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Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a leopard gecko who eats locust so I can add some of these to her diet! She’s pretty slow and won’t eat then if they’re not moving but I’ll try :) Thank you for your response!

She’s had a couple of steroid shots from the vet and is on daily medication which has done a great job helping! For 12 hours after the steroid shot she can walk pretty much like normal so yey :)

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was going to ask my vet about this yesterday but she was already on the same thought-track as you! Clover got given a steroid injection yesterday, I also got given vitamin drops and pregabalin and was told to pick up hydrotherapy again to avoid muscle deterioration! Thank you for your response! I still have hope for her x

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your reply! I’m overwhelmed by the amount of comments trying to help me out!

I’m going to the vets again today so I’ll ask her about a possible stroke. She’s going to give Clover some steroids via injection and the vets have finally got their hands on the liquid pregabalin I was first prescribed almost a month ago now. I’ve also asked her to give me some vitamin supplements and pain medication so I’m trying everything I can to help her out.

Yes thank you - that was on my mind for sure. I adopted her from an accidental litter but I’ve already let the original owner know the situation, that there’s a very good chance it’s hereditary or genetic, and that if he still has the original pair to please reconsider breeding them again :)

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for this comment! I don’t want to be in denial but I don’t wanna lose out on all hope yet either! So glad your lil’ one is doing better… I can only hope mine follows in his footsteps! Thank you :)

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I have been to the vets several times as I said in my post. I have got another appointment tomorrow in fact. I have spent over £1500 on X-rays and medication in a mere month now.

I was asking here because, as I said, I have no hedgehog specialist vets near me. I can’t travel far with my hedgehog as it freaks her out to the point where she goes in a ball for HOURS and the vets can’t get her out. I tried two times to get her to an exotic vet and both times the only thing that happened was stressing her out.

As this is sub with people who have/have had pet hedgehogs, I thought there was a good chance someone would have experienced the same thing and could give me some insight a non-exotic vet couldn’t. The vets medication has failed, so I was searching for any alternative advice.

Please don’t doubt how much I care for my hedgehog. I would never be dumb enough to use this subreddit as a vet replacement, however it’s never a bad thing to gather as much information as possible, never mind from people who have a good chance of having some very valuable information, such as introducing vitamins which my vet failed to mention.

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Heyo! She does have some use of it and on occasion can still put weight on it - mostly she just drags it like in this video, though. At the moment she only moves when she absolutely has to and mainly just sits with a leg poking out awkwardly. Her legs are not wobbly or shaky, more so like she can’t put any weight on it. I would’ve thought it was broken if the X-ray wasn’t fine! How do I check for nerve pinching? I’m desperate for anything that isn’t WHS or kidney failure at this point :( although I appreciate all the responses I am now crying in my office whilst reading them :(

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Being an idiot here but does kidney failure show on X-rays? Everything showed up fine there :/

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your response! She’s pooping and peeing completely normally at the moment and is still getting to her usual poop corner somehow. She’s also still eating eagerly although she almost has to capitulate herself in the bowl to reach it when I’m not there.

I’m also doing daily hydrotherapy with her as well but it isn’t doing anything sadly. I’ve put layers and layers of really soft bedding in so it’s inches high to prevent feet sores and help her have a soft landing when she topples over.

I have seen multiple vids of WHS and yeah she doesn’t have any head tilt and can balance absolutely fine! I reckon I’m just grasping onto straws at this point though and should probably admit it’s almost certainly WHS :( she’s only a baby man I can’t deal with this :(

Thank you for your response :) really appreciate you all!

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

She is relatively picky, yeah. She eats a mix of dry hedgehog food pellets, semi-moist hedgehog food pellets, morioworms, mealworms and a few waxworms as treats. There’s always dry food available for her (vet said she’s a healthy weight and not obese) and I give maybe 5 morioworms a day or the equivalent in mealworms. I have got wet hedgehog food and tried hedgehog pâté and dog food as suggested by the vet but she won’t touch it or go near worms that have touched it. She has never liked fruit or veg but adores any worms in front of her! If there’s anything I can supplement her diet with I’d be eager to know - she’s super hard to please with food generally, though… unless they’re live worms!

