 4 days and honestly the ripped up skin is still there. It was a mess. 
Kill the fleece. Not the finger. 
It was a good thing.

Fyi I also discovered Gayle likes cooked ground beef. Interesting.

What pet adventures did you have today?


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## DesireeM81

I had quite a pet adventure today...

I went out to the store and bought Penny crickets. One because she has decreased on wheeling and I wanted to see if she would try a new insect. I had to make a container to keep them in. I used a tupperware container, cut out the middle part of the lid and replace it with screen mesh and then I drilled holes in the side and bam, it's like a mini hedgehog cage for crickets. 

I HATE CRICKETS. I have a pair of forceps that I am using to grab them. Penny was interested but couldn't grab the cricket and it scurried under the liner. There was no way I was leaving that thing in her cage so I took her out and took everything out of her cage. I had to catch the thing with my hands and then I grab it with the forceps and just fed it her on there. I was worried about her teeth but she seemed pretty adept to grabbing the bug. I think Penny likes any bugs that are living. She did not like canned grasshoppers. But I bet she would love the live ones. 

One of the things I love about my little girl is adaptiveness. She reacts really well to anything. We went on a vacation and besides being tired the night after a 12 hour car ride and one stint of car sickness she was her normal self. When we got back, she adjusted back to her cage just the same. She is my strong, beautiful, calm girl.

Ps - On the wheeling thing, it's fallen two times in the past week and I think she's tired of it not working for her. So I was able to give it a little more sturdiness and tilt it back a little so she should be at again in no time.


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## gracefulchaos01

*The Vicious Hunter*

Gabriel and his Fleece. The video (the top link/pic) is terrible quality but it was all I had (clicky). I just can't quite explain in words... and I'm good with words! Anyway, we seem to be working towards "Kill the Fleece" at a pretty good pace!


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## gracefulchaos01

Dear Pet Journal,
July 26, 2014

Holding Sebastian and watching Gayle run around in the pen. Listening to Tiberius and Gabriel run on their wheels in the back room. Thinking Beauregard needs a cuddle cup. So I bought one. 
I 're- read my old "Introductions" post from March. 
Wow 
What a long, strange trip it's been 

What pet adventures did you have today?


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## Melanie G.

My hedgies have placed me in the bad mom category today 
It was bath day for my girls. They do not enjoy this. I also clipped their nails which they also hate. After drying them off I placed Gretta in the playpen and had Lucy wrapped up in blankets on the couch while I went to quickly clean my tub.
Lucy of course fell off the couch. Gretta threw a fit and knocked over all her toys. 
I rescued Lucy and clecked for injuries. Gretta stared at me plotting her revenge.
My poor babies.


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## gracefulchaos01

Melanie G. said:


> My hedgies have placed me in the bad mom category today
> It was bath day for my girls. They do not enjoy this. I also clipped their nails which they also hate. After drying them off I placed Gretta in the playpen and had Lucy wrapped up in blankets on the couch while I went to quickly clean my tub.
> Lucy of course fell off the couch. Gretta threw a fit and knocked over all her toys.
> I rescued Lucy and clecked for injuries. Gretta stared at me plotting her revenge.
> My poor babies.


Aww that sucks. And hedgies can hold a grudge. It took Beauregard 3 months to get over Jason *almost* dropping him when he was like 5 weeks old. Beau still gives Jason sly looks as if plotting some kind of revenge. 
They will be fine though. Extra cuddles and mealies and other treats and they will forgive you. My girls are much more forgiving. I'm sure yours are too.


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## Melanie G.

I know they'll get over it. Its just so sad seeing a hedgehog sulk. Funny little weirdos


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## gracefulchaos01

*Whoa Buddy!*

July 27 2014
Dear Pet Journal,
Oh holy crap! Gabriel has gained over an ounce in the past week, closer to 2. We last weighed him around 2 weeks ago, give or take a couple of days, and he weighed in at just over 9.5 ounces. Tonight he came in at 11.14. 
The weight gain pleases me, his whole body has filled out. But now I'm worried about too much of a good thing! 
I need to find a good balance before he yo-yos.


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## DesireeM81

Grace's post reminded me. 

Dear pet journal,

Winter weighs 118 grams. Big enough for a wheel! I'll be ordering one or making one shortly! Penny weigh 200 grams more than Winter at 318 grams. She needs a bigger wheel too. :roll: Silly hedgehogs. 

Winter met a whole bunch of people this weekend. My brother and sister came to stay with us and he had bonding time with both of them. Then my mom and her bf came to pick them up and he allowed both of them to hold him and he didn't even raise a quill. He was such a good boy this morning.

Of course, he was cranky tonight. :lol: and totally jumpy but he lets me kiss his little forehead so I think he was just in an exploring kind of mood. 

Silly little hedgehogs.


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## gracefulchaos01

Me and beau hanging out. He was extra cuddly tonight


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## gracefulchaos01

August 6, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
Just a quick update today to introduce our new little one Titan. 
He has been doing really well the past couple of day, all thing considered. I don't know if I'm going to have much time to update over the next few weeks because I have a whole lot going on here at home what with new jobs and new hedgehogs and just a bunch of newness. 
But I wanted to take a moment to share our new boy and I hope to get a more full update on how everyone is doing soon.



He seems to really like the wet food we offered him last night.


and this is what he looks like when he isn't being a furious ball of super pokey quills. Worth it!
:grin:


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## phoenix1964

Dear pet journal,
this is my first entry as I didn,t know what to say before. We have had our Penelope since early January and we had a rocky start as we got a sick girl from the pet store. That is how I discovered Hedgehog Central and how my daughter managed to nurse you back to life. I fell in love with you then! You were so tiny and dependent on us, but so brave!
Once we got you good and healthy we set you up a nice space in the spare room with an excellent lighting schedule, space heater and all the fuzzy fleece a hedgie could ask for.
We ordered you a Carolina Storm wheel in pink and bought you all kinds of toys which you ignore!You have always been a snuggle bunny and I love how you tell secrets in my ear and chomp my earrings!
We have in short become your human slaves!
We had to move you upstairs in your cage and plopped it down on our lumpy bumpy futon, the lighting isn't as good as it could be and the cat and dog pay you surprise visits! All the things that should stress you out have turned you into a running maniac!
Your hedgie Granddad saw you on your wheel this morning and you even made Mr. Grumps smile.(although he still calls you the rat, we know he secretly likes you). You are far more playful and less hissy than you ever used to be!
Anyway the whole point here is to illustrate that dispite all our efforts to keep you happy you are still the boss and just when we figure it out you change the rules! I wouldn't have it any other way though


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## Melanie G.

Dear Pet Journal,
Today was a rough day for me. And once again, my hedgehogs helped to make my day better.
I took Lucy to a park this evening as I had an appointment. She ran around on the grass and was so adorable. We were sitting a bit away from everyone, but once someone noticed Lucy, we became the center of attention. At first it annoyed me as I was crying and pathetic. But then people started asking questions and taking pictures of my sweet girl and I started feeling better. I could hear people telling others that there was "a real live hedgehog over there" which made me laugh. 
My sweet hedgies- I am so thankful I have them.


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## gracefulchaos01

August 9, 2014


Dear Pet Journal, 

Ok! Wow!  It has been a busy week!

Well, Pet Journal, Things have been kinda crazy around here. But in a good way. 

You know we brought Titan home last Sunday, the 3rd. This week has been a very exciting “getting to know you” session. He has been awfully huffy and puffy and growly the past week, and I don’t blame him one bit. His whole world has changed, and he isn’t too sure he likes it. But then, he is a hedgehog and hedgehogs just don’t much care for major changes. Kinda like me. Or maybe I’m kinda like a hedgehog. 

Titan has been doing much better than expected though, as long as you have an understanding of hedgehogs. He will open up, only to re-ball seconds later because of random breath or movement, or sound. But then he will open up again. I believe his natural curiosity will get the best of him in the long run. He is very inquisitive. 

He loves his new fleece. He burrows up under it or on it and under his t-shirt every day. He loves his new food, though I haven’t forced him to eat it, only offered it next to his regular food. He kicked his old food over, scattering it over his cage bottom, and pooped in it. Has been eating my home kibble blend and also has been polishing off his wet food offerings like there is no tomorrow. But there is a tomorrow, dear Titan, and there will be more wet food then. 

I don’t think he loves having such smaller quarters, but in all honesty there is nothing I can do about that right now. He is paper towel trained, and I will be working with that to encourage his somewhat tidy habits. I was never able to get the home brood litter trained, they always were more interested in tasting the litter. 

He has knocked his wheel off the side of his cage twice now from excessive use. Now I’m torn, does Acrobat Tiberius with the cut up legs get the Carolina Storm Bucket, or should it go to Super Huge Titan? Decisions decisions. Either way, good ole’ Larry will be hearing from me soon enough for wheels. One shipment at a time. One paycheck at a time. 

