[courtneyy11]

hello!

So Tucker just turned 2 in the middle of October. Shortly after that he started walking funny. He doesn't put a lot of pressure on his back left leg. When he first starts to walk around he falls over but quickly gets back up. Some days it seems like he is getting better and other days he seems the same (not better or worse). He hasn't been on his wheel and is sleeping a lot more than normal. He is still eating and drinking like normal. I took him to the vet twice and they gave him Metacam both times - the first time it helped and Tucker started moving around more and was running. But this last time it didn't help him as much - he started walking more around his cage, but he won't go on his wheel. He has been off the medicine for a week now. The last few days he has been walking around his cage - he walks against the edge and it seems to help hold him up. He also climbs over me during cuddle time. So he does not have complete lack of mobility it is just not like it used to be. I made an appointment to get him x-rays on Tuesday. I was just wondering if anyone ever experienced something like this and had any idea what could be going on. I have talked to the breeder multiple times and he has never had a case of Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome so we are hoping to rule that out. I am also a little nervous about the appt on Tuesday because in order to get a good x-ray Tucker has to be sedated. I worry that sedation isn't good for him and I really don't know what to expect. For the people who have had a hedgehog sedated - can you give me some information on it? How soon will he wake up from it and will it affect his behavior?

Thank you!
Courtney

 

[Annie&Tibbers]

Sedation isn't the most awesome thing, and it carries some risks of complications, but it's sometimes necessary. With my little guy, he was groggy that night, but it could easily have been from the wake-up-in-the-daytime-to-go-to-the-vet aspect of things, too.

Good luck on figuring it out!

I don't have any experience, but other possibilities for movement issues that aren't WHS: stroke, arthritis, sprain or pain... If it's arthritis (does that happen in 2 year olds? Seems young...) a heating pad and painkillers can help. If it ends up being a chronic condition (I hope not!), you can build little walls (rolls of towel, etc) into corridors to help him have more things to lean against as he's moving around...

 

[courtneyy11]

sorry it took so long to get back on here. thank you for your response. The sedation went well, but the x-rays didn't show that much. I asked the vet about arthritis and he said that the x-ray did show slight arthritis in Tucker's spine and said that it is a possibility that it could also be starting in his leg. He is on metacam again for two weeks to see if it helps - if it does then we will continue giving it to him on an as needed basis. Fingers crossed that this does the trick and he can start moving around easier soon.

Thanks again!

 

[Annie&Tibbers]

Something that helped for my tiny friend when he stopped running on his wheel was to let him run around more on a flat surface (supervised free-run of the apartment). The xrays didn't show us much except maybe a bit of a back-tweak which would be aggravated by the wheel's curve. He's still running way less on his wheel than I'd like, but runs at full-tilt, no problems, around the apartment for hours, which leads me to think that the wheel's curvature aggravates his (assumed) back pain.

Good luck!