# Fatty's Rescue Diary



## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

Today I rescued an adult hedgehog from an owner who had decided to stop devoting time to her hedgehog, and didn't put in any research in the first place. He was rescued by another animal enthusiast a month ago, but that rescuer doesn't have the time to dedicate to another hedgie - especially a rescue boy who needs a lot of work. 
I got "Fatty" home this afternoon. I was told he was overweight, but I was SHOCKED by just how fat he is. A little roll puffs out when he balls up, and he hangs over the side of my hands. He is HUGE. 
He also has extremely dry skin, I'm suspecting from his low quality diet and long term neglect. His previous rescuer has been slowly working on trying to get his nails trimmed down. 
"Fatty" is also very nervous, another product of his long term neglect. 
Because he has already been rescued for a month, his quarantine period is technically over. He has been kept on liners that would not give him the opportunity to pick up mites. Other than the dry skin and long nails he was given a clean bill of health. 
Right now my priorities are: Weight loss, repairing his skin, and getting his nails trimmed. And thinking of a new name!  
Tonight I gave him a long soak in oatmeal bath and brushed off some dry skin gently with a toothbrush. I also managed to get one paw trimmed. 
I have another little boy (kept separated) named Milton. He is a baby, and my little angel. I have him on Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul Light, and I'm working in a mixture of Katz n Floken Solid Gold. Is this good to feed "Fatty"? Goodness I hate that name! Poor little guy.

Have people found any good approaches to get hedgies to loose weight? What about skin? I have read about adding things to food and skin, what's most effective? I'll weigh him and update in the morning!


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## SpiritWolves1 (Apr 5, 2012)

he looks like a Hamilton to me XD and i guess your best bet would be a food with a low fat, what do you have around you?


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## jholstein11 (Dec 13, 2012)

awwwwwwww...i'm so glad you have him now. I know his life will be MUCH better!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

The day he came to your house, quarantine starts all over. Being at another house for a month means nothing other than he was just finishing the quarantine period at that persons house. He may be incubating something that he picked up there so will now need a months quarantine at your house. 

Let him settle in for a few weeks or a month before you start a weight loss program. It's normal for them to loose a bit of weight from the stress of going to a new home. Also, let him get used to you and his new home and for his eating habits and activity level to return to normal after the stress of moving. By then you will get to know him and if he is a big eater, small eater, active, couch potato etc and be better able to choose what type of weight loss program would work best for him. 

The Chicken soup lite/Solid Gold mix is good to start with. You may find being on a better food is all he needs.


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

Thanks everyone! My wording about quarantine was a little misleading. What I meant is that he has been watched and treated by a vet so I am not quite as worried about what he may have. As a precaution I scheduled a visit with my own vet, simply because I have used her for years and really want to get as much info as possible. I have him in a separate room, and keep a bottle of alcohol free hand sanatizer next to the cage, as a reminder to my boyfriend that he is. So far he hasn't seemed bothered by the smell. I am looking forward to when I don't have to keep everything separate, it's hard for my brain to keep up with keeping everything separate. 
I'm amazed by just how sweet he is.
He is very nervous, but he really does want to get to know me. He is very, very active! He empty's and knocks over his bowl looking for more food all the time. Should I be putting more food in every time he does that? Milton is a runner, and a baby, so I keep some fresh food in his bowl all the time. I am not sure how to approach my big boy's feeding. 

I'm so glad that mix will work for him! I'm really hoping his weight loss "program" will just be getting on good food, and getting opportunities to exercise. He plays with his toys and pushes cat balls all over his cage. I'm amazed he gained so much weight! It's the result of a tiny cage, no wheel, lousy food, and no human interaction. I feel so bad for my little guy. I am such a big baby at heart I had tears in my eyes giving him his bath last night. He's so sweet and helpless and deserves nothing but love.

I will put Hamilton on the list! I'm waiting for his true personality to come out. I will update with his first weigh-in tonight! Work calls for now! :roll:


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

Well he is now in a wonderful forever home! It always feels good when Nancy chimes in with expert advice!


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## Angy (Dec 5, 2012)

Hey I just read this post, I have gone through something very similar with Hufflepuff. She is over weight and had very dry skin, Her food is switched to chicken soup lite, and I changed her bedding to fleece I also have been adding a little bit of olive oil to her food and baths her skin is starting to look better. I dont know if there is anything better then using olive oil but it seems to work for my spike ball. She as lost about 20g in about a month she started at 710g not sure what weight i should be aim at for her big i know she needs to loss more

Good like with you big guy.