And finally, for his updates, Titan had his first vet visit yesterday. He did get a mostly clean bill of health. We are supposed to watch his ears. They show a waxy yellow buildup that may be ear wax, or it may be ear mites. But beyond the buildup, there was no other sign of mites in his ears, on his back, at his edges, around his eyes, no where. And the vet, who’s name escapes me so early in the morning, was very impressed by his general health and by our knowledge of what we had for a pet. She fully approved his present cage set up and plans for bigger cages, loves that we use fleece, and was excited to read over our meal planning. She also said it’s very important for little bug eating hedgehogs to actually eat bugs and encouraged us to continue with meal worms and crickets. She said, even canned, they are a solid food option in moderation. She is excited to meet the rest of our brood, one at a time. She did request a fecal sample from Titan. We will drop that off later in the week as this is not an emergency situation. 

Despite a wonderful vet visit, Titan is still in quarantine for the next 3 weeks. Wisdom of both the vet and also Nancy overwhelms my selfish desire to just have them all in one place. 

Dang selfish me. 

On the other pet fronts, Gabriel has been doing so much better lately. We have been able to cuddle and snuggle for short periods and I remain unbitten. He still loves “kill the fleece” but has been playing it separately from snuggle time. I have missed my sparkly sweetheart and cherish holding him near my heart again. 

Tiberius is sporting some rather distressing cuts on his legs again. They had healed and gone away, but whatever it was that caused them, he is doing it again. They really are just surface scrapes. But he is so tiny, and they look huge and bulgy. And I hate them. I hate that he has them. I hate that I can’t do anything to stop him from getting them. 

Beauregard. Beau seems a bit off, I think because I have been distracted and he knows it. But my huffy emo boy is still wanting cuddles from momma, even if he does stay quilled up a bit longer than he had been previously. He will settle once I do, I think. 

Gayle and Sebastian have had to be separated for out of cage time. For a while, when they were both in the pen, Gayle would follow her momma around and try to cuddle up right next to her, and Sebastian would huff it up, and we would separate them manually. Now, Sebastian will go wherever Gayle is, push her out of her snuggle spot and take over leaving Gayle out in the cold, as it were. Not that the pen isn’t big enough for like 5 hedgehogs to run and play in comfortably, but for some reason whatever the chosen spot is that day, that is all there is and the rest of the pen just won’t do. And so to protect tiny eyeballs and whatnot, my girls are now having separate pen time. Sebastian doing it though was a big surprise. Gayle outweighs her by at least a full 1.5 ounces. 

The cats are all doing well. They also have been suffering from lack of attention recently, and so, they are all over me when I am trying to take my own time. Loki will be right on the pillow next to me on the couch. Ping will come over and lay on my feet whenever I am still for more than 2 minutes. Panama has been being a super food bully recently and we are trying to mitigate that as much as possible. He is convinced he is going to die if anyone else eats the kibble. Little Willow has been doing fine. She waits next to the front door for me to come home every day, first to get pet as I come inside. Her little cherbeling purr is near constant. This morning the cats have all had their first sniff at the Titan cage. They have been upset because my office has been closed up for a whole week. 

I start a new job at the end of this month. I’m excited because it is a great offer. Commute is good, benefits are good, compensation is great. I’ll carry a pretty large pipeline, but I think I’ll adjust well. It’s very awkward for me though because I just got moved to a new position and was just settling in. There will most likely be a change in working hours, so I guess we will see how that works out for the furry brood.


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## gracefulchaos01

*Addendum*

Dear Pet Journal,
Tiberius got the CSBW. I'm asking Larry if he has anything bigger for Titan. And Titan isn't hurting himself on his comfort wheel yet even though he does manage to pull it down from the side of the cage. Tiberius is sporting scrapes and scars from his comfort wheel. Not very comfortable if you ask me. I think tonight will be a whole new experience for my little acrobat. Bless him and may the Mother watch over him and keep him from breaking his little legs.

Oh hey! Tomorrow is my babes 6 month birthday! Yea!!!!


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## gracefulchaos01

*Blacker Than The Blackest Penguin Wing*

August 22, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
Where here it is, Friday morning. Late Friday morning. 
I should be doing something. Almost anything but typing this, however I lack motivation. So I made coffee. Coffee blacker than the blackest penguin wings. Hopefully while I type and imbibe, I will receive artificial motivation and go clean my house on this rare weekday off. 
In the meantime: 
I swear Sebastian must be the most chilled out hedgehog in the world. Seriously. Compared to the hedgies I read about on here, Sebastian is a model for behavior. In fact I wonder sometimes if she is too chill. She hardly ever raises quill, she is content to just be held usually. She sleeps I swear 18 hours a day but doesn't get fat, or excessively thin. I know she uses her wheel, I have seen her on it. I guess she just lets her hair down after bedtime or something. 
I have concluded my hedgehogs are tiny. Well, those coming from Sebastian, anyway. Titan is huge. Even at only 12 ounces, (340 grams) he is still the biggest hedgehog size wise we have. Sure, Gayle weighs in around the same, but she is the biggest hedgie we have from the home herd and she still only comes to about Titans chin. Not that I have stood them side by side to confirm this. 
Titan is also &#8230; I believe the term "typical hedgehog" was used when I first considered bringing him home. Huff and pop and growl and OMG THE PAIN! War sabers for quills, I swear. Makes me so thankful for my other babies. Titan will not cuddle. Or&#8230; Titan will not cuddle without first stabbing me to near death. Then he will cuddle while still mostly fully quilled, as long as I don't breathe. 
But I am determined. My sex goes against me though. Titan prefers men. 
Dangit. Nothing I can do about that. Persevere. 
The thing about not breathing? Very difficult. I caught some kind of summer cold a couple of weeks ago and still have a wretched lingering cough. You should see the poke marks after every cough. Deep rumbling smokers/bronchitis/why do you do this to yourself cough. Oh ya. Even the original crew are a bit nervous about it. At least I can sleep through the night now though. 
Did I tell you&#8230; Right after we brought Titan home I was holding him, leaning back, just home from work and very tired. He was poking the heck out of the inside of my arm, but settled in. I closed my eyes, and drifted a bit. That kind of awake, kind of asleep place. And I dreamed a little. It was quiet, Titan was comfortable and relaxing. Except: Every time someone in my dream moved, Titan puffed up and growled. It was highly amusing to me. I figure I must have tensed or twitched or something when that happened and he was just responding to that. But it was great. :grin:
Titans CSW is in. Beastly thing takes up nearly half his cage. But rather that than a wheel he can't use. He seems to appreciate it. It has poop on it, anyway. 
Tiberius hasn't been showing any new scrapes on his legs so his sparkly green CSBW seems to be doing exactly what I want it too. 
Gabriel, Destroyer of Fleece. Oh yes, my little Gabe. He has been quite cuddly lately, but I see in his eyes when he is ready to clamp down on something. He enjoys fleece and stuffed toys. I think he likes the toys especially because he can really get some good motion on them, they don't flop as much as fleece does. Poor Lambchop has taken the brunt of it. Better Lambchop than my fingers! 
Gayle and Sebastian are doing just fine. As is Beauregard. 
I discovered this morning Beauregard is a morning person. I had wanted a sleepy hedgehog to cuddle with this morning after I woke up. Figured they had been up all night and were settling in for sleep. So I grabbed Beau and discovered how very wrong I was! He was all kinds of active and excited and his little nose was twitching like crazy! Never seen him like that. It does mean that on weekends he will need to some out early in the morning for extra run around time. 
I had never had the chance to discover this before because I'm usually on the road to work by 6:30 in the morning most days. 
Ok, well, the coffee seems to be kicking in and so I'm off to go do something constructive today that does NOT involve washing fleece. For a change.


