aka_meerkat
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My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/08 15:57
My hedgehog is overweight. We discovered this in November and originally the vet said I needed to feed him hedgehog food. I figured his weight gain came from the fact that I'd fed him two bags of adult food (as opposed to light) because I forgot to order his CSFCLS a couple of times. So I didn't go to hedgehog food. I ordered the CSFCLS and got some freeze dried bugs (the vet said I should introduce insects into his diet).
This seems to have worked, at least partially. When we went back in December, my hedgie had lost weight! The vet thinks that he has more to lose though. I know that it isn't always appropriate to judge a hedgehog's healthy size by his weight, but I think my hedgie is still having difficulty cleaning himself.. so he probably does need to lose a little more.
So this is my dilemma: the vet, again, said I should feed him hedgehog food along with cat food and insects. I know that a lot of breeders have problems with hedgehog food because of the quality. Does anyone out there have any suggestions about how I can get him to lose a little more weight without supplementing part of his diet with hedgehog food?
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Stasi
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/08 18:42
Does your hedgehog have a wheel? If not, get that and see how much it helps. Another thought is, can your hedgehog roll into a ball? If he can, then he's not overweight.
Purina One weight management (or something like that) is probably a good choice to mix with your CSFCLS light. Maybe try those two for a bit (personally, I'd add some Purina kitten chow too) and skip the hedgehog food. However, you *could* add Pretty Pets hedgehog food - your hedgehog will most likely pick around it, but you can tell your vet you added a hedgehog food. 
Stasi
Terrapin Hedgehogs
Joppa, MD
www.terrapinhedgehogs.com
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aka_meerkat
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/08 20:16
Hi Stasi. I'm the crazy girl that periodically e-mails you a lot, otherwise known as Poe's mom 
Sorry I didn't give a very good explanation with the last entry. He does have a wheel, but he can't use it right now because he had to have his toe amputated. He gets the sutures out next Wed. and hopefully the vet will give the okay for him to use it again then.
He can roll into a ball now, although I don't know if it's complete enough? There's just enough of a hole that I can put his antibiotic dispenser in through it, but only barely now. He's kind enough to relax after a while so that I can really get it in his mouth  Mostly I'm worried because I found a "plug". The appointment before the amputation, I told the vet I was finding green slimey stuff around the cage and since there was no feces in it, he thought it might be coming from.. that little thing his penis is in, can't remember the name of it  He said they had to clean a plug off of him that day, and it didn't look infected then, but.. He also said he probably wasn't cleaning it well because of his weight.
Basically I'm trying to decide whether to put in another cat food or Spike's Delight. I was giving him 2 tablespoons of the Chicken Soup like you suggested, and since the amputation I've added a freeze-dried meal worm and taken it down to a little less then 2 tablespoons. I was worried he might gain having no wheel at all. Starting today I've taken out the worm though. He poops normally first thing when he wakes up, but then later on he's leaving runny poop (I think it's poop?) around. I need to see if it's the worm upsetting his stomach.
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aka_meerkat
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/08 20:29
Forgot to add that I think the only reason I'm considering the hedgehog food (after everything I've read about it here, and the PITA it will be to order) is that I'm feeling some major guilt. I feel horrible about what's happened to Poe's toe, not the least of all because we don't even know what DID happen. Also the vet kind of makes me feel bad about Poe being "unsociable," even though he's really great at home with me 
I think it gets me into this mindset where I feel that I have to prove to the vet that I can take care of Poe properly and that I'm doing a "good job." Maybe what I need is advice about how to explain to the vet why cat food is a good/better choice..
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CandJ327
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/08 21:27
Pish-shaw on the vet for making you feel bad about a huffy hedgie.
A LOT of animals dislike going to the vet. My cat sweats profusely out of his paws and pants like a dog every time he goes to the vet. A vet that deals with hedgies should realize that just like some dogs that have to be muzzled at the vet because they are scared... a Hedgie might be prickly out of the same fear.
Sounds like you're a caring owner to me...
Ava's mom!
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aka_meerkat
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/08 21:52
CandJ327 wrote:
Pish-shaw on the vet for making you feel bad about a huffy hedgie.
