# My special Easter present!



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Okay, so a bit of a story first!! The day started out pretty stressful, but had a good ending, I promise. 

Jackie (Soyala_Amaya, runs Kansas City Hedgehog Rescue) was out of town this weekend & I was going to watch Danu since she's still on antibiotics for a UTI. On Friday, Pancake, the rescue who came in at 800g, had a severe hibernation attempt. After lots of cuddles and observation, we decided she was doing okay enough & that I would bring her home along with Danu for the weekend. Unfortunately, Pancake didn't recover very well from the attempt & was still very out of it on Saturday night. She didn't eat Saturday night either, so I started syringe-feeding this morning. When Jackie got to my place, we figured out she was severely dehydrated & started giving her Pedialyte. She seemed to be having trouble swallowing and breathing though, so we got worried enough to head to the emergency vet.

So here come the silver lining parts of the situation! First, we found an amazing emergency vet!! They were willing to see hedgehogs, which is rare enough. The vet we saw also seemed to have a little experience with hedgehogs - he knew how to handle her, their usual behavior, and was good at getting her mouth open for a look. He confirmed that she was severely dehydrated & that most of her symptoms were due to that. He gave her sub-cutaneous fluids to help get her rehydrated, and gave us antibiotics for a URI as well. 

Now, the bill was already amazingly low for an emergency vet - it came out to only $160 for the visit, sub-q fluids, antibiotics, and a couple cans of Hills A/D!! Well, during the visit, my background in wildlife rehab was mentioned, and the vet took notice. He brought out his Easter surprise - two wild bunnies that someone had brought him this morning after they'd been attacked by a dog. He asked me to take them, so I brought them home & will be taking them to the local rehab tomorrow after work. The vet gave us a $45 discount for taking the bunnies, so I only paid $115! We couldn't believe how cheap it was. Needless to say, we found our emergency vet from now on!!

So, on to my Easter present...Well, I've been in love with Pancake since she came to Jackie three months ago. After having her at my house this weekend, I decided to add to the zoo. Jackie immediately said yes, so....Bindi has a big sister!!! And I get Pancake snuggles ALL THE TIME!  It's going to be a rocky few days while I get her back on her feet, but hopefully she's feeling better with more fluids into her. Lots of Pancake spam will be joining my usual thread soon!


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## Dumble (Feb 22, 2016)

YEAH!!!!! This is great news! Congratulations!!!! Double the hedgie double the love!!! And how exciting to babysit little wild bunnies What a nice ending to a difficult weekend. Very happy for you


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

Hooray for pancake!!!!
I can't help but wonder if it's the same wildlife rehab I took a baby bunny that had a run in with a dog many years ago.


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## Sarahgx__ (Mar 8, 2016)

So exciting for you!!!


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

What a wonderful Easter!!! What a lucky baby th have you for a MaMa!!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Definitely double the love...Pancake is a lot of hog to love. :lol: Her weight is so much better though!! But she's still a large and long hedgie. We found someone in the UK tonight that makes and sells 14" bucket wheels and I'm contacting her to buy one for Pancake.

It looks like it's still going to be a rough couple days for poor Pancake. She's already quite dehydrated again when I took her out for meds, oral fluids, & food tonight.  I'm going to be calling my usual vet tomorrow from work to see if I can take her in for more sub-q fluids after I drop the bunnies off. Going to be a super busy day tomorrow too...Time for bed!!

(And Two, it's Operation Wildlife. Not sure how long they've been going, but I think it's been quite a while, so maybe!)


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## twobytwopets (Feb 2, 2014)

It's the same place, I belive. I was thinking it was outside Olethe, but the outside of there and Shawnee blend together. And I was young enough to not be concerned with specifically what town I was technically in.


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## shinydistraction (Jul 6, 2014)

Please tell me that you got pictures of the bunnies! Also, I need updated pics of Pancake. Yep. This is a need, not a want.


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## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

I go away for the weekend and all this craziness happens! I'm so glad you guys found a good emergency vet. Pancake seems like such a sweetheart; I'm glad she's going to get to be with you now. She's a lucky girl. Hopefully another round of fluids does the trick.