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## gracefulchaos01

*On Death*

August 22, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
On death.
So, those of you who have followed my story, (maybe one or two of you), know that I have been effected by death quite a bit in the past couple of years. My husband, my mom, and most recently my sister. My cat Alley also died on Easter a couple of years ago.
And now I have these little, wonderful, agonizingly delicate, heartbreak pets (thanks for the phrase Kat) in my life. 6 of them. 6 little heart breaks waiting to happen, on top of my 4 cats, one of whom is already 14. 
So, when a fellow hedgie owner reports that their pet has passed, or is about to pass, or is in danger of passing on to what follows this life, I feel it. I feel every loss almost as though it were my own. 
I AM SO SORRY! I know the loss, I know the pain, I know that it hurts. 
I just&#8230; I don't really know what to say. 
After Amanda died in February, one of my long time friends emailed me and said, "I don't even know what to say anymore". 
When my husband died, my friend said he was sorry and I could feel through his words his affection and empathy towards my pain. 
When my mother died, my friend did it again. **** Grace, I can't believe this happened. Only two months later. 
He watched my pain from afar, my trying to recover from these two devastating losses, and when Amanda died he just didn't have words. In fact, so many people didn't have words. *I* didn't have words. 
After a while, I think you run out of words. 
"I'm sorry" just doesn't convey the ache I have in my heart not only for myself, but for those around me suffering loss as well. 
I don't know how to convey anymore how hurt I am for you. How my heart aches for you. How I commiserate in your loss, and how I am in pain for you. Because I am. I hurt for your loss. I hurt for the loss of your friend, and companion. I hurt for the pain your little one must have gone through. I regret deeply that you and your pet/companion/furry family member have to go through this separation and pain and loss for both of you. 
Take what cold comfort you can knowing that you gave them the best life you could. Hold close to your heart every moment you had with them. Remember them fondly and with a smile in your heart, as soon as your heart recovers enough to smile again. 
And for those of you who have not yet faced this, or know you will have to face it again, I say: 
Savor every moment. Give the best you can. Love as much as you can. So when the time comes, and it will come, you can let your companion go knowing you did your very best for them and they know it too, and love you for it as much as their hearts are able.


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## CoffeeKat

Stunning. Grace, you have such a way with words. I feel this, but wondered if I was the only one. I guess not. I too relate to every sick or dying hedgehog I hear about, I cry for the ones who moved on and grieve a little for my own even when she's perfectly healthy

I just finished reading a post in the HWS Yahoo group about a brave and gentle rescued hedgie who just died. When she came to her rescuer, her back and feet were badly burned from a heat lamp, and yet she never tried to bite the hand that caused her pain by treating her wounds. It broke my heart. And now these beautiful words and sentiments from you, and knowing how much you have lost in the recent past.....thank you for sharing.


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## phoenix1964

Trying to type through the tears in my eyes. Every human being suffers loss at some point in time. It is the grieving process that makes us human beings, and the way we deal with it is slightly unique to each person. I dislike it when someone shrugs of the death of a pet as only "a pet". You never know what that animal represents to their human at that point in their life. Maybe it is the first experience with death, maybe it is yet another in a long string of deaths. 
Your story touched my heart, I can't even begin to comprehend that much sorrow. I wish you much love,
Janice


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## gracefulchaos01

*A Breakthrough*

August 24, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
I had to share! We had a breakthrough this morning with Titan. 
To begin with, a tiny background. Yesterday my dad brought over a new t-shirt for me, it has a hedgehog and a pincushion. Very cute. Last night Beauregard acted like he didn't even know me! I think it was the shirt, it didn't smell right. And I was hurt. Literally, actually, I was bleeding. 
This morning I needed hedgehog time, and I was hurt by Beau and knew everyone else was sound asleep, so I went for Titan, my furious ball of tiny war sabers who doesn't care if the lights are on. I didn't expect much really, just to have time with him to get him used to me. I expected nothing out of the ordinary. 
Well, after the initial hiss pop ball growl that is me pulling him from his cage, Titan actually got curious, like he always does, and came out of his fleece. He walked around some, crawled on me some. Did his normal thing. Then spent a fair bit of time wrapped around my wrist. 
Around MY wrist? He doesn't even like me. But there he was and I knew better than to question it. 
Over the course of several minutes he wandered and was picked up when he went to close to the edge of the bed. 
He balled up much less.
His quills weren't nearly as fully extended as they normally are, hence less pokage.
He only huffed, didn't growl or hiss or pop.
*HE LET ME PET HIM*. Admittedly he was picky about where he let me pet him, he prefers his sides, away from his head. BUT HE LET ME PET HIM. Not like I pet him and he poked the heck out of me, but he actually seemed to enjoy it. 
_~melt a little~_
Then, when I put him back in his cage, he went for his CSW. I watched him run, and noticed he was having issues with slippage and kept falling off. I got Jason and we pulled Titan out again to the wheel could be tilted back a bit. 
And he was his grumpy self, just less so. And he let me pet him again, and he accepted being passed back and forth between Jason and I, and he was just&#8230; Almost Friendly! 
And then, he went back into his cage and ran and ran and ran, and had a good old time. We sat and just watched this happier little hedgehog enjoy himself. Then he went under his big cover fleece, moved the whole thing over to his water bowl, took a big drink and settled down for sleep. 
Just&#8230; wow.

I feel somewhat vindicated. Like this whole past month was actually for something. Like there is hope Titan and I really will have a good relationship in the future. Like even though I know it is only the first step, that I see a future that just might involve _Titan Cuddles_. Maybe. :grin: 
And I didn't bleed once. 
He didn't even huff much when I coughed. 
A tiny ray of hope.


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## Melanie G.

Dear Pet Journal,
I've been having a rough month. My uncle passed away unexpectedly and I was diagnosed with a staph infection on Saturday. The antibiotics are making me horribly sick. Overall, I've been feeling like a horrible hedgie mom as I haven't been able to spend much time with Lucy and Gretta.
I think Lucy and Gretta are feeling the same way. I finally felt well enough for a snuggle session. Gretta decided it would help me feel better if she bit my stomach. And Lucy thought it would help if she threw a huge fit.
My little weirdos need some lessons on TLC.


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## gracefulchaos01

Mel, I read this the other day, but a lot was going on. I hope you get to feeling better soon. It's always seemed awkward to me that the cure makes you feel as bad or worse than the disease.


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## gracefulchaos01

August 30, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
Good morning, happy Saturday. Here it is, a long weekend for a lot of Americans, Labor Day weekend and all. Woo Labor! Thank you for building this country. Sorry you have to work this weekend because of all the retail sales and whatnot. 
Well, week 1 of the new job and all is going mostly well. The computer system is foreign to me, it’s DOS based, and while I’m old, I’m not that old. However, I’m getting the hang of it pretty quickly. Also the type of work I’m doing is different from what I have done in the past. On the surface it looks very similar, however, the requirements are much more in depth than I am used too. But I’m adjusting and doing my thing and the best I can and that is all anyone can ask. I’ll be fully settled in a week or two more I think. 
Unfortunately, what this means for my Array is that time has been limited. Basic care has been doled out and *most* nights have involved outside cage time, but… there has been stuff. And Panama took priority this week. 
Panama, my second oldest cat at around 6 years old. We adopted him from the local pound in August of 2010. When we adopted him we could see he had had a tough previous two years of life. His ears were ragged, telling me he had been in fights with other cats, he had fleas, and most obvious, his right front leg was fused at the elbow from some kind of accident, so he limps. He gets along just fine, and despite a rough start, Panama has the most loving personality of any cat I have ever known. And he can be very laid back, which is awkward because he can also be anxiety cat. He purrs all the time, we think because his elbow hurts him, all the time. But also because he really is just that awesome. My back hurts all the time, and has for years, so I have an idea what he may be going through. 
Anyway, Panama, aka Panama Underfoot, broke his already broken leg this week. It’s a fracture of the smaller of the two bones in what we would call the forearm. 
How did it happen? We don’t know for sure. During feeding time, he tends to get seriously underfoot and may have gotten stepped on, but I don’t recall stepping on him. During feeding time he also gets very pushy with the other cats. There was racing around done that evening and maybe he ran into something too hard. Maybe it happened when he got swatted on the butt for trying to get into the bedroom to eat Loki’s food. Loki, who is wasting away because Pan is a food bully and Loki is a super picky eater.


We noticed not because he was limping, he already limps with that leg, but because he mrred more than normal. He talked to us, and gave us a look. Jason picked him up and there was a cry of pain and we knew something was wrong. And so he was closely inspected and we determined he was most likely broken in his front right foreleg. 
And so, off to the emergency vet. 
~sigh~ Because we can afford that. Really. 
Waiting room, Exam Room, passing hours late into the early morning. Initial review of the cat, the ER vet thought we didn’t know what we were talking about, but took him back for xrays anyway where we were vindicated. Sure enough, he was broken. 
He stayed overnight and was seen by an orthopedic specialist the next day. He was put in a splint, because a) he cannot be fully casted due to his fused shoulder and b) it is just the one little bone that is fractured and the second bone in there will help to stabilize the first. 
We brought him home Wednesday night. He was drugged out of his mind. That was darned funny. 
We gave him a pain med on Thursday morning to give him one more full day of relief, but passed on the one for Friday morning. The Orthopedic Dr. had been unsure to send Pan home with drugs anyway and so we have a spare one in case he needs it later. 
Pan is skip-hopping around like normal, except now you can hear a little tap whenever he goes on the vinyl flooring. 
We have to take him back every 7 days to have the splint replaced. And given how he actually uses that leg, it might be more often. Because we can afford that too, you know? He uses his busted leg to pull kibble out of the food bowl, and he does the same thing with water. (it baffles me too) and he also uses that paw to scrape the litter box. So believe me when I say that splint is already showing signs of wear and tear after just a few days. 
It has been a long week. I feel like I haven’t slept properly in days and days. I’m tired and grumpy. The house is a trainwreck. Everyone needs my attention and the person at the top of that list really should be me. And my niece is flying in tonight for her birthday celebration this weekend and staying here. 
Today I’ll be washing fleece and cleaning cages and wheels and giving foot baths to hedgehogs while trying to do my own laundry, clean my own cage, and give myself a foot bath, and wash my quills. At least my wheel can wait for a bit.