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

Thanks everyone! Having an expert comment my post gives me reassurance! I joined this after researching for my first baby and its been the best! 
Angy- good luck with your girl! Sounds like we are in similar situations.
Fatty was named after a 1920's silent film comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. I considered staying with the idea and calling him Roscoe, but it just doesn't fit! He is a big snuggly baby! He likes to push his cat ball around, and then flop down in the middle of his cage -not hidden or anything!- for maybe ten minutes. Then he has to get back up and push his ball around again. He will keep this routine going for almost two hours when he's awake. Then it's off to the snuggle sack! 
I'm going to post pictures and his official weigh in tomorrow. He is sleeping now and I don't want to wake him up just to weigh him. He's had a very crazy few days I want to give him so settling time! 
I've heard of using vitamin e, flax seed oil, and olive oil for his skin. Are these correct? What's the most effective, and how would I do it?
Thanks everyone for your input!


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

SURPRISE MOM, I'M A GIRL! AND I LOVE GIVING YOU HEART ATTACKS!








Today "Fatty" was comfortable to un-ball, which she wouldn't do fully, even in her first bath! And guess what; she is NOT a boy. My head is spinning.
At this point I have her in very careful quarantine, and I'm really looking forward to getting her to the vet. I don't really trust anything I've been told as correct.

She flipped over her water bowl, a HEAVY ceramic bowl, and decided to sleep on her wet fleece. And big shocker: She was cold. Not a real hibernation attempt (she was steady on her feet, and unballed) but enough that I was terrified and she spent an hour in a snuggle sack wedged into my sweatshirt. Before I put her back I dried out the area that was wet. How can I prevent this? Milton has never done this. I think it happened because she is also a liner diver. I added another fleece blanket in there for her to burrow into on the other side of the cage. I'm hoping with fleece to snuggle on each entrance to the liner she won't be tempted? I need to get more fleece and order more snuggle bags. 
Her skin seems to be doing well just from a good oatmeal bath. I check her a few times a day and have only ever seen her scratch once. 









My worst nightmare is that she is somehow pregnant, I don't THINK she was ever around a boy but my mind is racing. I'm not going to put her on a diet yet just in case. Is this me being crazy, or is that a good thing to do? 
She is about 650g right now, and it feel like it's all fat.


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## Angy (Dec 5, 2012)

OMG she is cute. I hope she is not Pregers. 
Hufflepuffe was really good at putting her fleece into her water dish  I fixed that by giving her one of those plastic Igloos and she loves it. the best thing is no more fleece in the water dish. As for the oil I add a few drops to her food every night of the olive oil and mix it up good. when I give her a bath every week to two weeks (not sure if that is to much or not enough bath time for a hedgehog) I use aveeno outmeal body wash for sensitive skin, using a tooth brush with soft bristles clean her quills. I then drain the water and add fresh water with about one table spoon of oil it the water I let her swim around for a bit then take her out and dry her off. I use the sink to bath her in but sometime use the bath tub to let her have more room to swim.


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## GailC (Aug 20, 2011)

What a cute squashy face I am fostering a fatty too but she is even bigger then yours. Well over 700 grams. Her tummy is so squishy, it feels like holding a spiking, warm water balloon.
Even on the off chance she might be pregnant, you should still get her on a lower fat food to get her weight under control. Maybe something around 12% fat or so, not too low but not high enough to keep adding weight. If she doesn't have a wheel yet, get one ASAP.

One of the rescues that came in with Beep (my fatty) was pregnant. The last two weeks of her pregnancy, she got really round in the tummy, drank a ton of water and her urine smelled really, REALLY awful.


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

That's the perfect way to describe what she feels like! And oh my goodness, I can't even imagine how big your girl must be!
I've got another little boy and I'm switching her to the mix I have him on, Chicken Soup Adult Light and Solid Gold Katz n Flocken. 
Beep is such a cute name! I will look out for those signs, I'll just take it day by day with her and adapt her care if I notice changes.
Good to hear I can still start her weight loss plan. I'm hoping having a wheel for the first time, high quality food, and time to explore will be all she needs to get healthy. As soon as I agreed to take her I ordered her wheel, and it should be here tomorrow. I feel bad she didn't have it for the last two days but I got it as quickly as possible, and she's never even had a cage this big or gotten out of her cage like this before. 

I'm now starting to plan out what I want to use to keep my two hogs in, separate cages of course. I wasn't planning on two anytime soon and so I'm going to have to play around with what will give them the most space, that I can still keep warm and not take up the whole living room!


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

Fatty Update!

She is doing good, and got a great report from her vet today. Other than weight to lose she is healthy.
We are on pregnancy watch for now since there is no sure way to tell other than if/when babies come out. On another post I got wonderful advice from a breeder on how to make her maybe-preggo home. 

Now it's time for her name!
We're looking at:
Penny
Pheobe
Scarlett

My little man's name is Milton, and we think she needs a dignified name as well. 
I've been leaning towards Penny, "find a penny, pick it up, for all the day you'll have good luck"


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## jholstein11 (Dec 13, 2012)

I really love Penny! It suits her...