And I agree! Bunny pictures before they go off to rehab!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I have one picture of one of the bunnies I'll post later - the other was one directly attacked by the dog & it's already gone from shock.  The other was unharmed & seemed in good shape, so hoping it'll still be going when I get home from work today so I can take it over to OWL. Won't be getting any more pics though, it's not worth harassing the little one. Bunnies are the hardest common animal to rehab & are extremely susceptible to dying of shock, fright, etc.

Pancake took 3.5cc of Pedialyte & 2cc of Hills A/D this morning along with her meds. She seems to like the Pedialyte now & sucks it right down. She's still quite dehydrated though, and very miserable. I promise lots of pictures once she's feeling better!!


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

I'm glad you are keeping pancake, I know she'll be very happy in your home.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Living bunny successfully dropped off at the rehab's receiving center! Hopefully the little one will make it, since they're already so close to release age.

Just wanted to post a quick update on Pancake with good news - she seems to be feeling better as she's been a bit huffier today, though she runs out of steam very quickly. I think this morning's food & Pedialyte helped. We got in at the vet this afternoon & got more sub-q fluids. My vet doesn't think she really has a URI, that everything was just due to the severe dehydration. But we're going to finish out the week of antibiotics, just to be safe. I'm about to go give her some more food (with Bene-Bac added) & Pedialyte before I make a run to Petsmart. Going to get her old food, even though it's way too high in fat (20%) just so I have something to offer that I know she likes. Then I can see when she starts to eat on her own again. The food won't hurt for a short time & then I can work on finding kibbles to switch her to in the meantime. I don't fancy trying to syringe feed her for a month before I find something she'll eat on her own! Pictures soon, I swear! Just wanted to post a quick update before I go running off again.


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

do you think she'll be as good with food as Bindi? Or as stubborn as Ichiro?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Judging by Jackie's struggles with her, she's going to take after Ichiro! :roll: We weren't positive on what her old food was before I headed to Petsmart, so I grabbed a couple different things instead. Natural Balance Peas & Duck, and a new Wellness food (or at least new to me - I haven't seen it before, but not sure how long it's been out). It's called Wellness TruFood - http://www.petsmart.com/cat/dry-foo..._id=36-30722&_t=pfm=category&pfmvalue=faceted I grabbed these two because I like both of these brands and each one was available in 2lb bags, which is awesome for hedgies. Petsmart allows return of opened bags, so if she really doesn't like them, I can take them back & try something else. I have a couple other stores with better variety to check out as well. One of them has a whole rack of sample bags & I think they're free, though my memory might be wrong.

Here's the Easter bunny:


Pancake put up a pretty decent fight for our second round of syringing stuff, so I didn't get much into her. Going to be doing one more round, plus her antibiotics, in a little bit here. I'm sure I'll get the same reaction because she's hissing every time I walk into my room now. :lol: "NO, I DON'T WANT IT, GO AWAY" Nice to be getting yelled at again in hedgiespeak!


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## Artemis-Ichiro (Jan 22, 2016)

lol I hope you win the fight she needs it. 

Let me know which food works because Mr. stubborn only eats the natural balance with salmon and picks few kibbles of the last one I got... I had tried like 3 or 4 others and no way! He's picky like "mom". Lol.

Edit: I saw the pic, he's tiny, hope he makes it.


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## FinnickHog (Dec 1, 2014)

That bunny is so tiny! I'm sad one didn't make it. Hopefully this one does okay now that it's at rehab.

Oh Pancake, you have to take your medicine, even if it's gross and someone is shoving it in your face! Did Jackie try any fresh foods with her yet? I hope you and the little hissyfit manage to work out a decent food compromise :lol:.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'll definitely let you know, Artemis!

I think she tried some insects and freeze dried beef liver, both with no luck. Once she's eating kibble on her own and back to good health, I'll start offering her something from Bindi's menu each night and see what happens.

I should've been asleep over an hour ago... But I'm super excited about the newest update because GUESS WHO'S WHEELING!  she's also pooped twice today, just small ones, but it's something!! She did decent eating this morning and evening, so we skipped food and just did pedialyte and meds tonight in hopes that she'll get hungry and try her kibble. Fingers crossed! She's definitely getting tired of the syringe, but still taking her meds and the ped pretty easily, all things considered. Now to just get her to eat on her own...


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