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## CoffeeKat

Mel, I too read your post the other day, intended to acknowledge and leave a word of empathy, and sailed right past with intentions of returning to do that. And Grace, I saw your reference to being at the emergency vet with Pan, and intended to check in to see how things went. I have many good intentions but no good excuses. 

Mel, I hope each day is becoming easier to deal with than the one before. I know that everything seems bigger and badder when filtered through a broken heart. You know this already.You are a veteran of loss so you know how this works. Gretta and Lucy have probably already forgiven you  if not, they soon will. Sometimes we just do the best we can and congratulate ourselves at the end of the day because everyone (human and otherwise) is fed and still alive.

And Grace, thank you for taking the time to post an update here. It's like reading a chatty letter from an old friend. I'm retired now but I remember how difficult it was to balance everything and how life just seemed so cluttered with everything that I felt needed to be accomplished. I can look back on it now and laugh at myself.

I too wish you all a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend.

Oh...Grace...I love your signature!


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## gracefulchaos01

Thanks, Kat. I was advising someone who had PMed me about their hedgie and that was my advice to them. And then I realized it's my advice to everyone. So I made it my signature


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## Melanie G.

Thank you both. Gretta and I had a wonderful snuggle yesterday. No biting or trying to run away. And Lucy can be won over with a mealworm or two. She is also back to her usual weird self- apparently dragging her bedding across her cage so she can sleep under her wheel sounded like a good idea to Lucy last night. Funny girl.

Grace, you take such amazing care of all you little ones. Caring for them seems like a full time job in itself. Starting a new job is stressful- hopefully you'll be able to get into a new schedule that works for all of you soon. And work will get better- the first few weeks are always crazy. I hope Panama's leg feels better. Remember it is important for you to take time for yourself.
I also love your signature as well.

Kat, thank you for your kind words. It has been a rough month and I know things are going to be up and down these next few months. And I am grateful that hedgies do forgive pretty quickly.


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## shetland

I truly enjoy all of these stories!!!


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## gracefulchaos01

September 14, 2014
Dear Pet Journal, 
Good morning and happy Sunday! It is a glorious autumn morning here in mid Maryland. The sun is shining, the sky is a brilliant blue and presently the temperature is only in the high 50s, maybe low 60s. A bit cool for a hedgehog, but quite perfect for a Grace. 
Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the crisp air, the sense of the turning wheel of the seasons, the colorful leaves. I enjoy the oncoming of winter, but for all of that, I don't care for snow. So it is a short but amazing time of year. I even enjoy seeing the bare branches of the trees against the heavy cloudy November sky. Part of it is a bit religious for me, being a solid pagan with Wiccan leanings. But mostly, it is really just my favorite time of year. 
This year is a bit different from all the ones before though. This is my first autumn with hedgehogs and at the top of my mind is their health and well being. We got Sebastian in February, so we had to be prepared for cold when we got her. And we are, don't get me wrong. But I keep wondering, is it enough? Should we add more, just to be sure? We heat the hedgie room with a Dyson space heater. It had an internal temperature control that we set at 72F even during the summer, just to make sure everything stays where it should be. 72 degrees on the Dyson means more like 74 to 76 in the cages as the Dyson is near the air vent. Last winter it did the job quite well. We have a back up little propane heater, just in case of electrical emergency. I'm thinking that was great for one hog, but we may want another one or two just in case, to heat the entire area where the kids are. 
I'm considering adding CHEs to the cages, but I'm not entirely sure how to attach them given my present set up. Obviously I can put them on top for the top cages, that is easy. But I don't know how I would heat the bottom cages with a CHE just yet. There is no space between the cage and the shelving to affix a CHE lamp. And I would worry that having the lamp on the side of the cage would be too close to the hedgie. Having it mid between the cages could put too much heat on the plastic bottoms, and wheels and cause damage to them. 
It's a situation I really need to put some deep thought into. And probably money. Which I don't have. Because of Panama :roll:

Who is doing quite well, by the way. He had his splint replaced again yesterday and next Saturday he goes back for follow up xrays to check on his progress. MD has a law where all domestic cats need to have rabies shots on a yearly basis, so he got his rabies shot yesterday as well. Just in case the house is attacked by an army of rabid raccoons, at least Panama will be safe. I couldn't take it, is really what it was. The vet tech in the office looked at me like I don't take care of my animals, and rather than explain to her that I have spent close to 1200 on Pan in the past 3 weeks and can't afford to see my own Dr. to get my own medication for blood pressure, I just paid the 30 bucks for the rabies shot. If she had pushed me again I might have had a heart attack on the spot, so it was a selfish action on my part. The other cats are going to have to wait though. I really do need to get my financial feet back under me. It has been a tough year for pet costs.



I discovered this morning that my pokey children don't like raw beef. I was surprised. I offered them raw beef Vital brand something or other last night. Only Tiberius ate all of his. The rest of them, all 5 of the rest of them barely even touched it. Even Gabriel, who will eat almost anything. 
Guess who gets to finish off the raw beef? 
Most of the kids really seem to prefer fish or fowl, so I'm going to hang out in those veins more. Except for Gayle, who will pretty much only eat kibble. I'm afraid she is going to die young from kidney failure. But I keep offering her the other options. 
Is there any reason we don't offer pork to hedgehogs? Is it too much like cannibalism? Or is it actually the trichinosis issue? If the pork is cooked, that would not be a thing. I had just noticed that nowhere in the raw food threads, or the raw food section at the store, or pretty much anywhere, is pork even mentioned as a food option for hedgies, cooked or raw. I understand bacon, and ham, too salty. But a cooked porkchop, unseasoned, should not be an issue if it isn't against any kind of religious ban. Unless there is something going on I am unaware of, which is always possible :grin:


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## Lilysmommy

I think pork just isn't often mentioned because it's not a common baby food, and due to the higher fat and salt content. Trichinosis isn't really an issue for store-bought ham in the US now, so it'd be fine to feed raw. I know with dogs, sometimes pork is something they can't handle, I think due to the high fat. My dog couldn't handle it, unfortunately, it completely messed up her digestive system when I tried introducing it. She loved it, but we had to stop & start back over with just chicken, sigh.

I see no issues with trying pork, raw or cooked, but just make sure you look at the nutrition label carefully for the sodium content. Pork is a really bad one for having sodium added (even the porkchops, etc.), and even without added, it's pretty high-sodium. Make sure the sodium is under 100mg per 4oz serving.

Also, I'm glad Panama is doing well! Sorry the vet tech was so judgmental though. I hope your wallet is able to recover soon. You need to take care of yourself too!


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## DesireeM81

Man my guys love their raw beef! It's the first thing they go for after the bugs or pinkie mice. It's actually the only thing River will eat that isn't her a/d.

I feed Penny ham baby food every now and then and she likes it but it does make her poop a little runnier. Nothing bad, nothing green, just not as firm as it is on nights when I don't feed her it. She is the only one that likes baby food too.


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## gracefulchaos01

*Bath times!*

just wanted to share a few pics I managed to snap last night of the kids at bath times.

Sebastian and Gayle both desperately seeking escape from the bath tub:





Titan being photogenic: 


And Gabriel being... Gabriel.


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## CoffeeKat

You and your kids just make me smile


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## ellisrks01

I love the face in the last picture, lol  

by the way my little girl loves the picture of your cat. I was reading the post and she stole my phone, running with it yelling "kitty kitty" :lol:


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## gracefulchaos01

Heh. Panama gets all the girls.


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## Melanie G.

All your hedgies are adorable, but Gabriel holds a special place in my heart.


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## gracefulchaos01

I agree Mel. He does with me too. For all he is a crazy biter who makes me hurt and bleed and has left scars, he is also sweet and gentle and oh so very charming. If he were a person he would be dangerous. But for a hedgehog he is really just complicated and in need of a good ... well... you know.


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## gracefulchaos01

I didn't want to leave out the rest of my array. Heavens forbid they think I play favorites too much  
Last night we got Tiberius and Beau in a couple of quick shots.

Here is Tiberius about to make a break for it, see his bulgy little eye? He is *not* a cuddler usually.



