[Stephanie76]

So, my 13 week old boy started his final - adult quilling about 3 days ago. I noticed that he is losing about 2 - 4 adult quills in the mix with his baby quills. Is this normal? They have the follicle attached still, but I know that does not mean much in the way of mites, but I just thought I would state this observation.

 

[Stephanie76]

Thought I would bump this as I noticed another adult quill this morning.

Also I did see a concentrated area of just redness (no bumps or wounds) on a tiny portion of skin where the skirt line meet the quill line this morning. Should I just keep an eye on this or make a vet visit? Poo's look good as does urine. No change in appetite (he is eating little less than usual, but I hear they do when they are quilling) and his weight is only going up! He did have his first peanut butter experience last night. He gave it pea size portion of PB two or three small licks and then anointed with it.. and semi-around the area that is red but I just don't see that being it. :roll:

Thoughts?

 

[krbshappy71]

Sorry am too new at this to help. My first thoughts are to stop any new treats to rule out an allergic reaction to anything in the peanut butter or any other foods you have been introducing. (for the redness area)
My other thought is maybe a nice bath with the Aveeno or olive oil to soothe his skin during this quilling. If the peanut butter did irritate at all (I agree probably not but its all we have to go on) then maybe the bath would remove the irritation.

 

[shetland]

How is Leroux today? Is he any better?

 

[Stephanie76]

Thanks for asking Shetland!

It actually looks like something is up. He poo's are a bit inconsistent with looking fine one moment and then the next one ... isn't so fine looking. :? Also, the area of irritation seems to have a scab on it now. I am really stressing about this just because the poor guy hasn't had a break since he entered our home: with gender confusion, staph infection - treated with Baytril, and his quilling. I am really worried about him.

He seems to be in good spirits (well, for *him*). He is still losing an adult quill here and there. When they come off, there seems to be a lot of gunk at the base of the quill. No idea what that is (maybe the flax seed oil build up?!).

***sigh***
If the scab area doesn't clear by Saturday, I am going to take him in.

Thanks again for your concern, I have no idea what any of this is.

 

[shetland]

If you have to visit the vet, maybe you should take a fer quills with any attachments with you. I am sure you know far better than I do; just a thought I had. Hope the little one is better soon. Keep the updates coming!

 

[Stephanie76]

Very good idea shetland!!! I do collect the quills but probably wouldn't of thought to bring them in!

When he is hurting, I am hurting.. I just want him well (as does a lot of us on this board). I will definitely keep you posted.

 

[Nancy]

The poo inconsistency may be from the antibiotic. Which one was he on?

Perhaps the antibiotic did not completely get rid of the staph infection and it has come back. If they treat him again, go with Antirobe. It is what most breeders use for staph and works well.

Don't use any oil based product on him as it will seal the pores and hold any infection in. Flax seed usually washes off fairly easily so try a bath with some Aveeno to clean some of it off.

Count his kibble and keep a record so you know if his food intake is going down.

 

[Stephanie76]

He was on Baytril for 2 weeks, but that was in early December. You would think his stool would regulate more since then, but from what you all are saying, it can be pretty rough on their tum tums.

I just gave him a bath in just the Aveeno oatmeal and used no oils. I think that you are right Nanc with the sealing the pores because it looks like the oil is just building up under his quills. I was able to gently rub the top of his skirt and get most of it off. There is that little red spot, looks a bit better tonight. I will just keep an eye on that.

I counted his kibble and will also be weighing him daily. He is only at 278 grams as of tonight, but he is very much teardrop shaped and he seems to love his food mix.

I still have that vet appt reserved just in case that spot gets worse or I notice a decrease in appetite.

Will keep you all posted!

 

[Stephanie76]

Actually, is it normal for them to lose adult quills while they are doing their final quilling? He is at 13 weeks as previously stated.

I was just laying here with him on my lap after the bath, and 2 adult quills fell off.

*edit
Make that 7 adult quills. *le sigh* :?

 

[shetland]

Hi Leroux! How are you today?

