Safe painkillers

[Trintula]

I have had my hedgehog, Popple, for three years, she was rescued from an abusive home after living there for three years; so I have a bit of an older hedgie who has needed some extra love. She's started to have quite a bit of blood in her urine, and of course it had to start late on a Friday night, my regular vet (which is open Saturdays) doesn't take hedgies, and the ones they recommended me to won't be open until Monday. I've recently done several hours of research and it seems the diagnosis is probably uterine cancer.

So...Is uterine cancer painful? Are there any readily available, safe hedgehog painkillers out there? My two biggest concerns at the moment are keeping her comfortable and pain-free over the weekend. Anything otc or herbal I can go buy, or may already have, and I also have several different dosages of Rimadyl (for one of the dogs); but I refuse to give Popple anything until I know for sure it won't hurt her. Any suggestions?

 

[Melissa]

Where are you located? Maybe someone here can help you find a vet open on the weekends or an e-vet that will see your little one and get some pain meds. Most vets will stablize and get the animal as pain free as possible(IF the animal IS in pain) even without knowing much about the animal itself. I am not sure about Rimadyl. Expecially since it is already dosed for a dog. You can ask a vet for metacam or butorphenol(sp). Metacam I find is better for pain. Bute will more sedate along with pain relief.

 

[AlbertaGirl]

When my old gal Ronnie started having pain from arthritis, the vet put her on Metacam and it was a miracle drug for her. Definitely try to find an emergency vet in your area.

 

[charlie]

Did you get her to a vet? Hope you've had some luck as there are some very effective treatments out there. For next time, many emergency vets will have some experience with small animals (enough to get an appropriate dose and look up things in their books).