What could this be?

[Courtney]

I'm beginning to think that Kismet has a crush on the vet.

This morning during medicine, I noticed that she had a spot on her back (smaller than the size of a dime) that looked rather red and blotchy, almost like a bruise that hadn't yet turned purple. I'm almost positive that it wasn't there last night. If it had been, I would have noticed - she was out and about for nearly 3 hours.

Appearance
- about the size of a dime
- red blotches
- deeper red concentrated around 2 or 3 quills
- perfectly flat, no raised areas (aside from when the quills are moved out of the way - the ball at the end pushes against the skin)
- no pus or discharge
- no obvious pain (I was touching it and moving her quills around to examine it while she continued to explore the towel I had her on)
- no foul smell
- no abnormal texture - it just feels like skin
- no missing quills
- no dried blood

Location
- midway down her back, about a finger's width to the left of her spine

What could this be? It looks a lot like it got pinched or caught somewhere and kind of resembles a person's skin after they've pinched their finger in a door or something. Since her surgery one week ago, she's been very active and is forever crawling through tight spaces (like the inch between the bottom of her wheel and the floor). She's also been spending a lot of time on her back during medicine and flailing the whole time - could she have injured a quill or twisted skin somehow?

I have pictures at home that I didn't get a chance to upload, but I wanted to see if anyone had an idea of what it could be. I cleaned it off this morning just in case, and I'm going to see if there's a change by the time I get home. If it looks at all different, she'll be going to the vet so he can take a closer look.

 

[Chinniechantel]

I think you have the right plan, if it gets worse go in, but otherwise just keep an eye on it. Poor Kismet, and least she does not seem bothered by it. Your explanations all sound very plausible.

 

[Courtney]

She's a funny one, that Kismet. I swear she does this just because she knows it will give her even more attention. When they're sick or hurt, I baby them even more than normal and I'm sure her train of thought went something like this:

"Hmm. Now that I'm feeling better, how can I worry mom this weekend? I need lots of cuddles and lots of kisses, but I every time I go to the vet, I lose something. What can I do that will worry her, but not end up hurting me? Hmm... I know! I'll get a bruise!"

 

[Chinniechantel]

She's a funny one, that Kismet. I swear she does this just because she knows it will give her even more attention. When they're sick or hurt, I baby them even more than normal and I'm sure her train of thought went something like this:

"Hmm. Now that I'm feeling better, how can I worry mom this weekend? I need lots of cuddles and lots of kisses, but I every time I go to the vet, I lose something. What can I do that will worry her, but not end up hurting me? Hmm... I know! I'll get a bruise!"

Lol, I can totally picture that! Evil hedgehog plots to take over the world one vet at a time, and to get extra mealies and cuddle time! Smart girl she is!

 

[Courtney]

I'm pretty sure she does this because she gets spoiled rotten at the vet office too - they love her to pieces. This is her way of ensuring adequate snuggles.

 

[Courtney]

Update: Just got home and checked on her. The area around two quills is still dark red, almost purple, but the other areas have shrunk and lightened. It definitely resembles an all out bruise now. It still doesn't bother her when I touch it.

I think I freaked out over nothing. Again.

 

[Chinniechantel]

Update: Just got home and checked on her. The area around two quills is still dark red, almost purple, but the other areas have shrunk and lightened. It definitely resembles an all out bruise now. It still doesn't bother her when I touch it.

I think I freaked out over nothing. Again.

Well, at least maybe you can sleep a little more peacefully now! Glad she has such a great mommy to take good care of her, she sounds very spoiled and happy.

 

[Kalandra]

Has she had a injection recently? Some medications can cause bruising (Baytril injections can cause really ugly spots).

 

[Courtney]

Umm, I don't know if they injected her in that particular spot, but she did get a dose of Metacam last Friday when she had some teeth extracted.

I know for a fact she didn't have Baytril - she's very sensitive to it and it causes projectile vomit. Her vet knows not to give that to her.