And here is Beauregard getting some much needed snuggles in a beard right after his little quick had been clipped. Jason was wearing blood, and you can see the cornstarch remains quite clearly.


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## phoenix1964

Dear Pet Journal! What a couple of weeks we have been having! Kevin the fish's tank filter blew up when we tried to clean his tank so we had to put him in a smaller tank. He was not a happy fish! When I felt so bad for the sad tings face I loaned my daughter money to go get him a decent set up. $300.00 later things seemed to be going great so we added a catfish and a frog to the mix. All seemed well until 3 days later Kevin the Betta fish ate Gilbert the Guppy! Cue one very sad teenaged daughter. As if that wasn't bad enough Kevin then died! Murder and suicide? My daughter and son set out to replace Kevin and now my son comes home with a Betta fish and a tank as well! His set up is black and very gothic looking and the kids decided the replacement fish would go to my son. My daughter has the orangey-red one. Everybody is happy..........
For about 5 minutes! The orangey red Betta is head butting the catfish, which we were assured were very compatible. Out comes Mr. Fish as fast as you can blink because we don't want a repeat of the last episode! Back to the pet store he goes!
The black Betta fish gets sucked up into the tank filter and is caught there! My son quickly unplugs the tank before Monster face can drown! (Yes that's his name, and apparently Betta Fish are surface breathers, so Yes they CAN drown)
OMG Murder face now goes into Kevin's old tank! That was last night.... Stay tuned for more info


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## Melanie G.

Dear Pet Journal,
Tomorrow I have to leave for Vancouver. I'm going with a heavy heart as my family is having a memorial service for my uncle. He passed away 6 weeks ago and the service has finally arrived and I am no longer numb to the pain- my loss has now became a reality. My uncle is not away on a trip. He will not be coming home.
This past week I've dropped out of school, had to spend one night in the emergency room, and cried my eyes out. 
But I had Lucy and Gretta to snuggle with. They don't mind when I cry. They will contently sleep on the couch with me when I can't get off the couch.
Tomorrow I must leave my babies for the weekend. I wish I could bring my hedgies, but I can't. I know they will be well cared for while I am away.
Once again, I am reminded of how amazing these little, pokey critters are. Pokey on the outside making them appear hard to love, but soft and sweet when you get beneath that outer shell. Thank you my sweet hedgies for loving me when I am pokey and unlovable.


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## SarahH

Melanie G. said:


> Dear Pet Journal,
> Tomorrow I have to leave for Vancouver. I'm going with a heavy heart as my family is having a memorial service for my uncle. He passed away 6 weeks ago and the service has finally arrived and I am no longer numb to the pain- my loss has now became a reality. My uncle is not away on a trip. He will not be coming home.
> This past week I've dropped out of school, had to spend one night in the emergency room, and cried my eyes out.
> But I had Lucy and Gretta to snuggle with. They don't mind when I cry. They will contently sleep on the couch with me when I can't get off the couch.
> Tomorrow I must leave my babies for the weekend. I wish I could bring my hedgies, but I can't. I know they will be well cared for while I am away.
> Once again, I am reminded of how amazing these little, pokey critters are. Pokey on the outside making them appear hard to love, but soft and sweet when you get beneath that outer shell. Thank you my sweet hedgies for loving me when I am pokey and unlovable.


I'll be thinking of you, and wishing you positive thoughts. Hope the trip goes as well as it can!


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## CoffeeKat

So sorry you are going through such a rough patch, and I know that "rough patch" doesn't begin to describe it. Will be thinking of you.


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## Melanie G.

Thank you both- it means a lot. I'm looking forward to coming home on Monday for some well needed hedgies snuggles.


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## phoenix1964

Dear Pet Journal: I am happy to report that things were nice and quiet over the weekend! The Betas are better (bad pun indeed!), the catfish is happy and the minnows are swimming along swimmingly, although one of the three of them kicked the bucket! Who knew fish were so fin-icky!!!!!
The cat and dog had a great week-end! They both had play dates while the humans spent some well needed quality time together on Saturday.
Penelope the hedgehog didn't even notice as we were home in plenty of time to feed, snuggle and clean her cage! It is, after all, all about HER!
We had a beautiful fall week-end with record breaking temperatures of 29 degrees in Edmonton, Alberta.
All the critters seemed to enjoy the weather! Penny was running like a mad woman on her wheel this morning!
Lets hope the rest of the week holds out like this!


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## gracefulchaos01

Trying this on the phone from the new super improved awesome phone view. .. Phoenix that is great news! I loled at your last post and felt terrible for you all at the same time.


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## gracefulchaos01

The moments. It's all about the moments. Sitting on the couch watching tv, but not really. Watching Beauregard snuggled up on top of his batman snuggle sack trying to sleep under the scrap of Spider-Man fleece we found next to Loki who also wants to be very close to me. 
This is a good moment.


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## Lilysmommy

Grace, I want to thank you for being so vocal about how the fleece training that Nancy told you about has helped with Gabriel's biting issues (and thank Nancy too for suggesting it at all!). I was meeting with some petsitting clients tonight & the woman is a hairdresser. One of her clients has a hedgehog & talks about it. Apparently he's still extremely grumpy (she's had him for over 6 months or a year or something like that), and he likes to bite her a lot. Looks for skin to bite. She still gets him out every night and tries, but obviously that's not fun. I instantly thought of your work with Gabriel and told her to mention it to her client & see if it helps. Fingers crossed that maybe fleece training will help them as well as it has you and Gabe!


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## shetland

Melanie, I just wanted to thank you for such a beautiful expression of your thoughts. Thank you for sharing them with us.


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## phoenix1964

Grace I totally agree it IS about the moments. Sometimes we tend to forget that. Monday night I had Penny snuggled on my chest and she lets out this sigh like noise and out pokes one little foot from under the blanket. I had to peek! She was lying on her side with her front paws clasped together and her back legs splatted out! Her head was slightly tucked under and she had this look of pure bliss about her. Talk about falling instantly more in love with a pokey thing!


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## gracefulchaos01

*Not a contender!*

And here we are, Early October. The beginning of the holiday Season. the beginning of Picture Season! 
and since I have the cutest kids around, I figures I would enter into one or two of those photo contests that are out right now  
Well, the hedgehogs had different feeling about this, so I wanted to share with you all a few of my "non-contenders" photos. Photos that I love love love, but that I'm pretty sure aren't winning any beauty contests, if you know what I mean!

Let's start with Titan. He was not all about this adventure AT ALL! he hates the flash, he hates the camera noise and he hated being woken up in the middle of the day to get half decent light. and I have a bite on my finger to prove that when he was done, he was DONE!

As you can see, he couldn't even be bothered to open his eyes at first:



But then, he decided he was just going to make an escape:



In all honesty, Sebastian wasn't much better. Though she kept her teeth to herself, she wasn't really a willing participant.

Really?



You can't see me...



Gayle was a bit better. But then, she got mealworms...





Her little fat pockets let us know she was getting a tad stressed though and so we took just a couple more shots and put her back to bed.



Tiberius came next, and he actually had a pretty good time even though you can't really tell from these photos. He took a "hide and seek" approach to the adventure.







After Tiberius came Gabriel. Our lovely Gabriel who decided, once he woke up, that this was a grand adventure and he would ham it up for the camera. 
So we have waking Gabriel...



you're looking at me? Gabriel:



Acorns smell tasty!



I didn't do nuthin...



I'm a gourd!



And finally, Beauregard's turn for the camera came. He wasn't really all about it at first, but he did enjoy the scenery as it had lots of hidey spots.





I'm a pinecone!









All in all it was a grand time for humans and hedgehogs alike.


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## phoenix1964

I love them all, especially the last one. I'd vote for you if you put them I to the contest!


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## CoffeeKat

Love, love, love them all!


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## Lilysmommy

I love your updates and your crew! I was giggling all the way through the pictures...especially at Sebastian's "...Really?" look. I think my favorite is definitely Gabe's "I didn't do nuthin..." pic. You should enter that one!


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## gracefulchaos01

I have 4 out of this set that I am considering entering and I'm putting up another set today. Maybe Titan will participate today


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## gracefulchaos01

Oh wow! A long afternoon with a different set for the kids. I'm not as pleased with this set as I was the last one and it shows in the photos. Not as hedgehog friendly as the leaves and gourds. However we did get some great photos that I'll share when it isn't right at bedtime. Another photo shoot scheduled for next weekend as well. The hedgies did a really great job today though and any failing in today's photos are in my set building skills and not in them. They all had great attitudes and were very cooperative models, for hedgehogs.


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## ellisrks01

I always like looking at pictures of your gang. I'm sitting at home miserable with a thrown out back but those pics gave me a smile


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## gracefulchaos01

I really enjoy sharing pictures of them with the wide world. This contest thing is tough because 1) I'm a perfectionist in these matters and 2) because they are all so wonderful and adorable and to me every photo is a winner, even though I'm a brutal editor/perfectionist. It's very awkward.


