Hi,
Longtime reader, first-time poster here. I wish I had a happier question.
My little guy is about 4.5 years old (had him for the past 3 years), a lean running type hedgie whose healthy weight is around 350g. He's always been tiny (runt of his litter) and I feed him kitten kibble (science diet) to keep up his weight, plus regular snacks of mealworms and cooked turkey/chicken. (3-5 mealies/night or a 1-2 teaspoons of chicken)
He's seemed happy and healthy for as long as I've had him, with only one little skin issue and one scary night when he got too cold and had to be re-heated! Last week he seemed fine when I took him out for his nightly cuddles/snacks. I was away Friday-Saturday nights (roomie feeding him but not taking him out, he's mostly a one-person hedgie when it comes to cuddles) and I had a stomach bug Sunday-Monday nights, so I fed him and cleaned up his regular poops but didn't take him out to hold him. Yesterday I took him out and was shocked at how he'd suddenly become skin and bones! He ate a mealworm and then spat it out, and I realized he was also shaky on his feet. I weighed him and he had lost about 100 g since his last healthy weigh-in at a good hedgie vet. (Yes, I am kicking myself for not noticing this earlier and not doing frequent weigh-ins, but the shift from healthy-lean perky hedgie to deathly-thin happened so fast!)
He went to a vet this morning and she thinks it's lymphoma (no tests because she's not sure he'd come through anaesthesia). It was warm here last week and then got cold on the weekend but my roomie didn't put the heat on - but the vet didn't think he could deteriorate so fast because of that. I've cranked the heat back up for him anyways though. He's on a course of prednisone-by-oral-syringe, but she thinks we have a week if the prednisone doesn't work, at most a few weeks if it does and he starts eating and walking more clearly.
This is a plea for some advice making his likely last days or weeks as comfortable and happy as possible. He seems interested in food (sniffs it) but doesn't eat it. He wanders around his cage confusedly and then stops and plops down, when he's not curled up in his sleep log. If I put water near his mouth/nose he'll lick his nose to get it. Miraculously he just ate 3 mealies (about 8 hours after 1st prednisone dose) - but I had to snip them with scissors first or he couldn't seem to manage it or get them before they wiggled away.
He isn't interested in watered-down/mushed up kibbles or in wet cat food, or in chicken.
The vet said I should try to tempt him but didn't recommend syringing him broth or anything. That said, I'm in a small town where they don't see many hedgehogs so I appeal to you, the experts. Please help me help my darling hedgie
Longtime reader, first-time poster here. I wish I had a happier question.
My little guy is about 4.5 years old (had him for the past 3 years), a lean running type hedgie whose healthy weight is around 350g. He's always been tiny (runt of his litter) and I feed him kitten kibble (science diet) to keep up his weight, plus regular snacks of mealworms and cooked turkey/chicken. (3-5 mealies/night or a 1-2 teaspoons of chicken)
He's seemed happy and healthy for as long as I've had him, with only one little skin issue and one scary night when he got too cold and had to be re-heated! Last week he seemed fine when I took him out for his nightly cuddles/snacks. I was away Friday-Saturday nights (roomie feeding him but not taking him out, he's mostly a one-person hedgie when it comes to cuddles) and I had a stomach bug Sunday-Monday nights, so I fed him and cleaned up his regular poops but didn't take him out to hold him. Yesterday I took him out and was shocked at how he'd suddenly become skin and bones! He ate a mealworm and then spat it out, and I realized he was also shaky on his feet. I weighed him and he had lost about 100 g since his last healthy weigh-in at a good hedgie vet. (Yes, I am kicking myself for not noticing this earlier and not doing frequent weigh-ins, but the shift from healthy-lean perky hedgie to deathly-thin happened so fast!)
He went to a vet this morning and she thinks it's lymphoma (no tests because she's not sure he'd come through anaesthesia). It was warm here last week and then got cold on the weekend but my roomie didn't put the heat on - but the vet didn't think he could deteriorate so fast because of that. I've cranked the heat back up for him anyways though. He's on a course of prednisone-by-oral-syringe, but she thinks we have a week if the prednisone doesn't work, at most a few weeks if it does and he starts eating and walking more clearly.
This is a plea for some advice making his likely last days or weeks as comfortable and happy as possible. He seems interested in food (sniffs it) but doesn't eat it. He wanders around his cage confusedly and then stops and plops down, when he's not curled up in his sleep log. If I put water near his mouth/nose he'll lick his nose to get it. Miraculously he just ate 3 mealies (about 8 hours after 1st prednisone dose) - but I had to snip them with scissors first or he couldn't seem to manage it or get them before they wiggled away.
He isn't interested in watered-down/mushed up kibbles or in wet cat food, or in chicken.
The vet said I should try to tempt him but didn't recommend syringing him broth or anything. That said, I'm in a small town where they don't see many hedgehogs so I appeal to you, the experts. Please help me help my darling hedgie