[Hedgemom7]

Hi! I'm the mum of Jeffrey, an adopted adult male hedgie, about two years old (the breeder didn't know how old and it's not really possible to tell). In the past month or so he developed an odd lump on his back about behind his left ear. Of course, I immediately took him to his vet and got it checked out. It was extremely strange because he developed it less than a week after a vet visit, and popped up literally out of nowhere, about the size of a nickel. She said that it looked benign and did not show the characteristics of a tumor, which was my biggest concern as I know how prone these little guys can be to cancer. The options were to leave it, or get surgery done to remove it. Because it looked benign I made the decision to leave it be for the time being and keep a very close eye on it to see if anything changed (the vet pulled his poor quills around the lump so that I could keep an eye on it). Recently, it's looked a little bit bigger to me, although it doesn't bother him if I apply some gentle pressure. I am starting to seriously consider surgery because even though it will be expensive, I want him to be comfortable. This is a really long-winded way of saying, has anyone taken their hedgies to Dr. Heidi Hoefer at Island Exotic Veterinary Care, and if so, what was your experience like? I've read great things about her work with exotics, I just felt that at times she could've been gentler with my little guy; because he was adopted and an adult, he is very attached to me and gets very scared of anyone else. I wanted to make sure he is in good hands if I decide to go through with surgery. Thanks for taking the time to read this! Please let me know if you've heard anything of Dr. Hoefer!