You Learn Something New...

Although I've been caring for hedgehogs for almost 25 years I'm always learning new things and so are the wonderful vets that provide their expertise. Yesterday was one such day. A hedgehog had been found in a garden, wandering around during the day screaming. Now if you ever hear a hedgehog scream it's not something you can quickly forget. Yes, hedgehogs do make noises but you know there is something seriously wrong when you hear this scream.

Thankfully the lady who found him contacted me and immediately took to a local vet. The hedgehog was then taken to Helen Pringle (A120, Little Hadham Medivet). On first examination all that could be found were two small bite wounds. The issue with bite wounds is you never know what damage they may have done inside, so Helen decided to X-ray. Sadly within a very short period of time the hedgehogs condition deteriorated rapidly, so it was decided the kindest action would be to euthanise.

Now in typical Helen fashion she decided to do an autopsy. It was discovered the hedgehog had a very large internal abscess and a lot of his muscle had died (photographs were taken but they are too graphic to put up). Helen then decided to check the X-rays again and this time also check them against the X-rays of a healthy hedgehog.

So here's what a healthy hedgehog looks like inside.

Side view of a healthy hedgehog

Top view of a healthy hedgehog

As Helen looked at the X-rays side by side she noticed a small difference, but one that will make a big difference toin helping her come to a more accurate diagnosis.

Very, very unwell hedgehog 

What is that small difference? 

Well you have to look really closely to see that there is a line running between the spine and the skin, this is the muscle that helps a hedgehog roll up. On the healthy hedgehog you can see this clearly and constantly around the entire body of hedgehog. However on the very, very unwell hedgehog you can see the line which then disappears (becomes fuzzy). Where it disappears was exactly where the abscess and the dead muscle was (see the close-up below). 

The muscle can clearly be seen just above the red line
then is becomes fuzzy and disappears  

Now Helen is aware of this indicator she can look out for it and can use it to help fathom out what is happening inside. It will also help us decide when it's best to fight and when it is best to do the kindest, but hardest thing.

A call to hedgehog carers:

Please do share this blog post with your vet. It would be great to have Helen's work shared, so the hedgehogs we all care for have a better chance of survival. 

May Update

After 2 hours cleaning

Well, firstly I'll start with the news that for the first time in at least six months HQ was a hog free zone for three whole days. Yes three days! So I took the chance and gave the shed a real deep clean, much to the annoyance of the spiders who had taken up residence over the winter.

Poitkey
I received this update from one of our fosterers (Elke) about our three legged hedgehog Poitkey (an African three-footed pot - named by Helen Pringle our fab vet at the A120 Medivet).

"Every evening between 9.15 and 9.20 pm Poitkey comes out from under the shed and walks straight to his feeding station, where he munches away at the cat food we have put out for him. He is eating with devotion and even switching the dining room light on, does not stop him from eating. All we generally can see is his pointy nose rummaging for the best morsels (chicken flavour is the best!) and sometimes I think he is even laughing at the cat who is looking on enviously. It takes  him about 5-7 minutes to eat about ½ of the food and he always leaves some for later. Once he has made an hedgehog-appropriate mess in the box and wiped off his feet on the newspaper at the exit, he is off back into the direction of the shed, either for a nap or perhaps even to go further afield?

Because he left us late last year in the autumn and he is walking with surprising agility, we first thought that a different hedgehog that had found his/her way into our garden. We tried to see how many legs it had at the April weigh-in, but he did not want to cooperate and had rolled himself into a protective, but grumpy prickly ball with only his nose sticking out. However he was a healthy 772g

We then went for the David Attenborough approach to sit behind dark windows [the hide] to see him coming to the feeding station. After various observations by two diligent observers, it was then confirmed that there was a left leg missing. So we concluded that it was Poitkey as there can’t be many of those where we live.

As we are not nocturnal we then have to go to bed and never see him return from his adventures, but every morning all the food has disappeared, so we conclude that his back under the shed dreaming happily. We feel envious that he seems to have such a good life, but the hostas and other plants, usually victims of various pests including slugs and snails, show not one slug nibble, so he repays his board and lodging with his scary presence and keen appetite.

Percy

As you can see poor Percy had a waist - not good for a hog

This poor chap came to us a few weeks ago via the Bishop's Stortford Veterinary Hospital.  Although almost 600 grams and no outward signs of illness or injury he was extremely thin. As you can see from the photograph he has a waist  not something a hog should have. He'd obviously had a very difficult winter (like many of the hedgehogs we are hearing about). He has been putting on a small amount of weight but he's still not quite right. So yesterday (17th May 2016) he was taken to see Helen who gave him a lungworm injection. He has another two to go and we find that by the second one they really do start to pick up. So once he's a little better he'll be going out to one of our short term carers.

