Our gorgeous little man Gok, has finally healed from a severe wound he sustained.
He was brought in on 22nd July, crawling in maggots and covered in fly eggs.
He was a tiny hoglet at the time, dehydrated, malnourished and very weak.
We weren’t sure if he was going to make it but he stabilised on pain relief, antibiotics and fluids. Once he was able to safely have his anaesthetic, the wound was flushed and debrided.
It’s taken seven weeks for the wound to completely heal and now fresh spine growth is coming through the scar tissue. He also arrived with a broken leg but after 6 weeks of splinting and redressing, the bone has set beautifully and he now uses the limb as normal.
He’s been such a pleasure to care for, he’s very strong and determined and that feisty personality is what has got him through a tough rehabilitation!
We rarely see senior hedgehogs in the wild and Alan is a true golden oldie. He’s got dental disease, old scar tissue in various parts of his body, he’s missing an eye and the socket was infected when we got him and he’s also missing a large portion of his spines due to burning. The spines along his back and neck have all been singed down to the base, leaving a stubbly appearance.
We’re not sure how this has happened but it’s left him looking in a very sorry state. Alan also had some nasty internal parasites when he arrived, which caused nasal discharge and sneezing.
He’s been with us for a couple of weeks now receiving treatment for his various ailments.
He’s gained weight, is eating tons and is now strong enough to have an anaesthetic to stitch his empty eye socket.
If we leave the socket open, it will be prone to infection in the wild, so we stitched it up!
His burns are healing nicely too and there’s even some new spine growth coming through.
He’ll be heading back to the garden he’s visited for the last few years, where he’ll be monitored by the people who live there.
This is cheeky Charlie!
He joined us at the start of August, suffering from a nasty case of lungworm!
This can be very dangerous and sometimes fatal in hedgehogs but even more so, in tiny hoglets like Charlie. Luckily, his strength and confidence has pulled him through it.
He’s currently receiving anti-parasitic treatments and a mucolytic powder in his food, to shift the mucus and nasal discharge caused by the parasites. In just a week, his breathing significantly improved and gained weight.
Charlie is one of the naughtiest hoglets we have at the rescue currently, you can usually find him climbing things, knocking bowls over and decorating his enclosure with old bits of food and faeces... He’s calls this ‘modern art’, Fee calls it ‘aaaabsolutely disgusting’.
Hoglets might look like butter wouldn’t melt but when night time comes... the monsters come out to play!
Warrior also came in early August with internal parasites. The lady who found him, saw him out in the daytime and knew something was wrong!
A faecal sample tested positive for capillaria.
There are three types of capillaria and all of them can make hoglets very poorly. These particular parasites are something we see in around 75% of the hoglets we get through the rescue. They contract them through their food, most commonly, snails and earthworms.
A healthy hedgehog can survive with a very small parasite burden but when they’re weak or young, the parasites take hold of the host and cause anorexia, dehydration, diarrhoea and can even be fatal. Capillaria aerophila causes respiratory difficulties such as sneezing or fluid/bubbles from the nose. Their chests can sound quite crackly or wheezy too. These cases need treatment as soon as possible. If ever you see a hedgehog that is continuously sneezing or dribbling from it’s nose, please ask for professional help immediately.
Luckily, Warrior is living up to his name and taking his treatment in his stride. He’s started putting weight on and has developed a very cheeky personality. Endless entertainment watching him on the ‘hog cam’!
Poor Barry was in a very sorry state when his wonderful finder brought him to us.
She knew something was clearly wrong with him as he was out in the daylight ...and there was. Barry was absolutely COVERED in ticks, from teeny tiny ones to enormous engorged ones! Only when he was anaesthetised for a thorough examination did we see the extent of the parasite burden.
After testing his faecal sample, we found he was positive for capillaria, a nasty internal parasite. This parasite has caused him to become run down and unwell and that is when the ticks take hold. They love a host that doesn’t have the strength to fight them off and little Barry just couldn’t cope.
He’s now tick and flea free and feeling a whole lot better.
He’s started on treatment for his internal parasites, which means he’ll be able to gain weight properly and head back to his finder’s garden in a few weeks!
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Hello!
Please remember, we are an entirely volunteer-led team. We do this in our spare time, alongside having full time jobs, families, and lives.
Please be patient and kind.
We are doing our best at a time when demand hugely supersedes capacity.
Thank you for your ongoing support!