I
instrumentality
Guest
I already miss him incredibly and can't believe he's gone. We're very grateful that he spent his last few days doing lots of hanging out with us, and that we were with him when he passed away. It will be lonely around our apartment without him. He taught us a lot about life and brought us much joy. He reminded me not to take life too seriously, to always make time to play and to chill, even if it was just for a minute. He demonstrated that a simple life can still be a good life (what could be simpler than napping, eating, running, and snuggling?). So in his own small hedgie way, he helped me be more like the kind of person I want to be. Rest in peace, little guy. :cry4:
enjoying a bath
award-winning hog
Many of you may have read my previous post about Thor being sick, and our many visits to the vet to try to figure out what was wrong. We were in the middle of a course of hedgie-advil and were planning on bringing him back next week (our regular vet is away until then and we'd only been able to see a vet who wasn't familiar with Thor). But we never got that far; last night I took Thor out to give him a bath (he has been having major walking and bathroom issues, so I've been giving him baths to make sure his little bottom was clean) I cleaned him up and dried him off, and took a photo so the vet could see where it was irritated, then I had him out on my lap cuddling him and making sure he was warm enough. He was still wobbly but seemed the same as he's been the last few days; alert and stable. I put him back in his cage in his bag, and he ate a little bit of carnivore care and drank some water. Then about ten minutes later I noticed that he had crawled out his bag and was just laying flat on the floor of his cage. I touched him, but he was pretty unresponsive, and seemed cool to the touch even though the thermometer near his cage read 76 degrees.
At this point I was really scared because my husband hadn't gotten home yet, and I knew he had been really worried that when the time eventually came, he wouldn't get to be with Thor when he passed. I took Thor and put him in his snuggly sack and held him; for about ten minutes he just snuggled in the bag, all curled up; I could see that he was still breathing, but then he started opening and closing his mouth slowly. Just as I was about to call my husband, he walked in the door, and found me with Thor. We took him out of the sack and put him on a blanket on our laps and pet him, sang to him, talked to him, told him all the things we were thankful for about him. We read him a children's book about hedgehogs and my husband read him a french poem. He just kept breathing more slowly as we were holding him and then slipped away. It was heartbreaking. We lit a candle and had a little memorial service for him before taking him to the animal hospital, but now the apartment seems so empty and quiet without him. I haven't been able to bring myself to clean up his cage yet. I would always look forward to him coming out for a little snack when I was working, or taking a break to say hi to him. We even ordered him a new batch of worms that he didn't get to try...ironically they'll be arriving today.
I feel so ambivalent about all of this; we did everything we knew to take care of him and to find out what was wrong; we thought the problem had been solved after his course of antibiotics a few weeks ago as he seemed back to normal, and then this last time everything happened so fast. And even though we took him to the emergency room right after we noticed he was sick again, the vet couldn't give us any answers as to what was wrong. He gave us three possibilities and we took his recommendation, planning to see our regular vet as soon as she returned, but Thor didn't last until then. He was almost 4 years old, so I know he was old, but it seems so strange that he got sick and died so fast. I suppose he could have been slowly failing since around Thanksgiving, when he first threw up, but everything we did since then seemed to indicate that he was better. I know we made the best decisions we could, rationally, but emotionally I don't know how to feel. I miss him so much.
enjoying a bath
award-winning hog
Many of you may have read my previous post about Thor being sick, and our many visits to the vet to try to figure out what was wrong. We were in the middle of a course of hedgie-advil and were planning on bringing him back next week (our regular vet is away until then and we'd only been able to see a vet who wasn't familiar with Thor). But we never got that far; last night I took Thor out to give him a bath (he has been having major walking and bathroom issues, so I've been giving him baths to make sure his little bottom was clean) I cleaned him up and dried him off, and took a photo so the vet could see where it was irritated, then I had him out on my lap cuddling him and making sure he was warm enough. He was still wobbly but seemed the same as he's been the last few days; alert and stable. I put him back in his cage in his bag, and he ate a little bit of carnivore care and drank some water. Then about ten minutes later I noticed that he had crawled out his bag and was just laying flat on the floor of his cage. I touched him, but he was pretty unresponsive, and seemed cool to the touch even though the thermometer near his cage read 76 degrees.
At this point I was really scared because my husband hadn't gotten home yet, and I knew he had been really worried that when the time eventually came, he wouldn't get to be with Thor when he passed. I took Thor and put him in his snuggly sack and held him; for about ten minutes he just snuggled in the bag, all curled up; I could see that he was still breathing, but then he started opening and closing his mouth slowly. Just as I was about to call my husband, he walked in the door, and found me with Thor. We took him out of the sack and put him on a blanket on our laps and pet him, sang to him, talked to him, told him all the things we were thankful for about him. We read him a children's book about hedgehogs and my husband read him a french poem. He just kept breathing more slowly as we were holding him and then slipped away. It was heartbreaking. We lit a candle and had a little memorial service for him before taking him to the animal hospital, but now the apartment seems so empty and quiet without him. I haven't been able to bring myself to clean up his cage yet. I would always look forward to him coming out for a little snack when I was working, or taking a break to say hi to him. We even ordered him a new batch of worms that he didn't get to try...ironically they'll be arriving today.
I feel so ambivalent about all of this; we did everything we knew to take care of him and to find out what was wrong; we thought the problem had been solved after his course of antibiotics a few weeks ago as he seemed back to normal, and then this last time everything happened so fast. And even though we took him to the emergency room right after we noticed he was sick again, the vet couldn't give us any answers as to what was wrong. He gave us three possibilities and we took his recommendation, planning to see our regular vet as soon as she returned, but Thor didn't last until then. He was almost 4 years old, so I know he was old, but it seems so strange that he got sick and died so fast. I suppose he could have been slowly failing since around Thanksgiving, when he first threw up, but everything we did since then seemed to indicate that he was better. I know we made the best decisions we could, rationally, but emotionally I don't know how to feel. I miss him so much.
Hugs!
