dearabigail
New member
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2011
- Messages
- 1
I am a hedgehog owner looking for any information on an unusual hedgehog ailment. My hedgehog was treated by a veterinarian and is back to full health. I'm still curious what caused his lameness.
I have a 1-year-old male hedgehog. When getting him out of his cage one evening, I noticed his right front leg was swollen and he was avoiding putting weight on it. He was eating, drinking, and behaving normally except in the days that followed he did not run on his wheel. Even with the limp, however, he did not appear to be having any difficulty getting around. I did not observe any discoloration or temperature change in the affected limb. I monitored him over the weekend until I could get to the vet. The morning we were going to the vet, the swollen area appeared to have burst like an abscess. I cleaned him up and could see a small hole where a small amount of blood and pus were draining. The swelling was greatly decreased and he was putting about
75% weight on the leg.
The veterinarian examined him and assumed that it was some sort of injury. He prescribed an oral antibiotic and a topical antiseptic, as well as continuing to keep the affected area and his cage as clean as possible. If after 10 days the leg wasn't good as new, we were to return for more tests to rule out cancer and the like.
The leg has returned to normal. The swelling is gone, hedgehog is not limping, and he has resumed running on his wheel at night. The only sign that anything was wrong is a scabbed-over "hole" where the blood and pus drained from.
I'm just curious what could have caused this. It seemed like an abscess to me but my vet says those aren't really common in hedgehogs. He lives in a standard plastic-floored cage, the bars on the side of the cage are covered with plastic to keep him from climbing, and the wheel is the large plastic type recommended for hedgehogs. He did not have any sort of trauma outside of the cage in the days leading up to my discovery of the swelling, there wasn't a hair or anything strangulating the limb, and there was nothing new or foreign in his cage for him to have hurt himself on. At this point I'm assuming he either fell off his wheel or it was some sort of infection.
Anyone else experience anything like this? Any idea what could have caused it?
I have a 1-year-old male hedgehog. When getting him out of his cage one evening, I noticed his right front leg was swollen and he was avoiding putting weight on it. He was eating, drinking, and behaving normally except in the days that followed he did not run on his wheel. Even with the limp, however, he did not appear to be having any difficulty getting around. I did not observe any discoloration or temperature change in the affected limb. I monitored him over the weekend until I could get to the vet. The morning we were going to the vet, the swollen area appeared to have burst like an abscess. I cleaned him up and could see a small hole where a small amount of blood and pus were draining. The swelling was greatly decreased and he was putting about
75% weight on the leg.
The veterinarian examined him and assumed that it was some sort of injury. He prescribed an oral antibiotic and a topical antiseptic, as well as continuing to keep the affected area and his cage as clean as possible. If after 10 days the leg wasn't good as new, we were to return for more tests to rule out cancer and the like.
The leg has returned to normal. The swelling is gone, hedgehog is not limping, and he has resumed running on his wheel at night. The only sign that anything was wrong is a scabbed-over "hole" where the blood and pus drained from.
I'm just curious what could have caused this. It seemed like an abscess to me but my vet says those aren't really common in hedgehogs. He lives in a standard plastic-floored cage, the bars on the side of the cage are covered with plastic to keep him from climbing, and the wheel is the large plastic type recommended for hedgehogs. He did not have any sort of trauma outside of the cage in the days leading up to my discovery of the swelling, there wasn't a hair or anything strangulating the limb, and there was nothing new or foreign in his cage for him to have hurt himself on. At this point I'm assuming he either fell off his wheel or it was some sort of infection.
Anyone else experience anything like this? Any idea what could have caused it?
