Diet for a recovering lower broken jaw

[charlie]

We have just recently taken in Ella who was turned over to us from a vet in Edson. She was found as a stray wandering Edson (a town in north west Alberta). The only reason she was discovered was because several crows were picking at her. Although she was 800 grams and extremely obese, she also shows the typical signs of severe malnutrition (her skin and quills are coming off in large quarter-sized chunks, eyes are not bright, etc). I must admit I've never taken in an obese but starving hedgehog, it is definitely a conundrum for me.

Long story hopefully shorter - she has several broken toes, wounds from the nasty crows, almost no quillls and more importantly she seems to have had a severe lower jaw injury. Our vet (as the vet in Edson was unfamiliar with hedgehogs) believes it was broken and is now healing.

So what is the best diet for her? Several considerations I guess:
1. Her jaw may be still healing but does it need to be strengthened (it is adjusting a bit crooked as it is)
2. She needs good calories and vitamins
3. She is clearly obese, so I need something that will revitalize but will address a very serious weight issue.

Suggestions? I currently have her on the usual low fat kibble mix (Natural Balance and Medi-cal Weight Control) which has been completely softened for an hour before she gets it. She scarfes it down like there is no tomorrow and in fact will eat anything we put in front of her even if it hurts her (she seems to actually struggle with hard kibble and before I knew about the jaw injury, I noticed she tried to swallow it whole). I'm just not sure where to go from here or whether to even concentrate on strengthening the jaw.

Sorry for the long post - feeling a bit uncertain with Ella and obviously just want to do what is best for her.

 

[PopTart]

Kalandra has been using a powder over her hedgie's food. Carnivore care? Maybe that's it? It is a supplement added to the food. Check out her recent posts and see if you can find more info on it. It may be an added extra to her mush diet. Several people here could probably comment on it. Good luck with little Ella.

 

[Kalandra]

Wow April! The email we got from the Edson vet did not mention anything about these problems. Just that they had a stray they needed to find a rescue for!

I think if she was with me, I'd just concentrate on getting calories in her, and then work on her jaw if she stabilizes.

I would try some canned cat foods and continue to leave the hard kibble in her cage so that it is an option and when her jaw isn't hurting she can eat it. Another option is to slightly moisten the hard kibble to not completely soften it, but just a few drops of water to make it easier to crunch.

I have been using carnivore care. It is pretty high calorie. I've been mixing a 1/4 teaspoon in with Poptart's canned food that we are syringing to help boost the calorie content. She's been eating it. She also eats it when its plain too.

 

[charlie]

Thanks Julie, I'll try some canned foods as well as the usual soft fruits, veggies, salmon, chicken and egg. (Kinda excited to have a hedgie who will FINALLY eat a scrambled egg!). She really is improving from the day I got her. She even used her new cake wheel I just don't have a lot of understanding about calorie intake versus vitamins and how to balance those. With any of my previous starvation cases, it has been just give them plenty of both! Sounds like I should just focus on good food intake and let the calroies and vitamins do their job. Thanks again!

 

[ChinnyMom]

sounds like she's in great hands with you charlie )

would love to come see your hedgies some day.

 

[smhufflepuff]

How's Ella doing?

 

[charlie]

She is doing absolutely wonderful. She has a very outgoing personality and a good appetite (though I feed her soaked crunchies only along with the usual supplements - chicken, salmon, carrots). I'll post a pic soon. Her skin is stabilizing quite a bit now, quills aren't falling out in chunks anymore. She happily wheels and has baths every other day to soak her skin. Her wounds have healed.

Our vet is very impressed with her progress so far. I don't know if her quills will grow back but personally I think she has the cutest (and largest) bare butt I don't think she'll ever be able to eat crunchy food though, it looks like quite a struggle for her.

 

[Kalandra]

Awesome news April. If she never eats crunchy foods again, she will be fine with soaked kibble and other non-crunch supplements. Cooper was toothless for a long time. I felt so bad for him because he loved mealworms and couldn't chew them up. I pulled the heads off of the white mealworms, or did the same to waxworms. Often he would suck the insides out and leave me skins.

I cannot wait to see a picture of this wonderful girl.

 

[charlie]

Ella and Her Bag

Here are some pics of Ella ducking into her bag taken last week. Please note these aren't her most flattering shots....but I thought she was so cute, I couldn't resist. Stay tuned for some more flattering shots.

Is this my bag?

Yes, I think it is!

In I go....

Stretch!

Ahhhhh, Perfect!

 

[charlie]

New Quills?

Here's a pic of Ella on her good side. I've also attached a close up of one of her big bare areas....New Quill growth!!! This is just starting and is occurring in different areas all over. So happy for Ella! I never thought they would come back this quickly. Perhaps she was in better shape than she looked.

 

[Kalandra]

What a cute chunky girl she is. She looks like she is a pretty happy girl too. And Yeh! for new quill growth.

 

[momenteller]

She is adorable! So glad she's on the mend.

 

[Nancy]

I totally missed this.

Ella is beautiful. What a sad situation and how lucky she is that she has ended up with you. Love those bum shots.

 

[LovinHedgies]

She is quite the cutie Love her bald butt

 

[LovingChi]

She looks great! Would you be able to post more recent picture of her?
Great job in reviving her!

 

[Christemo]

Glad to see she's getting better! She looks so happy now!