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Possible Lung Tumor?

2K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  FamilyOfExotics 
#1 ·
I posted this information in the Memorials section of the forum as well, but I would really like to see if anyone has any ideas of what might have happened to our little Lucifer..

Lucifer was our first hedgie. We had only had our little buddy for 3 weeks when this happened, he was only about 12 weeks old :cry:

Both my boyfriend and I worked a 5 hour shift that evening, so he was alone in his cage. When my boyfriend got home he found him curled up in his little igloo with blood around him. By the time he had gotten home it was already too late.. Lucifer had passed away :( We were able to determine that the blood came from his nose and mouth, and that there weren't any external injuries. Both my boyfriend and I are college students so we cant afford to have him sent away for a necroscopy, and to be honest, I don't think we could handle it. After extensive research we have come up with the idea that it may have been tumors in his lungs, but he just seems so young! We had no warning signs that he was sick, but I am going to include more information. This is all from the last couple days before his passing.

Food Type: Hedgehog Diet by 8 in 1 (This is what he was fed at the pet store, we didn't have a chance to switch him before it happened)
Appetite: Normal, he would eat around 2 tbsp of food a day. We also gave him some treats as a supplement that included: apple, kiwi, and some banana. We tried meal worms but he just wouldn't eat them at all.
Thirst: Normal, we cleaned his bowl and gave him fresh water everyday and we saw him drinking plenty
Poop: Completely normal. It was formed and a brown colour. He seemed a little constipated one day but that only lasted about 5 hours before he was pooing normally again.
Activity Level: Normal, he would wheel every night and explore when we brought him out of his cage for a little while. No lethargy
Mood: Normal, he was always a little huffy when we first picked him up but he would soon uncurl and fidget until we put him down to explore. His mood never really changed other than becoming slightly more huffy in the last week. We assumed his huffiness was from his quilling because he was also dropping a couple quills a day. He didn't let it stop him though.
Cage Temp: We have an ambient thermometer on his cage and a heat lamp that kept him at a constant temperature between 77-80 Fahrenheit. We always checked on the temp.
Lighting: We have a lot of natural lighting so we didn't use any lamps other than the heat lamp (we were in the process of ordering a CHE for him but he passed too quickly) that emitted a red light. Since its summer the days are nice and long.
Bedding and Etc: He had white carefresh in his cage because no pet store near by sold fleece liners and we were ordering some online. We used yesterdays news in his litter box, but he never used it. He also has a larger plastic igloo to hide in and a wheel to run on. The wheel is metal however and the flooring of it was tightly knit metal mesh. Again, we were in the process of finding a new plastic one that would work for him..

I'm sorry for the really long post, but I wanted to make sure I included everything.
 
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#2 ·
I know that my hedgie has already passed away so it isn't super important to make a reply, but I am just looking for any possible ideas on what might have happened to him.. You don't have to be completely sure about it, just an idea would be nice. If anyone has one that is. Thanks again
 
#3 ·
I'm sorry you lost your sweet little boy.

If it was lung tumours, he would have been having progressively more difficulty breathing, possibly coughing, loosing energy and loosing appetitel. You would have seen some sort of deterioration in activity level and behaviour.

Except for the fact that he passed in bed, my first thought was that he'ed choked on food. Whatever it was it was sudden. Something like a heart attack or stroke is also possible but rare in one so young.

Without having had a necropsy, you are never going to know what happened. Sometimes they are worth the price just for the peace of mind, especially in one so young.
 
#5 ·
Some will do a necropsy for free. The very first hedgehog I had a necropsy was done by a vet I had never used before (mine was out that day). He did it for free. He sat with me, asked lots of questions about what was happening before the hedgehog died, and did the necropsy. He considered it an educational experience for himself.

Its always worth calling and asking.
 
#7 ·
Thanks so much everyone for the opinions :) I really really appreciate it.

We weren't able to talk to our regular vet because he was away so we talked to a secretary/ assistant from another practice on the phone. Maybe she didn't know what she was talking about, but she said that they normally charge anywhere from $100- $200+ depending on the animal.. We weren't exactly clear headed and hearing that we decided it might be easiest on us if we laid him to rest. I am going to do some more calling around and find out how much it would be from our regular vet. I'm a little upset that we missed out on this opportunity to find out what happened, but I'm still happy knowing that he is resting in a nice place.

Again, thank you so much everyone
 
#8 ·
Lilyhogs said:
my thought might be an aneurism. They can be congenital and would be sudden and expalin the bleeding from the mouth and nose.
Lung aneurysms are very rare and don't usually cause bleeding from the nose and mouth, most of the bleeding from a lung aneurysm is into the lung tissue or the chest cavity.
 
#9 ·
FamilyOfExotics said:
she said that they normally charge anywhere from $100- $200+ depending on the animal..
For future reference for anyone who may go through this.. and I hope you never have to...

The amount she quoted you sounds like the costs for a full necropsy. A full necropsy is where they send tissue samples off to lab. However, there is a more basic version called a gross necropsy, where the vet does a general exam of the organs. Often times a vet can figure out what happened through a gross necropsy. I have only had samples sent off to lab once, and that was because the gross necropsy wasn't clear what happened.
 
#11 ·
Lilyhogs said:
sorry nikki i ment a brain one, anuerism in the brain in other animals can cause bleeding from the nose and mouth as well that is what i ment
Actually brain aneurysms don't cause any visible bleeding because all the bleeding is in the skull, there are no aneurysms that cause bleeding from the mouth or nose. A ruptured blood vessel in the throat can, but it has to be caused by something else.
 
#12 ·
Okay, so not an aneurysm then. Well thank you so much everyone for narrowing down our suspicions :) Also, I definitely didn't know about a Gross Necroscopy. We will be doing a lot more research on that! We really appreciate everyone here who offered suggestions. I can't completely express my gratitude for the information I have learned here :)
 
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