Monday 7 December 2009

The one that came in from the cold


That was a narrow escape thought Joss. Snatched from the streets of York on a freezing cold day with not a heat pad to be seen anywhere he arrived to a warm welcome and a nice bed. On his spindly legs he looked quite tall, as hedgehogs often do, but curled into a ball he looked tiny. Born to one of the late litters he had had a narrow escape, but he was not out of the woods yet.

ACTION: Weight on arrival(Dec 6) 241g; 1 tick removed; very thin; syringe fed esbilac, as much as he'll take (normally about 10ml 3 times a day); Day 3 (Dec 8) started on Telmin (0.5 ml once a day for 5 days) for worms; not eating any pedigree chum puppy food, just dried biscuits (Iams) and esbilac; kitchen with heat pad on day and night. Minimum recommended weight needed to survive hibernation = 600g.

6 comments:

  1. As a matter of interest, what decided you that he needed worming?

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  2. Poo was loose and grainy and his appetite was poor. Didn't start wormer until day 3 as I never like to give them anything as a matter of course.

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  3. Thanks for the clarification.

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  4. No problem. Been to the vet with him today as eating less and less and needed sub-cutaneous fluids and droncit injection for liver flukes (yellow poo).

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  5. Poor little chap. Hope he gets better soon.

    Pardon the ignorant question, but what are "liver flukes" ?

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  6. Brachylaemus flukes, found in the intestine and commonly referred to as 'liver fluke'. You can find a section on them in The Natural Hedgehog book by Lenni Sykes and Jane Durrant and also on the following web sites:
    http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/s/00dis/Parasitic/Hedgehog_Intestinal_Fluke_Infection.html
    http://wildlife1.wildlifeinformation.org/S/00Man/MammalHusbandryTechniques/HHogHusbIndTech/HhogWinter_Juv.htm

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