 

[Stephanie76]

Not much change, sad to say. He had 42 kibble in his bowl last night and this morning only 13 remained (which is normal for him). Lost about 4 adult quills in my morning hedgie-love session this morning. I am not seeing any bald spots on him yet, but something is not okay with him. He is getting on his wheel to use the potty, but doesn't look like he is running like he was 3 days ago. Mood seems the same, irritable and huffy.

A little window into my soul-

I never thought I would feel what I have read others feel on here, meaning, like I am failing as a hedgie parent, but I really feel that way. I have had little tear jerking moments the last 12 hours where the husband has to tell me everything will be okay. I still have his appointment set for tomorrow at 2pm (mountain standard time), but I am sitting here at work wondering why I am delaying this. I know something is wrong and my hedgies are my kids, hands down. I am also concerned that if I take him to see this vet (HWS and HHC approved vet) and they don't help, ugh.. I am just in a state of major concern (even though things could be much worse).

 

[krbshappy71]

Aww honey you are not failing him. You are obviously paying VERY close attention to his behavior, eating and pooping habits, quill situation. That is not failing him, that is being a very attentive hedgie-mom. The vet will have some insight and then you will have the information if there is a next time. It is how we learn. If its something internal how are you supposed to know? We don't have x-ray eyes and they can't talk. You have a vet appointment already set up, you are not saying "oh sorry no money for my hedgie" you are taking care of the situation.

HANG IN THERE!!

 

[Stephanie76]

~~ Update From Vet Visit:

Went to a local vet here in town that is HWS and HHC friendly vet. She was great!! She saw Mr. Leroux, who lost 14 ADULT quills just while I was there. I gave her the symptoms I saw and told her my concern over the quill loss. I told her that he doesn't seem to be scratching at all, but I wasn't sure if this could be mites or not. She was leaning more towards fungal infection since he clearly wasn't scratching. She also noted that the skin on his rump looked really good and she said that wasn't typical for mites. She wanted to avoid a skin scraping as much as possible so she wanted to do fungal tests first. She got out the good ole' UV light (a black light) and ran it along the red irritated scab area and his front brow. He was glowing a bright fluorescent green. She said it looks like we might have ringworm, but she wasn't going to make a decision on it until the fungal (vet term: DTM Fungal Culture) culture came back. She does think it is fungal though. She plucked some of his quills (poooooor baby!) and she collected the ones that fell off during the visit. She gave me "Prepodyne" solution and that I was instruction to soak him in nightly. They said to dilute it water and it should help while we are waiting for the culture to come back. She also took a fecal sample (which looked good to my untrained eye). I should be getting the fecal result here shortly. I am super pleased that she wasn't all about doing the skin scraping if it was required. She said "I simply don't think this is a case of mites and causing unnecessary discomfort doesn't seem to be a solution here." She also said she wouldn't mind calling her vet pal, Dr. Dressen (!!!) for anything she might get back on tests that she might have questions about. I was sooooo happy to hear that she wasn't too ****y to ask other vets for guidance AND that she is vet pals with Dr. Dressen!!!!

I also picked us up some fresh a/d and more syringes. Overall, I got slammed with a $150 vet bill for all of that. I do not feel ripped off in the least. I feel I walked away with answers and not more questions.

 

[Nancy]

Awesome. She sounds like a great vet. Hopefully he will be on the mend soon.

 

[Stephanie76]

Just got fecal results... *sigh* So looks like he has a build up of 2 bacteria that are showing "high numbers", one of which being Giardia... She now wants to treat him with mixture of two antibiotics that would help. I am having the husband pick up the meds but I know one of them is a strong brand of Clavamox.

This might be why he has 5 days of really good looking poos, then one or two days of not-so-great poos. I hope I am not overloading him with all of this...

 

[shetland]

I am so glad our baby now has a good doctor Steph! He will now start on his road to recovery. Little Mr. Grumpy is just so adorable. And you must never second guess your hedgie Mommy abilities again. You are so caring and attend to every detail of your babies lives. If you do doubt yourself again, I will have to hegienap your babies!!!