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## gracefulchaos01

And so, last week I bought some igloo covers to help prepare for the coming winter. You know, warm dark igloo, cold bright winter world and all that. 
well, I noticed this morning that the hedgies were pretty much avoiding the igloos, like they always do, and I had planned on just leaving the covers in the cages, and taking out the igloos. 
And then tonight, it was Gabriel. It's always Gabriel...



Clicky!


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## CoffeeKat

Haha...I totally did not see that coming. I love your kids, all of them


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## MomLady

Now that's funny and so cute. :-D

They have minds of their own, don't they!


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## phoenix1964

reminds me of a teenager! Not gonna get out f bed even when you pull the covers off! That little face looks so surprised and sleepy!


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## gracefulchaos01

*Hedgehog 411*

So, I posted a picture of Gabriel on the Hedgehog 411 Facebook page today for their Halloween contest. If you aren't already voting for another hedgie in that contest, please come out and support Gabriel. You know he's a cutie


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## gracefulchaos01

And so, in the race for full maturity, Beauregard is leading the pack. The past few evenings we had noticed some extra quill loss and tonight there are no less than 20 shed quills in the bottom of his cage. And when he was picked up he lost 4 more. Yea for 8 month quill in right on the nose. Extra grumpy too. At least I have Bitey and crew.


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## gracefulchaos01

P S. And boy do I have poo on my face. In reference to another recent forum post, I had been under the impression Titan was in the running for biggest hedgehog. Well, he's tallest, and longest. But Beauregard is out weighing him by 51 grams coming in tonight at 373 grams.


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## gracefulchaos01

In the race for full maturity Gabriel seems to be coming in a close second. He doesn't have the massive quill loss yet, but I can tell his demeanor is somewhat changed tonight and he reacted badly to being pet, an unusual reaction. I suspect in the next couple of days he also will have bunches of quills on the bottom of his cage. 
In the meantime Beauregard is curled up in his snuggle sack next to me with me very carefully *not* touching him. 
I wonder how different they will all be by the end of this last major adult change.


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## gracefulchaos01

*Not a Contender! Part 2*

indeed, I mentioned there was a second photo shoot with a different set. This one is more of a commercialized Halloween theme. Again, the 6 hedgies each took turns running around exploring. We got a boat-ton of awesome photos, all of them cute, but only 2 I think are contest quality. Here is a handful of the non contenders:

Beauregard looks great in orange!



Gayle had concerns over feathers:



But she had no such worries over pumpkins:



And then she gave us a spit bubble!



and then she decided she wanted to be a fashion model for Halloween:



I look at this picture of Titan, and all I can think is... da dum. da dum. da dum dum dum dum AHHH!!!! Death to the pumpkin!



Sebastian was also quizzical over the feathers, but she promptly hid when she realized she had company:



And then she stayed:



And then she said, I mustache you a question...



And then she went for a walk:



Tiberius did his best Sebastian impression (pretty good, imo)



And then he decided to try on the set:



and then Tiberius gave us his best Diva impression:



Gabriel was Gabriel. 
Dude, where's my pumpkin?



And then there were Teef...


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## CoffeeKat

OMG I laughed so hard I spit coffee through my nose (painful and messy) especially with Sebastian's mustache. How on earth do you choose just one???


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## gracefulchaos01

Just a heads up, 411 didn't initially put Gabriel in the contest, I guess because he wasn't wearing a hat, so he had to be resubmitted and a lot of the initial likes he got have gone to the wayside. So, if you voted for him, you may need to cast your vote again.


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## gracefulchaos01

And there are awesome photos on page 9.


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## MomLady

The pix are crazy cute. Your captions are hilarious too. :lol:

I love pictures with hedgie teefs!


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## gracefulchaos01

Wow, what a crazy week! And more of the same coming, so I'll be not nearly as present on the forums as I have been. However! I did just put in my submission to Larry's contest. and with that done I'll try to take some time this weekend to find the rest of the non-contender photos to share with ya'll! The last session we did was flash-less though, so I have at least 1000 low light photos to weed through. But it's really cool because it's almost like watching a stop motion hedgehog film


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## gracefulchaos01

Another crazy week. Looks like this one is starting early. Back at Falls Road Animal Hospital with Panama. Noticed after I got home from work that he was unable to urinate after 10 minutes of attempt. Poor kitty. And he hasn't even gotten his splint off yet from the last time we were here. Sigh.


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## CoffeeKat

Poor kitty...what's the problem?


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## gracefulchaos01

He has urinary crystals, probably developed from the recent stress he has been under. I'm waiting to hear from the Dr now. He stayed overnight. If he managed to potty he gets to come home. If he didn't, he will be cathatorized and will need to stay at least 3 days and the cost for this is... eye blinking.


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## gracefulchaos01

Update on Panama the cat. 
Panama was unable to expel any urine last night at all. This morning they were unable to put in a catheter. After x-rays, it was discovered his entire urethra was filled with a gritty mix of mucus and crystals. They needed to perform surgery. The narrowest part of his urethra was removed, along with his penis. The rest of his urethra up to his pelvis was cleaned out. A catheter was successfully installed. He will remain on the catheter until Friday at minimum. There is some concern about his urethra because it still seems to be very narrow as it goes into the bladder, however this is not an area they were able to reach. The Dr. who performed the surgery is hopeful it is just waste that will flush out over time and is not a narrowing of the urethra itself. 
Dr. Dougherty, who saw him originally, is quite sure the crystals were brought on by the stress of his broken leg. Constant vet visits, splint changes, and all the other stressful parts of having a broken leg for a cat. However, no matter what caused it, as Panama is not even 7 yet and is unusually young for this problem, his entire life will have to change henceforth. He is very lucky to even be alive. Had we waited until today, he would not have lived until we got home from work. 
His diet, and subsequently all the cats diets, will be switched to a prescription diet specifically targeted at urinary tract health. Pan will also receive extra wet food to encourage moisture in his diet. He will be very prone to UTIs as we go forward, so diet and plenty of water are going to be super important. 
The eye blinking original estimate of care tripled when surgery was brought into the mix. But all I could tell Dr. Dougherty this morning as she explained Panamas circumstances was 
"Please save my cat." 
If anyone happens to know a millionaire who happens to like cats and is feeling generous, please send them my way.


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## MomLady

Sending get well wishes to poor Pan. Hoping the vet bill fairy visits you.

Poor kitty and poor Gracefulchaos.


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## CoffeeKat

Doing my best to win the lottery....


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## gracefulchaos01

Panama update 10/23/14

I received 2 calls today from Dr Hayward, the surgeon. Both were good news. To sum up, he is recovering well. He is producing lots of urine and expelling through the catheter very easily. This means his bladder and kidneys were in no way damaged and we got him care in good time. 
The Dr said she is going to have the catheter removed tomorrow morning. Based on how that goes he is slated to be released to us tomorrow afternoon. 
He is on a bunch of pain medication and anti inflammatory meds. He is winning over the staff and will likely have 3 girlfriends before he leaves. 
All told he is recovering well so far. 
I have my own reservations, however all the news I received was good. We went over some home care and special needs he will have, and he will be prescribed a special diet to start. 
The best news I got is he has been freed of his splint. His leg is well enough he no longer needs it. 
Whew!!!


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## Lilysmommy

Glad to hear a good update. Yay for no more splint! Hope your pricey baby can come home again tomorrow...and tell him I said to stop being the problem child! :lol: At least for a little while. I imagine your bank account's going to need a long time to recover from this adventure.  I wish I could help. Let us know how he does at home. I hope the diet change will go well and help out a lot too!


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## MomLady

Yeah, I remember when my Mom's cat had urinary issues and had to go on the Prescription diet--something light low ash? This was back in the late 60s and early 70s, so the science has probably improved greatly!

Glad to hear he's making urine on his own and everything seems to be going back to "normal". You'll feel more relieved when he's back home with you. 

Get well soon Pan and your mama's bank account.


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## gracefulchaos01

Pan is home. Spent the last 1.5 hours trying to figure out how to get food and water to him. E-collar is an absolute, and since I am not going to be overseeing him directly every 2 hours to ensure food and water, we have needed to figure something out. I think we have. at least for tonight. For now, its med time, and then bed time. We are all tired and grumpy, except the hedgies who are just tired after round 1 of wheeling.


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## ellisrks01

Grace, I hope pan is doing well this morning and hopefully taking in enough food and water. I've been thinking about you two.  

I'm with kat, I'm trying my best to win the lotto but I just can't for some reason:lol: but when I do I'll send some pans way.


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## gracefulchaos01

October 25, 2014

Update on Panama the Cat

I feel the need to stress that he is a cat, considering this is a hedgehog website. But the thread is Adventures in Pet Ownership  
Ok, first morning.

