# Mass in stomach



## WiddershinsMama (Dec 13, 2015)

We took Widdershins to a 24 hr vet because she had been constipated for two days with only a nugget or two of green poo....She didn't touch her food last night and while I was giving her a warm bath this morning to try to help her tummy I noticed blood on her bottom...my vet wasn't available till Monday so we took her to a Medvet near by. On the way I gave her a meal worm to see if she'd eat it since she didn't touch her kibble an she flopped her legs out and went for it which I thought was a good sign......We get there..they check her out...The Dr. Came into our exam room and said that Widdy has a mass on her stomach ...and that she isn't breathing very well and is weak...they are giving her oxygen to help stabilize her..and that it's likely she will need abdominal surgery to remove whatever is there....and that she would only have a 10% chance of surviving that surgery. She was just running around today and running on her wheel Thursday night and going for wormies and I wasn't expecting this. Please someone tell me that this isn't right and a should go somewhere for a second opinion. She isn't even a year old yet... I can't catch my breath


----------



## WiddershinsMama (Dec 13, 2015)

The Dr. said the mass is keeping Widdy from going to the bathroom which she thinks is causing kidney failure...she said it could be two hours or two days before she's gone. She went from her usual sassy behavior before the vet visit ...to a zombie that shakes when she walks after the vet visit..that was an hour and a half time span.


----------



## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Oh honey, I'm sorry. It's awful to face the prospect of losing a pet. Thing is, sometimes we're able to catch these things early enough to do something about it, and sometimes we're not. Sometimes there was nothing that could have been done. Hedgehogs are little cancer machines and masses like that are part of the territory. 

If you think she'll make it long enough to get her in to your regular vet, go ahead and go and see what they think. If surgery is an option with a reasonable chance of success and you can make it happen, go for it. If it's looking a bit too bleak, just let her go. Sometimes that's the kindest thing we can do for them.


----------



## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Hedgehogs are amazing at hiding illness for quite awhile before they start to show symptoms. They often go from being fine to passing away within hours of noticing anything wrong. I took one guy in for a slight swelling on his jaw one afternoon and withing 48 hours he had died from the tumour.


----------



## WiddershinsMama (Dec 13, 2015)

I was afraid she'd be dead when I checked on her this morning with how she was acting last night after the vet visit. It was very odd how lethargic and pale she was after the visit. Could the stress or oxygen they gave her have caused that? When I woke up and checked on her she was back to acting like herself. She has been eating and drinking today. She has also peed a lot but her poops were still smaller and green. We go to our usual vet tomorrow.


----------



## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

The oxygen wouldn't have made her lethargic. Did they sedate her at all for the exam?


----------



## WiddershinsMama (Dec 13, 2015)

We were only told she was put in an incubator and that they were giving her oxygen. If they sedated her we were not told.


----------



## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

It almost sounds as if they did, it would explain why she was so lethargic right after but is better now. You might want to check with them to see if they did. It would also explain why they put her in an incubator and gave her oxygen. They often do that with an animal coming out of sedation.


----------



## WiddershinsMama (Dec 13, 2015)

Thank you for explaining. It was scary to see her like that.


----------



## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

Please keep us posted. Good luck.


----------



## WiddershinsMama (Dec 13, 2015)

Widdy is gone. I took her to her usual vet and she agreed with the first Medvet doctor. It was bladder cancer. She said a natural death would have been very bad so I agreed to euthanize her. This is so horrible I'm so sorry for any of you that have lost your little loves. I loved her so much.


----------