It does seem to be fading though. I expect a few of the quills to fall out. The area directly around 2 of them look very purple. I've been cleaning them off for my own peace of mind and she doesn't seem bothered by it at all. The area has shrunk by about half though. Putting a cool Q-tip on the area really seems to help, too.

 

[AlbertaGirl]

It's better to freak out over nothing than to ignore a potentially serious problem. I'm glad little Kismet's bruise is healing up.

 

[AlbertaGirl]

How is it now? Has it faded away?

 

[Courtney]

Almost. She still has a bit of a bruise around two quills but they seem like they're trying to fall out. She also has a teeny bit of redness, but I think that's because she didn't learn her lesson the first time, and she's still squeezing herself under things that she really can't fit under. She's not giving it a chance to completely heal before she wedges herself under her wheel again, but it's definitely not getting bigger. I'm just making sure it stays clean and checking that it doesn't feel swollen or cause her pain.

I think it itches her though. I was cleaning it yesterday and she started scratching behind her ear casually and anointing over nothing. It was strange, but the second I stopped touching it, she continued on her merry little way. It kind of makes me wonder if it's not getting any better because it itches and she keeps irritating it by scratching. Is there a more potent, hedgehog safe itch reliever? I know oatmeal works, but is there something I could put directly on the area?

:hair:

 

[Courtney]

We have a verdict and some results! Her "bruise" is actually a blood blister. It's not raised off the surface of her back, which is what threw me. I called the vet this morning because the bruise turned black overnight and I freaked right out. I described it and he said it sounded a lot like a blood blister. He told me blood blisters can be caused by pressure, pinching, even simply repeated friction on a certain area. It makes sense, because she does tend to rub her back on things as she squeezes under them.

Rather than bringing her in for him to do the exact same thing, he told me to wet some q-tips, freeze them and ice the area directly. Every so often, I was supposed to rotate the q-tip a bit to loosen the skin and the damaged top layer would slough off, allowing the blood to slowly drain without puncturing the area. Then, I was to sterilize with a saline solution (sea salt and warm water). He advised me to do this thrice daily, and said I would begin to notice a difference in about 2 days. If it doesn't start looking better in 4-5 days, I'm to bring her right back, and they'll drain it using a needle.

Kismet seems to really enjoy this. She just sits for the ice, completely relaxed. This afternoon as I was gently rotating the q-tip, she suddenly tensed up and her quills raised. When I looked at the q-tip, I noticed that her blister had started to drain. Now, it's a light red rather than black. Some parts have completely drained and there's nice, pink skin underneath.

It seems really odd to use ice on an exotic animal, but I can definitely understand the logic behind it. I can't argue with results, and I have to admit -- I'm really relieved that her back is starting to look more normal.

 

[AlbertaGirl]

I'm so glad that it's working. Now Kismet, you need to stop squeezing yourself into tight spots or this is going to keep happening!!!

 

[Courtney]

I keep telling her that! The trick is her actually listening, haha.

 

[smhufflepuff]

Mine seems to like to squeeze herself into tight spots too. Fortunately, it isn't under hard objects like her wheel.

Well, she did that a couple times with a Comfort Wheel, knocked it off the stand, and that was then end of that wheel.

What she does is get underneath her liner and push herself toward the things that weigh the liner down (eg, wheel, litter box, dishes, etc...). That way, she feels all snuggled in... at least that's how I've interpreted the behavior. Why I'm describing it is that I was wondering if you could maybe create a "safe" place for Kismet to squeeze herself into/under?

 

[Courtney]

Well, she has a tube, her hedgie bag and I've moved the wheel away from the wall of her cage so it's still a tight fit to get behind... just not impossible. She still insists on trying to squeeze under her wheel. She doesn't use it... just squeezes under.

What other things could I give her? She's not a burrower, but she likes to dig. To get settled in her hedgie bag every night, she has to "dig" the fabric away and smooth it out. Then she flops on her belly and goes to bed.

