[OzzieTheHedgie]

My 3 year old Ozzie had gotten an abscess tooth and has been on antibiotics since last Tuesday. The swelling has gone down significantly so I think they are working but he has been starting to eat less and less and now since a couple days ago he won’t eat or drink any water.
This morning I gave him his medication and then syringed him some water since his mouth is noticeably dry.
He is extremely lethargic and he just seems like he’s not “all there”.
Also starting this morning when he walks he is very wobbly and weak. We are calling around to local vets since we are out of town.
I’m so so scared and worried, I don’t know what to do. He’s breathing quite slowly, it’s almost like he falls asleep while I’m holding him.
I’m panicking at this point, no vet around us knows anything about hedgehogs. Please if you know anything I can do please please let me know.

 

[Kalandra]

Call the veterinarian you took him too originally. Ask him what to do. He may not be tolerating the antibiotic and he may recommend taking him off of it or prescribe a different version. Let him know you are out of town. It may be possible for him to prescribe something that you can pick up at a pharmacy. No matter what call them. They have his records and know the dosage/medication that was prescribed.

I would also suggest starting to offer him water and food via a syringe.

 

[SpikyPepper]

You mentioned you syringed him some water, try syringe feeding him some wet cat food too (so you could get something in his empty belly) But go slow and steady. Best suggestion I could give is only not to bother him much. I hope your hedgehog will be better soon, sending lots of hugs to Ozzie.

 

[LoriHedgehogs]

If he has been on antibiotics, his belly could be upset because it kills off that bacteria as well. When we do antibiotics we tend to also give prebiotic as well . It's called Benebac and can be found in some of the local pet stores.

 

[OzzieTheHedgie]

Thank you for all the replies.
also a little update:

I ended up syring feeding him water and soft cat food and made sure he stayed warm. His wobbling was most definitely due to his weakness and he lost a lot of weight.
So far he had seemed a lot more happy and normal besides still not running on his wheel.

Today he was dropped off at the vet and will need to be put under anesthesia in order to see exactly what is going on because the swelling is not reducing, and also his one eye is very swollen and I’ve been having to put eye drops in it although I’m pretty sure he has lost sight completely in that eye but I’m hoping it isn’t permanent. We will know exactly what is going on later today after his surgery.