Squee

[kitty-kat-kazoo]

All last night Squee was sneezing up a storm, however, at the same time he was running around his cage with his face in the sawdust.. so he could just be doing it to his self. Do Hedgies sneeze alot? He doesn't seem sick, so I'm not sure if I should worry - and we already have his first check up on Nov.14. I guess what I'm asking, is IF a hedgie got a cold, what would happen? and how does it affect them?

 

[Melissa]

Sneezing can be a sign of a URI. If left untreated it can turn into pneumonia. Which they can die from. Do not wait two weeks to take him to the vet. URIs are easily treated with a round of antibiotics when caught early.

I do have a question though, why is your hedgehog breathing in sawdust? Take him off the sawdust.

 

[FiaSpice]

Seems like she is on shaving and I guess the "sawdust" is like the bottom of the bag that truned intoo dust I guess. Shaving aren't the ideal option and can sometime lead to respiratory problems. I wouldn't chance it and I would push the vet visit to much sooner. If it's a URI it can go downhill fast.

 

[kitty-kat-kazoo]

The only problem is the only vet who can take hedgies just had a baby so he's off till Nov 14. I'll try taking the sawdust out. Her cage is half and half. When I adopted her they kept her in shavings, so i continued using that, till i joined this site and realized everyone preffered fleece. So i decided to go half and half so she could get use to it. I put the shavings on the half of her cage where i have her toys and food and water.. then the other half is all fleece, but she wont go near it. She explored it a little did some sniffing.. then went back to the shavings and wont leave them. She's even sleeping in them under her truck - i'm assuming she's just use to it? Should i just ignore her and just gave her nothing but fleece?? we were planning or redoing her cage this weekend anyways, i want to make it bigger and 'prettier' so i can get rid of the shavings all together

 

[charlie]

Go to fleece entirely if possible ( I use liner made of corduroy because mine dig a LOT). What temp are you keeping her at? She will need at least 72F though mine prefer 74F-76F. There are other vets in Edmonton that treat hedgehogs. A UTI is not hard to diagnose, Ottewell is good, Town Centre has some hedgehog experience. Last but not least, I believe the Southside Emerg Vet also has vet experience.

 

[kitty-kat-kazoo]

Okay I'll double check then, and my house is usually at 78 so I don't think temperature is a problem. I'm a baby so I like it really warm.

 

[FiaSpice]

did you try those vets
http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=488

 

[kitty-kat-kazoo]

No i didn't but i will give them a call. Thankyou very much

 

[thistlesmom]

Hi, I know I'm a bit late, but when I first got Thistle I had her on all Carefresh and she was sneezing a lot. I think she was breathing in the dust from it. I switched her to about 3/4 liner, 1/4 carefresh (carefresh is under her wheel and where she goes to the bathroom) and the problem stopped.

 

[kitty-kat-kazoo]

Never to late, thank you. I still have some pine shavings in Squee's cage, but he's fallen in love with the fleece now. It's only on the side he does his buisness and where his food and stuff is cause he makes a giant mess. But he's sleeping in the fleece and I haven't heard him sneeze in a while.