# Small, slimy, clear bloody poop?!!!



## Tasha (Feb 24, 2009)

Im calling the vet, but has anyone had this before?

It looked like a stool, but it was clear & slimy and had blood over it? No brown, but there were other normal healthy poop in his cage and he had been going normally when i bathed him last night.

Any suggestions, especially stuff i can ask the vet. Im very worried. Appetite, weight drinking and behaviour all normal, but he has got a dry skin problem me & vet have been trying to sort out for a while. He also had his first very small drop of Sunshine Factor the night before.

Thanks for any advice.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Probably the best thing you can do is to put the stool in a baggie and take it to the vet to examine. If that is not a possibility, get another stool sample to take in. Your vet will most likely want one to do a fecal float.

Otherwise, tell your vet exactly what you posted here. If the vet prescribes medication, ask for any possible side effects, how quickly you should expect to see improvement, and how long to wait before calling the vet back if you do not.

Yes I've seen odd stools like that one before. It was caused by high levels of bad bacteria in the intestines.


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## Tasha (Feb 24, 2009)

Thank you

I've put it in a small tub, but its drying out & doesn't look like much anymore. The vet appointment is this afternoon.

How bad is bad bacteria in the intestines? Is it treatable?


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I specified bad bacteria, because the intestines are full of good bacteria. For mine, her's was treated with Metronidazole/flagyl and doc gave us some carafate to coat the intestines (because of the blood). The bacterial infection cleared up. Depending on what caused the problem, it may be very treatable. 

The clear stuff (without seeing it) is likely mucous. When Bianca had her infection doc explained that stools normally have mucous but when they are inflammed/upset they can produce larger amounts, which then gets passed through the system. 

If you can get a stool sample closer to the time of the vet appointment, take that one too. I found with Bianca, she would have different stools during different times of the day. The nasty musousy ones would appear during the evening, and she would have more normal looking ones during the day.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Tasha said:


> I've put it in a small tub, but its drying out & doesn't look like much anymore. The vet appointment is this afternoon.


I've put hedgie poop in a clean baby food jar. It seems to keep them... um... "fresh" for the vet's inspection. But, yeah, best to try to get one as close to appointment time as possible.


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## ilufftoast (Aug 14, 2009)

hey did you ever find out what was wrong or what the blood was from?

i just noticed something similar in my toast's cage. she's about 8-9 weeks and has been very very grumpy lately so i just thought she was quilling but then today i noticed a mucusy stool with some blood in it. she seems okay now, more friendlier. I think maybe it was her first period? i dunno, do hedgehogs even do that? i'm really worried, i just got her last thursday and this is my first hedgehog experience


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## Vortex (Aug 28, 2008)

hedgehogs do not get there "Period" like humans do.
if her poop was bloody and musousy i would take her to a vet.
good luck, hope everything is okay with both hedgies!


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## Tasha (Feb 24, 2009)

Well I took Henry to the vet on Monday evening with the bloody sample.
The vet gave Henry a good feel for for lumps, bumps, obstruction etc but found nothing (which is good!). She then explained that there are 2 different bad bacteria that each need a different type of antibiotic to treat them. She gave him an injection with one of these (sorry can't remember the name but it began with B?) and told me to bring him back today if no improvement. I asked about taking the sample for testing but she said not yet, which i wasn't overly happy with.  

Well, theres been no blood but he has had a small green poop each night, and last night there was some clear mucas type stuff round some of his normal poops, so we're going back this afternoon. I think she plans to give him the antibiotic that Kalandra mentioned, but we will see.

Could he's excessively dry skin have any connection to this?


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Poor baby. The green stool could be the antibiotic. Antibiotics kill off the good bacteria that is in the GI as well. Which can lead to green stools. They often clear after the hedgehog is off antibiotics. However, ask doc about giving him probiotics. Probiotics help encourage good bacteria. If a probiotic is used it should be given between antibiotic doses as the antibiotic will kill the probiotic if given too closely, defeating the purpose of giving it. I always sprinkle a little acidolphilus (a source of probiotics available at a health food store) on my hedgehog's food when giving antibiotics to prevent the 'greenies'.

Honestly, I thought it would take more than one shot to clear up the problem. If it started to get better then got worse again, it would seem to reason that it killed some but not all and the bacteria has started to flourish again.

You may want to call her and tell her what is going on before taking him back in. Maybe she will change her mind about needing to see him and prescribe meds or continue to wait/see. Mine will do this if he has seen the hedgehog very recently. It helps reduce the stress on the hedgehog.


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## Tasha (Feb 24, 2009)

Thanks for all the helpful advice, especially Kalandra.  

I tried asking to speak to the vet cause i thought it may be a bit early to take him back, but the receptionist just thought i should bring him in, so i did, and the vet said virtually the same thing as you and to give more time! Luckily its only a 20 min trip there and back so hopefully wasn't too bad on Henry. Also he's seen the vet so often (about his skin problem) that he's now getting used to her!

I've got to go back on tues to see the skin specialist (his flaking is terrible and its beginning to look sore around the ears) so if still a problem with his belly i can talk to them again then without a another visit.

Im hoping to get my poor baby sorted soon. I think he's generally a bit of a grump anyway but none of this can be helping him. As long as he's eating,drinking and running on his very beloved wheel ill try not to worry too much.

Thank you again, its helping so much.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

You are very welcome. It actually scares me sometimes with how much I know about hedgehog stools. But if you have hedgehogs in your life for long enough you will realize that you can tell a lot about their health from their stool.

I hope your little one starts to get over this real soon. If you can get his skin to be less itchy you may find that his personality will improve. 

Also watch his weight if you aren't already. Weight loss (or unexplained gain for that matter) can often be the first sign we see that our hedgehogs are sick. They weigh so little that it is hard to determine that they have lost weight without actually weighing them.


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## Tasha (Feb 24, 2009)

Ok, its been about 2 weeks now and things looked like they were getting better after being put on a second lot of antibiotics. But last night there was blood in his poop again and some small bright green ones.

I took him back to the vet who has now put him on Panacur for some sort of worm after getting advice from another exotic pet vet. His poop sample has also been sent for analysis, but im getting worried. Is there anything i can do in the mean time as it can take a week for the results?! :evil:

The other worry is that his weight is slowly creeping up. At first i though it might be because he seemed to be getting bigger in size, but am now worried its connected. He was 285g for ages then about a month ago has slowly started to creep up to 305g (all weights before pooping) He's between 10mnth-1yr old at guess.

He's eating drinking and acting fine and if i wasn't checking his poop you wouldn't know anything was wrong, but im now getting extremely worried!


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