Bones

Look at all that lovely body fat and those healthy bones

Bones came in to us late last year. He was thin and had an elastic band around his throat (if you ever see one of these or a hair band etc. on the ground please pick up, break and put into a bin). Thankfully it hadn't cut into his skin but it had been on there for quite some time. He was X-rayed and it was discovered he had very low bone density, probably he was not eating very well because it just so uncomfortable to do so. Although we tried to keep him awake he decided he was going to hibernate, so he spent a lovely winter snoozing with our longest serving volunteers Di and Rob. I'm glad to say that after a second X-ray yesterday (it was a very busy hoggie day) he was given the all clear and he has been returned to the wild. 

Mabel

Our latest resident was found out and about on the 17th May. She has been treated for fleas (no they don't all have fleas I promise you) and she is going to be observed over the next week. If all seems well she is going to stay with Di and Rob for a while and once she reaches 600 grams she'll be released into their garden. We'll then keep our fingers crossed she comes across the lovely Bones or one of the many other males who visit the garden and makes a new friend. 

Last but not least please remember it's baby season now so take care whilst gardening and if you don't already at least do so put out some clean water for them. However a little food is also always welcome. For advice on what to feed them just click on the 'feeding' button along the top.  

The highs and lows of hedgehog care

The last few weeks have really had their highs and lows.

Low one: 

We've received lots of calls about hedgehogs and sadly many of them were just too poorly for us to save. Our first two hogs of 2014 have sadly not won the fight. But at least someone took the time to pick them up and find help (so I suppose this counts as a high).

Low two:

Shirley on the day she arrived at Elaine's

I received an email about one of our disabled hogs, Shirley. Shirley had been found lying on her side in the middle of a playing field, close to death. Unfortunately she had also been attacked by a rook, raven or a magpie which had so badly damaged her eye that it had to be removed. Shirley had been living with one of our fab full time fosterers, Elaine. Shirley had full run of the garden which she shared with one of our other disabled hedgehogs, Vince. Sadly at the end of last week Shirley's body was discovered. We don't know why she passed but at least we can say she had a little extra time to enjoy being a hog. I'd also like to thank Elaine for taking such great care of her. Without full time fosterers like Elaine we'd not be able to do the work we do.    

High one:

Colin Woodward

We've had some fantastic news in that we've received a fabulous donation from County Councillor Colin Woodward (Bishop's Stortford, West Division). It will be used towards our running costs for the next few months. The money comes from the Locality Budget Scheme. When we applied we didn't think that being such a small organisaiton we'd receive anything. The money is a much needed boost and we have already used some of it to cover the cost of a series of lung worm treatments for one of our 2013 hoglets. Thankfully she has responded so well that she has been relocated to one of our carers. She is undergoing a 'soft' release and should be released back into the wild by the end of this month.

High two:

Helen of the A120 surgery

Our second high has really come from one of our lows. We picked up a hedgehog from the A120 surgery which we believe may have been Bubble Boy. He had been given the full treatment and we kept our fingers crossed he'd pull through, sadly he didn't make it. I called Helen (our award winning vet) to tell her the sad news. Helen being Helen asked me to take his body in so she could do an autopsy (typically she did this in her own precious time and made no charge). What she found was very interesting and she has offered to autopsy all our hedgehogs (that are suitable) over the next few months. She is hopeful she can come up with a method of screening hedgehogs that will allow us to determine much sooner if treatment is going to work or if this treatment is just delaying the inevitable. We also plan to share her findings with The British Hedgehog Preservation Society, so they can be shared with other hedgehog carers. So if you find a hedgehog that has died within the last 48 hours (at the most) and is not badly mutilated (e.g. road kill) then please help Helen with her research by contacting the A120 surgery (just outside Little Hadham) and dropping off the body. Hopefully Helen's research will help us save more hedgehogs by improving the care they receive from the moment they come into us.

And the IFAW Vet of The Year is .....

A few months ago I saw a form asking for nominations for the IFAW yearly awards. One of the categories was 'Vet of The Year.' I knew exactly who I wanted to nominate and so picked up the form, took it home, completed it and sent it off. I thought no more of it until I received a call from Helen (from the A120 Medivets) asking me if I wanted to join her at the IFAW awards ceremony.  

She'd won! Now I don't want to sound surprised because she really did deserve to win, but you never think that when you nominate someone they'll win. However I wanted to thank Helen for all the hard work she does for us and other local organisations, such as Mutts In Distress and nominating her was the best way I could think of doing it.

So there we were on Tuesday (22nd October) in the Houses of Parliament, holding a glass of wine and nibbling on the most delicious food, listening to Bill Oddie as he introduced the winners of each category. Needless to say we had a fab time and what follows are just a few images of our day.

Bill Oddie introducing the winners

Helen receiving her award - couldn't get a better view there were these official photographers in the way! 

Helen with her award

The view across the river taken from the House of Parliament 

P.S. My claim to fame - I've now heard Bill Oddie say Herts Hogline. He's very unlikely ever to remember that but I certainly will.