A LOT of animals dislike going to the vet. My cat sweats profusely out of his paws and pants like a dog every time he goes to the vet. A vet that deals with hedgies should realize that just like some dogs that have to be muzzled at the vet because they are scared... a Hedgie might be prickly out of the same fear.
Sounds like you're a caring owner to me...
Thanks
I don't think the vet is making me feel bad on purpose. He doesn't say anything like "Can't you calm him down?! OMG you're horrible!" But he'll do things like.. tell a story about a kid that came in with a hedgie that let him do whatever he wanted to it (in terms of handling) and he told the kid to keep handling it every day so that it will stay that way. Probably he doesn't even think about how that must sound to an owner who's dealing with a ball of quills at the moment, heh!
The fact that I don't handle Poe much when I'm there might be deceptive, too. When I know that he isn't feeling well or that he's upset, I do what makes him comfortable: I cover him with a blanket and try not to touch him unless he can see me
Post edited by: aka_meerkat, at: 2008/01/08 21:52
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HamorHollow
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/09 01:36
Add Purina Kitten chow to his food, mix it 50/ 50 with whatever else you are using. There is something about it that seems to keep my herd at a really good weight.
Of course, you could switch to the 'Hedgehog Food' and have your hedgehogs lose weight through lack of proper nutrition. But you would be better off shredding your junk mail and feeding him that. You are right not to add it to his diet.
-K
Kelly Sosik-Hamor
Hamor Hollow Hedgehogs - a New Hampshire breeder, serving Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and any where else hedgehogs are legal. |
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Stasi
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/09 09:30
aka_meerkat wrote:
Hi Stasi. I'm the crazy girl that periodically e-mails you a lot, otherwise known as Poe's mom
Sorry I didn't give a very good explanation with the last entry. He does have a wheel, but he can't use it right now because he had to have his toe amputated. He gets the sutures out next Wed. and hopefully the vet will give the okay for him to use it again then.
He can roll into a ball now, although I don't know if it's complete enough? There's just enough of a hole that I can put his antibiotic dispenser in through it, but only barely now. He's kind enough to relax after a while so that I can really get it in his mouth Mostly I'm worried because I found a "plug". The appointment before the amputation, I told the vet I was finding green slimey stuff around the cage and since there was no feces in it, he thought it might be coming from.. that little thing his penis is in, can't remember the name of it He said they had to clean a plug off of him that day, and it didn't look infected then, but.. He also said he probably wasn't cleaning it well because of his weight.
Basically I'm trying to decide whether to put in another cat food or Spike's Delight. I was giving him 2 tablespoons of the Chicken Soup like you suggested, and since the amputation I've added a freeze-dried meal worm and taken it down to a little less then 2 tablespoons. I was worried he might gain having no wheel at all. Starting today I've taken out the worm though. He poops normally first thing when he wakes up, but then later on he's leaving runny poop (I think it's poop?) around. I need to see if it's the worm upsetting his stomach.
I'm concerned over vets idea the the green slimy is coming from his penile sheath. I've seen ...'boy goo' around the sheath on tummies (and other places...) but green slime is most likely either a sign of an upset tummy and coming from his bum, or perhaps a UTI if it is indeed in his sheath. I am sure your boy is at least cleaning himself if there's just enough of a hole in his ball to get your syringe in. If he can ball himself up that far, he's a big hedgie, but not all that overweight (ie I wouldn't worry about changing too much in his diet.)
As for a huffy hedgie at the vet - since hedgies go by smell as they don't see well, and the vet office has so many different odors of dogs/cats/ferrets/birds/people/anyotheranimals I'd be nervous too!
Stasi
Terrapin Hedgehogs
Joppa, MD
www.terrapinhedgehogs.com
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aka_meerkat
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/09 12:53
Thanks for the reassurance Stasi.
I thought that the green stuff was coming from Poe's bum, too. It was going on back in latelate October when I noticed that his quills were falling out and saw his foot. I figured it was confirmation that his foot was infected, and that's where the mites came from.
He was on antibiotics for a while for his foot (which was infected) and I stopped seeing green stuff around the cage. I've never seen it on him, so there's really no sign where it's coming from.
