# Piggy Update and Pictures!



## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

Well, it's been a long few weeks. Pig got a URI before Christmas and was put on Baytril for a week. It helped, but he was still sneezy after that so the vet gave him another week of meds. Towards the end of the second round of Baytril I heard him make this weird wheezing sound, like a long quiet huff. Of course this was at 8pm on a Thursday and the only ER vet I knew took hedgies was the one that hurt him a few months ago but I eventually found one about 30 minutes away who sometimes has a hedgie vet on call.

After about an hour I hadn't heard the wheezing sound again, so I packed him up and took him to spend the night at my parents' house which is closer to both his regular vet and the new ER vet, just in case I needed to rush him in.

I called his regular vet in the morning and expressed my concern that the Baytril was simply keeping something much worse at bay, and once the meds ran out it would explode into something awful so quickly that I wouldn't be able to act fast enough to help him. He explained that he suspected it was allergies because:
- His sneezes weren't producing mucus
- His appetite and activity were normal
- Pneumonia would be progressive, not intermittent
- Everyone sneezes in the winter

He also said that in order to tell for sure whether is was bacterial, fungal, or something else, they'd have to do a culture. However, because Pig wasn't actually producing mucus for them to culture they'd have to sedate him and do a nasal flush, which he didn't want to do because he only uses anesthesia on small animals as a last resort (one of the reasons why I like him!). He recommended I first make my apartment as hypoallergenic as possible to see if that would help.

So I set Pig up with a humidifier at my parents' and spent that weekend cleaning my apartment top to bottom, which included bleaching my walls in case there was hidden mold. I ended up using quite a lot of bleach and the fumes hung around so long that both Pig and I stayed with my parents for a full week. While the apartment aired out I also bought an air purifier.

My BF and I were finally able to bring Piggy home last Friday and he seems to be doing much better so far (*knock on wood*)!







He hadn't seen my BF in almost 2 weeks and spent the first 10 minutes staring at him, and then another 20 minutes climbing all over him as though he was saying "YAY! Daddeez hoam!!!!!" Pretty darn cute. :smile: It's good to have my little squish back. :smile:


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Yaaaay, Piggy pictures!  He's such a cutie! I'm glad to hear he's been feeling better and I hope it continues! Sounds like you and your vet did some good detective work.


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

Well, the vet did the detective work while I had an anxiety attack. :smile: I'm just happy he's home. It felt so empty without him!


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## brittbritt (Dec 19, 2013)

Your baby is so precious. I love his colors.


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## fishhead (Nov 18, 2013)

Poor little guy, sorry he was unwell, glad he's better now. Very cute hedgie I bet you are happy to have your quill baby back.


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## abbys (Oct 13, 2012)

Thank you!  I just learned I've been calling him the wrong color this whole time so I don't actually know what he is. Oops.


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

Yay Pig! Such cute pictures, glad he's doing better


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