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Red bump near mouth

3K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Antonia1 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I noticed a red bump around my hedgehog's mouth last week. We went to the vet, but she didn't seem to know exactly what it is, so she gave a cream maybe it dissapears. After almost a week, I don't see any improvment. did any of you had the same problem? I don't really know what to do now. She is active as normal, she eats, so there aren't any other issues.
 

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#2 ·
You'll need to work with your veterinarian to determine what the next steps in diagnosis is. Call your veterinarian and give her an update that it didn't improve and ask what the next step is. She may decide to try an oral antibiotic to attack the issue with a systemic drug instead of a topical or may recommend removal/biopsy/etc.


I've seen lots of bumps and spots on hedgehogs over the years. Sometimes it can be an infection, sometimes its something benign and sometimes its a tumor. Which is why you'll need to work with your veterinarian to go through the various stages of diagnosis.
 
#4 ·
What are your concerns? Sadly, sometimes the best option we have is to remove and figure out what it is. Express your concerns to your veterinarian, ask lots of questions of your veterinarian, let her know what you will agree to, and make a decision from there. For example, my vet knows that if the mass is too deep, invasive and is going to create disfigurement or have a long painful recovery that I would rather not go through with that and deal with whatever it turns out to be with a palliative care approach.

I'd also question to see if she would agree to an oral antibiotic run. In my experience creams just don't do the trick sometimes you need a bit more of a systemic approach to get rid of the issue.

Another question to ask is if a fine needle aspirate of the spot could help with diagnosis. My vet often will do an FNA to get an idea of what is inside the lump. Depending on what he sees under the microscope often tells us if we want to try an antibiotic round or just go straight to removal. FNAs are not as good as excision to biopsy, but sometimes they can help.
 
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