We made it through the first night ok. He seems to have peed 4 times since we got him home. His present litter box is actually the bottom of a hedgie cage filled with Carefresh. (No clumping litter for ju!) We decided on the hedgie cage bottom because it is relatively large, and has low sides. He isn't particularly spry right now what with his entire backside being covered in an open wound and him having to re-learn how to use his broken leg. Not that that was great for his balance to begin with.

(Poor practically 3 legged cat)

Anyway, once we figured out how to feed him, he went for it with gusto. The reports I had had indicated he wasn't eating much at all at the vet. They figured it was because he was on all kinds of pain meds and didn't feel up to eating. I personally thought this was a bit odd, but let it go considering they would be able to feed him with IV if it became necessary.

He has Royal Canin right now, wet food for UT health. He is ONLY on wet food right now. They were going to give me Hills c/d but they were out. Doesn't matter because Pan LOVES the RC. (Or he was just starving.)

Conveniently I have all these little blue ceramic flat bottomed bowls around the house. He ate ½ of his offering last night while we were watching, which was 1/3 of the can of food with plenty of added water to make it super mushy. The rest of it was gone when we woke up this morning.

We removed the e-collar, put on the thunder-shirt, (because he can't really move in the T-shirt) and gave him a ton of ear scratchins. He loved it. He got his anti-inflammatory medication. It's an 8 hour med and I don't know how it's going to work out once Monday comes, but we will figure something out. I don't think anyone ever died from not taking their Tylenol on time.

His pain med is a 24 hour med, and he will get it tonight, about an hour earlier than we gave it to him last night. And he has a 12 hour antibiotic that we are going to have to be very diligent on over the next 10 days.

Antibiotic - 10 days
Anti-inflammatory - 7 days
Pain med- 3 days (plus one we have left over from his broken leg)

I pushed the antibiotic. They weren't going to send him home with one, but in my entire life I can't recall a single time when a catheter was taken out and a UTI did not develop. I don't want to start him off on the wrong foot. I personally almost died from said UTI, so it's a trigger point for me. I'm not going to drop all this money on him for the surgery only to have him die from an infection a week from now.

The Elizabethan collar. Wow. He hates it. I hate it. He is super clutzy in it. Bumping into walls, and furniture and doors, and everything. He has no whisker perception in it. And he wasn't exactly a graceful cat to start with.

However, despite all this I have watched him go to lick himself no less than 15 times in the time I have spent with him since he got home. Every time he was thwarted by that hateful awful life-saving e-collar.

I have an auntie who specializes in (very) vintage costuming. I am having the random thought that this whole e-collar thing could be so much more fashionable. Panama, Victorian Age&#8230; Ok. Enough of that.

His surgery area is right under his tail. They shaved the entire perineum area, and the cuts and stitches and sutures all look absolutely awful. Black and red and obviously sore. Kinda looks like my flesh did after in-depth laser surgery, except he has some pretty major incisions to go with it. I suppose my own medical adventures make me so much more compassionate to Pan right now because I have a pretty good idea of what he is going through. I have also had my insides cut out, so I have a fair idea of the pain he is in right now.

He hasn't pooped yet. This only slightly concerns me because I know he hasn't eaten much the past 2 days and then the food he has eaten has been very moist. If he doesn't poop by end of day, I will call the vet.

I got the idea from Sophie's parents to go on and photograph the wound area twice daily so I can really *see* if there are any negative changes that happen. It is a fair idea and correct to think that we don't always recall correctly what we saw this morning. So, the photos I got are a bit blurry, but with a couple of days practice of photographing my cats butt I should have a fair repository of information to look back on.

All of that aside. Panama is very happy to be home. I can tell from the way he has been paw-pawing on the carpet, how he is stretched out without a care right now. He isn't happy to be locked up in my office though. This will become a thing in the next few days. But he is accepting of it right now.

He needs 3-5 days of complete isolation. Then 2 weeks of minimal activity. He will have a check up after 7 days or so, I need to make the appointment. Then after 3 weeks, the sutures and stitches can come out. I am thinking Pan will be mostly in isolation for the next 3 weeks unless under supervision. The other cats will tear him apart with that e-collar, and they will bully him the way he has bullied them for years. I can't have that when he is in such a vulnerable place. But later, in 3 weeks or so, I may root the other cats on.

The other cats though are all happy to have him home. They have real issues when we take someone away and they don't come back in just a few hours. So when Pan didn't come home with us on Tuesday night, Loki, Ping and Willow all looked very concerned and were super clingy. They haven't been able to associate with him yet, but they know he is here. And that is enough.


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## CoffeeKat

I'm having this mental image of your other cats wondering what Pan did to cause you to rip him a new (_o_). Seriously, though, glad he's home and on the mend.

I've seen alternatives to e collars (although when I first read that I was thinking electric shock collar. I've always known them as "cones") One alternative a friend tried was cutting the collar down and turning it around like a cape, which may or may not work for each animal depending upon how flexible the animal is. Another idea was wrapping an Ace bandage around the entire length of neck from ears to shoulder.

Wishing Pan a speedy recovery. It's all fun and games until someone ends up in a cone


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## MomLady

Well, if it's one thing we should be grateful in this digital age, is that we don't have to get pictures (on film) developed. Imagine what they would say with a whole roll with pictures of a cat's butt. 

Hoping it all goes well from here! Keep us updated.


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## CoffeeKat

I don't care who you are--that there's funny! (Larry the Cable Guy)


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## gracefulchaos01

*Winter Update!*

Well, Tonight we had our very first hibernation attempt. 
thanks to everything I have learned here, despite not being around for a few months, we made it through just fine, with a quick recovery, and a new private set up for our little wannabe sleeper. 
Sebastian is who wanted to take the long winters nap. When I picked her up this evening she went from sleepy looking hedgie under fleece to fully quilled ball of ... not fury. No huffing no puffing, just a quilly ball. Very strange. Even more strange was that she stayed that way. Staying quilled is not in her nature. Jason came in, and he was able to get her to open up a bit, his hands are warmer, and he panicked, OH MY GOD HER BELLY IS COLD! 
Under the shirt with her. His shirt (he really is warmer) While I began quick brush ups on making sure I remembered everything I needed to do in this practically guaranteed to happen at least once situation. And checked my other 5 to make sure no one else was in the same situation.
I remembered everything  
She warmed quickly on only body heat and became her normal semi active self in a mere (agonizingly long) 30-45 minutes. I set up a CHE on her cage specifically to keep her a bit warmer from now on, and more importantly, at a somewhat steady temp. 
I think that is what did it. The temps here were like 29 on Tuesday, 50 yesterday, and then 20 today, and it dropped fast. No matter how steady the heater is in the room, only a CHE is going to ensure a steady temp in a situation like that. 
Everyone else was peachy. Except Tiberius had cool feet. I gave him extra cuddles and he warmed up just great. He wasn't any more lethargic than he normally is though after being rudely awakened. Just had cool feet. 
Panama has recovered well, and is back to his normal pain in the bottom self. But now Willow is going through treatment for a nasty ear infection. 2x daily treatments. Poor thing. But there is already marked improvement and this is day 4. 
The Facebook page is where I have been doing most of my updating, though never as in depth as here. 
Thank you HHC! You all are awesome! And you know who you are! 
Maybe someday I can get back to regular updates and conversations... 
At least whatever time I'm not at work is now taken up by the hedgehogs  
Love and miss you all! Hope to be back soon with less hibernation attempts! 
~g
:grin:


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## Lilysmommy

I'm glad to hear from you guys! I've been wondering how you all are. Boo to hibernation attempt, but very glad that Sebastian's mom remembered exactly what to do.  I hope she stays toasty warm from now on! And I hope Willow gets over her ear infection soon as well.


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## gracefulchaos01

Good morning Kelsey! 
Jason slept on the couch last night and checked on her every two hours. He confirmed a suspicion I have had for a while about our Sebastian. She is a lazy hog. Not much running. Mostly she spent her night going from one fleece layer to another, probably because she was being poked at every 2 hours :roll:
However her belly remained warm all night. Her behavior was normal. And since last night was pinky night, she ate her entire pinky treat, and 3 mealworms along with a couple of bites of kibble. 
Her cage has remained a steady 79 degrees since I went to bed at 10. 
I'm pretty sure it wasn't cool temps that caused this, but rather a sudden change in temperature. Night before last, the day it was 50 degrees out, when we checked the cages after work they were all at 80-82 degrees. When we checked them last night, they were all at 77, right where we want them. Except Sebastian obviously had a hard time with the shift. It must have happened too suddenly for her. 
I'm pretty sure recovery will go well as long as the CHE works steadily. To ensure she gets enough food I'm going to make sure she gets food she is guaranteed to eat instead of pick at. She's a picker, our momma hog. But she loves her raw food. The last thing anyone wants is a secondary infection brought on by low immunity.