As soon as he went off the antibiotics, the green stuff came back. I thought this was a sign that we did something wrong and the infection was back, but when we took him into the vet for his checkup on his weight and foot, the vet said the infection was gone. *insert relief* So I told the vet about the green goo. He got one of those looks like you could tell that set some kind of wheel turning in his head, LOL. He says "Well, maybe his c-something (I guess he was referring to his sheath) is infected. We had to clean it today, but the plug was white, so I can't tell." This was the appointment where he said we should amputate Poe's toe and he put him back on antibiotics to prepare for the surgery. He said that the green stuff should go away with the antibiotics.
The green stuff did stop appearing in Poe's cage, until yesterday afternoon. I noticed a couple of pastel green spots on his blanket when I went to put him back in his cage after giving him his medicine and checking on his foot. My first thought was "OH GOD his foot is oozing something and it's infected" but I can't find any signs that's where it came from. Today when I woke up, there was more green, this time in the cage and it looked like the more usual very dark, very gooey variety. Since I'm guessing that antibiotics don't abruptly stop working, this must mean he isn't ingesting the medicine like I thought he was? Do you think that could be the case?
We take Poe back to the vet next Wednesday to get his sutures removed (unless we have to go in today/tomorrow, but that's another story). Is there anything I should tell the vet to do to get to the bottom of what's causing the green goo? Or is there anything I can do? It was happening before his diet change and before the antibiotics, so I don't think either of those is the cause.
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aka_meerkat
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/09 17:11
Yeah, no problem. Sorry that went so off topic!
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Stasi
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/09 17:33
Not a problem! I just wanted to check a few things with you (and, I'm embarrassed to admit, was having trouble remembering what your email addy was...)
Stasi
Terrapin Hedgehogs
Joppa, MD
www.terrapinhedgehogs.com
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mschwindt
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/10 01:39
Might want to ask about benebac and replacing the normal healthy bacteria into his system. As for weight loss I thought/remembered two things. Meal worms are very fatty, you could try cutting back on those and one of the other posters had an over weight hedgie and they started hiding the hedgie's food all over the cage. She would spend the night hunting for all the peices of food, and dropped weight.
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aka_meerkat
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/10 01:46
mschwindt wrote:
Might want to ask about benebac and replacing the normal healthy bacteria into his system. As for weight loss I thought/remembered two things. Meal worms are very fatty, you could try cutting back on those and one of the other posters had an over weight hedgie and they started hiding the hedgie's food all over the cage. She would spend the night hunting for all the peices of food, and dropped weight.
I actually didn't start feeding any kind of insects until after we discovered the weight problem. For about a week I gave him one meal worm each day (as the vet suggested), which I worried about, because I've heard that insects can be fatty. But I knew it wouldn't be long until he was weighed again, and so at least we'd catch a gaining trend quickly. He started to have runny poo though, so the last couple of days I haven't given him any insects at all. The runs seem to have cleared up, so I don't think he'll be getting any more of those anyway
Are crickets better? He did some weird eat-vomit-anoint thing the first couple times I gave him one. I broke the cricket up the next couple of times I fed it to him, and I think he got over that. His poo was coming out with whole cricket legs in it though.. 
Thanks for the other suggestions. I'd never heard of benebac, I will look into it!
Post edited by: aka_meerkat, at: 2008/01/10 01:48
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Stasi
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/10 07:50
Benebac is a great suggestion! A quick alternative to that (ok, quick here because we always have it in the fridge  ) is plain yogurt. Does the same thing as Benebac. Either way, it would be a great idea to try if Poe gets an upset tummy again.
Stasi
Terrapin Hedgehogs
Joppa, MD
www.terrapinhedgehogs.com
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Hedgehogmadhatter
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Re:My hedgie is fat, need advice! - 2008/01/10 15:21
Poe's Mom,
Have you considered having another vet take a look at Poe? Poor guy's having a heck of a time. Could the green goo be diaharrea (spelled it wrong I know) caused by a reaction to the medication? This probably doesn't help and I apologize.
Don't feel bad about ANYTHING! You are clearly doing everything you can
~Sara
“The fox has many tricks, and the hedgehog only one, but that is the best of all”
Archilochus (Greek lyric poet and soldier, 675-635bc)
There's no love like HEDGEHOG love!
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