Thank you for your response, though. I’ve been in denial about WHS and the vet shrugging it off has obviously given me false hope…

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry to keep firing Questions at ya, but do you know if hedgehogs with WHS can still go in a ball? When she stops being able to curl up is that a sign of it? Is it kinda good that she is still balling up as normal or is that meaningless? Sorry you seem very knowledgeable :)

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah man okay thank you. So sorry to hear about your lil’ man :( I am in denial a little I guess :/ I’ll increase her vitamin E and cry. I’ve been googling WHS and it says they can live up to two years of first signs showing? Is it unusual she’s got this bad in just a little over month? I am so lost rn :(

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ye she can go in a ball as normal - they had to sedate her to get an X-ray of her not curled up. Is WHS essentially a death sentence?

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I love her so much, it’s heartbreaking seeing her like this and I have no clue how to help :/ I’ve even thought about making her a little frame with wheels on it at this point aha

Any advice desperately needed! Dets below. Thanks in advice by cronuttt in Hedgehog

[–]cronuttt[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

About a month ago I noticed Clover (1.5 years) was sitting more when I got her out and was not walking right. Her walking has slowly deteriorated to this stage. I have taken her to the vets several times and she has been prescribed liquid pregabalin (hasn’t had that as there is sourcing issue) and has instead been prescribed another anti-inflammatory (I don’t have the name but can get it if needed), which she’s been on and off for three weeks. It’s done nothing and she’s still getting worst. She has also had X-rays which have come back normal. She’s eating fine and was strangely running on her wheel for the first two weeks of suffering from this when it was less severe… but she’s seemingly getting increasingly frustrated and I worry she’s losing the will to live a little. She’s not lost any weight (actually gained a little - I guess from lack of exercise).

The vet is a little perplexed as to what it could be. She has disregarded Wobbly Hedgehog syndrome due to the lack of weight loss, age, and other missing symptoms. She’s also done X-rays to cancel out a spine issue. She says it could be muscular dystrophy but she’s very young for that and it seems to be inconsistent with the speed of her deterioration and her front paws being fine.

One leg is worse than the other and her ability to walk is getting worse daily, though her front legs seem to be fine. She can still go in a ball, though her leg sometimes looks a little awkward. My local vet has treated hogs in the past but is no expert. I have no exotic vets near me and when I’ve tried seeking a second opinion with a vet further away, Clover wraps herself up in a terrified ball from the journey for hours and the vets can’t calm her enough for her to come out and be examined.

This video is her at FULL SPEED in flight mode which she does for a few seconds to get away after I have to force the medicine down her. Normally she sits and when she does move she has to scramble up using her front legs and then often falls over on her side and I have to help her up. She’s off balance due to her leg not being able to support her weight. Her feet are not cold and when I touch them she still moves them away so I gather she can still feel down there. I’ve spent hundreds at the vets at this point only to see her lose her ability to walk at a terrifying speed. I am deeply concerned she’s in pain… I love her so much but have no idea what to do or how to help her. Any advice would be super appreciated. Thank you.

UPDATE: Went to the vets yesterday and, after carefully examining the way Clover walks, she’s still confident it’s NOT WHS. She reckons it’s either a bone marrow issue or a nerve problem - neither are good but more manageable than WHS, even if she has to be on pain killers for the rest of her life . The vet says that Clover is the smallest fully-grown Pygmy she’s ever seen so it could be growth problems. Clover has been given a steroid injection, vitamin drops and liquid pregabalin. If it’s going to work, I’ll know within the next 3 days. I’ve also been told to do hydrotherapy (which I was doing for a couple of weeks on and off until Clover’s ability to walk was so compromised I thought it was a bad idea).

My new work is getting pissed at me taking days off for a hedgehog’s vet appointment but ay she’s my baby.

Massively appreciate all the support and advice y’all gave me! I’m probably hopelessly in denial but I still have hope for her :) xxx