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## DesireeM81

I love following your facebook posts but it's nice to see your on here too! That temperature drop was crazy for us too! It was sooo cold for just that one day. Back up now, which is nice. Good job on taking care of your baby! :grin:


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## gracefulchaos01

*Happy Birthday!*

The babes are 1 year old today. 
I swear to you, I never could have imagined this. I give thanks for them every day and love them all more than I ever thought possible. They have changed my life and made me a better person. :grin:


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## MomLady

I LOVE the pictures on FB, but I like seeing you here too. :grin:

You guys are great hedgie parents--and great parents to the rest of the crew. 

Funny how hedgies change your life.


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## gracefulchaos01

Thank you so much. It's nice to feel wanted by someone with 2 feet  
Work has been crazy, and add in 4 legged responsibility and I have just had no time. Hopefully I'll be able to drop in more often soon.


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## gracefulchaos01

January 28, 2017
Dear Pet Journal, 

Well, it really has been a very long time! But not much exciting has really happened. Well, that’s not true, Loki gave us a big scare last May and was hospitalized for kidney disease/ kidney failure. But they were able to fix him up and he’s doing much better now. 

But nothing has really happened on the hedgehog front so much until about 2 weeks ago. Sebastian and Gayle and Beauregard and Tiberius and Gabriel are all doing great! But Titan… not so much. 

We took Titan to the vet two weeks ago because he was having problems moving his back legs. At first we all hoped he had just hurt his back and needed some medications and rest. But I noticed a week ago that he was still having real problems moving his back legs and when he went back to the vet this morning… Well, we got a pretty bad diagnosis. The vet believes, after limb testing and observation, that our Titan may have, probably has, Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome. Onset in older hedgehogs it tends to move quickly. We and the Dr all know that this diagnosis is not able to be confirmed without a necropsy. But we have a slightly paralyzed, probably going to be more paralyzed hedgehog on our hands, and WHS or not, he needs special care. 

I’m thinking since he cannot run on his wheel anymore, and he no longer has medical restrictions, that we are going to take up swimming. Also he is going to have to become a free roamer. None of the hogs are free roamers because I am a horrible housekeeper. But that is going to need to change, at least some. It’s the only way he is going to be able to get exercise. 

Keep a close eye on his food intake, make sure he gets exercise. Snuggle him as often as we can. 

And figure out when the time is. 

When is the time? When will I know? Right now he is bright and alert and inquisitive and was scooting himself all over the vets tile floors just this morning even with his dragging legs. 

Will he just tell me? Will I be able to listen? When is his quality of life no longer exceeding his pain? Is he even in pain? Or do things just not work anymore and he is adjusting? 

What happens when he just cant walk anymore? Can’t masturbate? We are thinking about making him a little wheelchair for him to run in on the kitchen floor. Will his heart stop working before his front legs? Will he stop curling up? 

We might have 30 days. We might have 9 to 12 months. I have him on Vitamin E, of course. 

I never expected this from Titan. We adopted him from a forum member here, and he is a bred hog. I expected it from Sabs, or one of the kids. Pet store fare. But not from Titan. I guess that makes it even harder. 

He’s just over 3. WHS isn’t supposed to hit this late. Except it seems it does. And at this point it moves hard and fast. 

I’m heartbroken already and he’s sleeping just fine in the room over right now, along with 5 other perfectly healthy hedgehogs. 

How can I be the best guardian I can be? I know there is *nothing* I could have done to prevent this. But how do I ensure he has the best rest of his time as possible? I can’t miss work, and I already have trouble keeping up with everyone as it is. 

And most importantly… when do I know it is time to let him go? I don’t want to cut him short, but I refuse to see him suffer needlessly, and hopelessly. Where do I find that marker in his road?


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## shinydistraction

Oh honey, I'm glad to hear from you again,but I wish this wasn't why.

I'll tell you a story, I don't know if it will help, but it might.

This past September we had to let my dog go. We had only had her for a year and a half. We had adopted her from a rescue and discovered that she was actually several years older than we thought she was. But she seemed to be in good health and she was a good girl. So, fast forward to July last year. She was perfectly fine one day, and the next she had a strange head tilt. We though, "oh, maybe she has an ear infection", so off to the vet we went. He checked her over, but said it was neurological. Her ears were clean and blood work came back perfect. He said we could go to the neurologist (and hour away, ugh), but she could potentially learn to adapt and be fine. We chose to wait and see. We knew she was at least 9 at this point, and maybe older. Going to a specialist just didn't make sense for her. Anyway, instead of better, she got progressively worse. She got to the point where she could no longer stand and had to be carried outside several times a day to potty and we had to hold her head up to eat and drink. But oddly, she was still happy. But we knew that it was better to go a minute too soon than a minute too late. So, since she was still happy and we needed to schedule time off from work to do it, we decided we would go the following week. Just a few days before the scheduled day, she completely lost the will to live. There was an incident (don't want to go into details here, it's still fresh) and you could see how much she was suffering. So, despite our best intentions, we still ended up going too late and it's my biggest regret about the whole thing.

I know it sucks and it's hard, but I think you'll know when it's time. Just don't wait to act on it. Let him go while he's still happy and has a reasonable quality of life.


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## gracefulchaos01

Ya, SD, this is exactly what I want to avoid. At the same time, I don't want to send him too soon. Its going to be a tough line because he is such a bright little hog. 
In the meantime, Saturday night, as I was crying my eyes out, we cut up a box and a small boat ton of fleece into strips and gave him a good sized dig box in place of his wheel. He's not impressed. Nor is he impressed with the stuffed plush pickle we gave him. Mostly he is impressed with being left alone to sleep. 
Last night though, we began swimming lessons. A good deep tub of water, where if he stretches his little legs his toes just reach the bottom. Man, he paddled those little legs like crazy! But he can't stay upright on his own. We are trying to figure out how to modify a pool noodle as a flotation device so he can be self mobile, but until we get the noodle, (which are hard to get in January) and can get it figured out, we will just hold him to paddle his heart out. 
Gayle also took a turn around the pool and her fat self apparently did a fantastic job! I missed it because I was drying Titan off and trying to get his ears dried out. 
After that Titan had some floor time in the kitchen and was visited by 3 cats and they all had a little party. It was a good time.


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## gracefulchaos01

*Feb 4, 2017*

February 4, 2017
Dear Pet Journal,

Well, it's been a week since the vets diagnosis of WHS for our Titan, and 3 weeks since I noticed symptoms of something not right.

Boy, have we been busy! Since Titan isn't on medical restrictions anymore (the first 2 weeks they had thought he had hurt his back) we have been doing a decent bit of exercise. More than I'm used to anyway!

Titan has taken up swimming and we have cleaned up the kitchen floor for him to have a large smooth unhindered surface to move around on. Along with Titan, Beauregard and Gayle and Sebastian have all taken a dip into the deep end of the pool. Beau and Gayle, butterballs that they are, took to it with no problem! Sebastian did not enjoy it AT ALL.

Swimming seems to cheer Titan and his demeanor is usually pleasant afterwards. None of my hogs have been cuddlers in the past, however Titan has allowed me to rub his face, ears, feets, and belly in the past week and my heart just cannot take it. It has had to grow several sizes in order to hold on to this extra love that wells every time I get more than I expected from one of the kids.

Jason made a wheelchair for Titan, but Titan doesn't need it yet. He continues to simply walk out of it. Wobbly and tottery, but walking all the same. I'll take it.

I haven't seen any major down turns. His limited mobility remains about the same. He is still eating with no problem. He remains interested and inquisitive.

Thursday night he had a bad night, didn't want to swim, didn't want to walk, didn't want to do much of anything, even snuggles were questionable. But yesterday he was back to his new normal. I expect this is how things are going to go for a while. Good days and bad days, just like anyone else.

Because he is not running we have begun to supplement pumpkin into his diet along with baby food meats. I want to be sure that his bowels are running fine. He still gets plenty of kibble though so don't worry about that.

This week we had another milestone.

Thursday Feb 2nd was also *Sebastian's 3rd Gotcha day!* 3 years since that little lady was brought home from the pet store! And she is doing just fine. Completely unaware of how she turned our lives upside down and inside out! The 10th of Feb will be the other kids 3rd birthday. Just wow. We are living on borrowed time now, but with the exception of Titan's special needs, everyone is healthy and happy, if 2 of them are pretty fat! I blame their hedgehog father because everyone gets exactly the same amount of kibble from exactly the same blend every day.

Today is Saturday and it's poop moving day. Fleece changes and washed and wheel cleaning and litter boxes. Literally all the things required to move poop out of the house. So, I best get to it.


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