Hedgehog Central banner

Post eye-removal

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  Madiannereid 
#1 ·
It’s been a traumatic week. Gremlin suddenly had an enucleated eye and I rushed him to the vet the next morning, who gave me some eye drops to try and save it but two days later it had to come out so he (the vet) removed it and stitched it up. He said no wheel for two weeks, but Grem is three days in with no wheel and I’m worried that he’s frantic and bored. I had him in a new playpen type cage run on the floor and he spent the entire time in it circling it frantically searching for a way to get out, and rubbing both his good eye and freshly stitched wound against it! He’s also started digging and I’m afraid he’d going to start trying to climb (no evidence for this but I’m a bit on high alert right now, given I don’t even know how he got the original injury). He’s always run at least 4 hours a night, usually many more. I’m also worried he hasn’t been pooping without his wheel since I can’t see any around. I have no idea how old he is since some human garbage abandoned him and a friend found him in a garden last year (he’s been with me for a year now). Anyway, my point is; will he poop with no wheel, and what’s worse, him being bored or me giving him the wheel for a supervised, short time? Him injuring his eye really shook me, since I really have done everything in my power to keep him safe and happy and healthy and I’ve done a mountain of research since last year. I’m sure he must be in pain, it’s a major surgery! And the vet said he could only have three doses of pain meds due to his size, which are now done. Has anyone experienced with hedgies been through this?
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I haven't had one that was fully removed, but I had one with major eye surgery to remove a tumor that left him with his eye stitched shut while his eye recovered as he initially couldn't blink. He was a very active runner too and wouldn't go without his wheel. He went a very long time without defecating on his own. I ended up having to give him his wheel to walk the hedgehog.

I gave him a wheel three to four times a day to go to the bathroom. I also let him have it for short periods of time to run off some of his stress. You just have to watch closely and remove the waste to reduce risk of contamination of the wound. So the following is my opinion, not advice on what you should do. But removing the wheel with hopes that they will rest to recover is nice, but it doesn't always work that way. Its impossible to tell a stressed out hedgehog to chill. I've watched some try to climb walls. I'd rather monitor wheel running and remove feces when it happens because they aren't going to rest. Some have to run off their stress. Its a risk, their wounds need to stay clean. Their stitches need to stay in place. And they need to rest. But if they are going to dig out their stitches, burrow and cause more harm... well.... I'll take a calculated guess at what I think needs to happen.

I don't recall medication protocol with him (its been about 15 years ago) but it was intense due to the nature of his surgery, but I believe 3 days was all we had for pain medication, steroid & antibiotic eye drops went longer.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top