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

I am trying out calling her Penny today. She is such a character, I am trying to find the name that suits her. 
So far she doesn't have interest in her wheel, I'm putting a little flour on it tonight to see if maybe she is just a secretive wheeler.
Not much to update here, she poops on her fleece and sleeps in her litter. We lovingly call her our bass ackwards child. Milton is doing well, I will post pictures of him soon so he doesn't feel left out


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

I'm not sure if anyone has followed Penny's rescue story, but here's an update!
Penny is doing amazing! I got a real cuddle out of her, and she's really thriving on about one hour of out of cage play time a day, along with sleeping on me for about half an hour an afternoon. She still isn't very interested in her wheel, and I'm not so sure why. I've even tried covering her cage with a blanket and putting a bit of flour on the wheel to see if she likes that. At least she is on a high quality, low fat, cat food mix now, and exploring like crazy in her play pen. I put her in the hallway with a large fleece blanket down and put tubes, stuffed animals, balls, a a few hidden mealworms or crickets, and clamp the CHE to the gate. I've found she isn't as interested in these things if they just sit in her cage but if it's in her new "explorer pen" she will start running around the moment I put her in. She is almost completely phased out of her lousy food, Pretty Pets. I bought some live mealworms for Milton, and gave her one to chase as well. All the sudden there was a blur of chub and she was on a mission! 
She's settled into her cage really well. I have her on Carefresh Ultra, because of our pregnancy worries. I am praying that this will only ever be a worry- and not a reality. Either way I have been preparing for a worst case scenario of a birth and either Penny or a baby suffering a health issue. Because of this I've started gathering all the info I can on troubleshooting birth and getting together an emergency supply kit, and put aside some money for possible vet visits. 
Her nails are ALMOST at the length I want them to be. It's been a slow and stead one nail at a time process, and some nails could stand to be shorter still. Overall I'm amazed by my sweet girl. 

Tomorrow I will get some pictures of her, and Milton, their cages, and Penny's play pen.


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## jholstein11 (Dec 13, 2012)

awwwwwwww... i'm so glad she's doing so well!


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

Penny is doing pretty well! She is warming up to me slowly and totally adjusted to her new life of being a spoiled princess! She is even trying her wheel, there was poop on it this morning!! She is losing way more quills than she should be. I've done flax seed oil, olive oil rinses, and oatmeal baths. Her skin looks great now, but she is loosing quills constantly. Looks like we're off to the vet again. I'm going to post a question to get some advice now though. 
So far she has cost me around $200, for a "free" rescue. I was expecting it and don't regret a thing, but it's a prime example of what a free rescue is really going to cost.


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## Angy (Dec 5, 2012)

that is about the same cost of my FREE rescue came too. I also don't regret taking her in.


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

Angy, bless you for also taking in and supporting an animal in need!


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## GailC (Aug 20, 2011)

How is the weight loss going? Beep lost around 20 grams then stopped, I think I need to cut her portion down a bit.


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

Going well! She's still not a big wheeler so weight loss hasn't been too impressive. I posted about adding to my mix and got some good advice! She's going to get more veggies and no other treats for a while. I was worried since so many quills were falling back but all new ones are growing in really well! She is a total grump though! Waiting with crossed fingers to hit the 55 day mark and know she is safely off preggo watch! 
Maybe Beep has hit her weight loss plateau? Fingers crossed for her! If either of our girls start to loose weight again we will have to compare notes on how it happened!


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## GailC (Aug 20, 2011)

Beep is a complete grump too, I really need to spend more time with her. She was wheeling pretty good for awhile but stopped recently, she has really bad nails and I think they bother her feet. Its something her new owners will need to have the vet work on, even cut as short as I can get them, they still curl too much.

I have a play pen but it so cold in our house, I don't let her use it much. I'm have to get that room warmed up at least in the evening so she can get more exercise. I've been slowly trying veggies with her but I should try more. Cooked carrots and squash baby food are about all she will try at the moment. 

I hope she hasn't hit her plateau yet, she is still hovering around 700 grams. With her bad leg, I don't think she will ever be trim but I do hope she can lose at least 100 grams.


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## SpikeMoose (Dec 9, 2012)

How is Beep doing? Any progress with weight?
Penny hasn't lost much weight, and seems personally offended if I offer her veggies as a treat. She will turn her nose, walk away, and huff if I try to get a snuggle! :roll: she's got such an attitude! I really hope I can catch a photo of her favorite sleeping position... Food bowl pushed to the entrance to her igloo, tipped over, and her splatted out with her paw on the bowl!! :lol: if someone else told me their hedgie did this I would think they were making it up, I crack up every time! 
My main worry has been on my Doberman Callie, who is going through a series of meds and tests for a possible autoimmune or cancer- tests so far haven't been what the vet will call "100% or conclusive"... Thankfully the hedgies are doing well and Penny is baby free KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!


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