 

[Courtney]

Update on the Diva: Her blood blister drained over the last couple days and now she has a lovely scab instead. Last night, the scab ripped away from her skin a bit, and created a bit of a "hole" in her skin. It seems to be typical of blisters - the scab comes away and you're left with an indent in your skin. It's not deep, oozing or anything - it probably looks worse than it actual is, as is the case with most skin injuries. When the scab ripped, there was no blood or discharge... Kismet didn't even wake up from her nap. She didn't even flinch when I gently cleaned it with a very weak combination of sea salt and warm water. To keep the scab from ripping completely during the night, I dabbed on a bit of jojoba oil. I didn't have polysporin, and I figured that oil was the next safest thing. I cleaned the area with a dilute saline mix this morning again.

I picked up a tube of "original" Polysporin this morning, because I know it's made to help heal cuts and prevent infection. I made sure that it wasn't the pain reliever, triple action or child's formula. The first and third have pain relief in it, and the second has three antibiotics and I wasn't sure if they were safe for Kismet. I called the vet this morning, and am currently waiting to see what he says.

Overall, Kismet doesn't seem worse for wear. The area itches her (due to healing, I suppose) and the ice/saline combination seems to really help that. She's lost a few quills in the area, but all the ones I found were healthy. I think they came out more because of the trauma to the area rather than underlying infection. There is no abnormal redness to the area, aside from where the scab is, and the area is getting smaller each day. Instead of being glaringly obvious as it was last week, I actually have to look for it now. Because I'm paranoid, I've been sniffing the area every so often, just to ensure that there's no funky odor that could be indicative of an infection. There's no unusual heat in the area, and she has no issues with me poking and prodding the area during cleaning. Giving this, I'm assuming it's not too painful for her. Annoying, yes... but painful, probably not overly.

 

[Courtney]

EDIT (I missed the 10-minute deadline): The vet just called back and advised me to put her back on her Amoxicillan for 5 days. It will help heal the cut from the inside. He also said the Polysporin wouldn't hurt for a few days, just to prevent infections from the outside. He said to continue cleaning it three times daily with the mild saline solution.

He also wanted to make sure there were no foreign items in the cut. I checked yesterday as I was cleaning the area and in the open wound, so I'm pretty sure there's nothing in there. All I saw was clean, pink skin, which he said is a very good sign. That means that the skin is healing itself, regenerating tissues and working to push the scab off itself.

If I have issues, or the area starts smelling "off", causing her pain or looking infected, I'm to bring her in right away. In the meantime, I'm to continue doing what I'm doing and as he said, making sure she gets lots of love and attention.

 

[Courtney]

Update: Kismet went to the vet a week ago because some of the skin around the wound was looking rather gray and dead, and I was alarmed. The vet clipped that skin off, removed the scab, cleaned out the wound and roughed up the edges. He packed the area with antibiotics and sent her home with instructions to keep her on the Amoxi for another week. He was completely perplexed by the situation, given the fact that she was extraordinarily healthy in every other way and there was no reason that a wound like that shouldn't have healed quickly, and said if it didn't start to look better by about Friday/Saturday, I should bring her back and he'd cut into the area, and stitch her up.

Kismet's scab fell off today with only the slightest help from me - I touched it, and off it came. The scab came off in one piece and was about a millimeter and a half thick, so the injury was fairly deep.

When it came off, there was no blood at all, nor was her back irritated in the least. All that remains in that spot now is a slightly darker area of skin - like a scar. Otherwise, the skin is healed and there are no open parts of the injury.

To those that have been following this latest adventure in Kismet-land, you'll know that I've been using a chamomile poultice on the area as an anti-inflammatory and natural antiseptic. I'm convinced that daily 15-minute treatments with the chamomile helped Kismet as much as the medicine did, or more. It relieved her itching, calmed the occasional swelling and helped heal from the outside in, while the medicine was working from the inside out.