Hedgehog Bottom

Another one on the way in from Andover. Flat and blowing bubbles. Here we go again.

For Piglet fans, he's now down to 576g, a lot more mobile but still refusing to use his wheel.

Members of the BHPS may have recently received an email with a piece about hedgehogs in June.

It's quite badly worded and has caused some concern and confusion. It says:

"With luck the female will return and over the next few days she may well move her litter to a new nest. If however she does not return, then the litter will need to be taken into care."

If you disturb a nest with mum and babies you cannot wait several days to see if mum comes back, the babies will be dead/ dying and certainly not saveable. We normally advise covering back up and watching from a distance but if mum hasn't returned within 4-6 hours, or the babies are crying or out of the nest looking for mum, then gather them up, put them in something warm they can't escape from and call a rescue immediately.

Do not attempt to feed them yourself.

The BHPS have been notified of the concerns about the piece.

The Andover hog that came in last night is still with us although his breathing is still quite bad. There is a tiny wound on the side of his lip which doesn't look infected but may be a contributing factor.

He was very good just laying there while I trimmed back all the fur on the side of his face to get a proper look and let me poke around in his mouth without biting me. He's a very sick fella but the fact he made it through the night means there is some hope.

Thank you so much to the lovely couple who brought him in and were delighted to meet a slightly slimmer Piglet who tried his best to do a curl but only managed his normal squishy hog pose. Looks cute but so not right. Still more weight to come off.

Had another call this morning for a RTA hog with laboured breathing but facial damage so the finder was referred to the nearest vet. I wish we could save them all but unfortunately with some of them it's kinder to end it quick rather than drag them miles only to put them to sleep at the other end.

Updates after meds tonight.

Stumpyson from Andover is drinking well but still having breathing problems so remains in the ICU.

The hog brought in last week dragging both back legs is now using one of them but I found a well concealed wound that had become infected right over his spine. The wound is now clean and healing but I'm suspecting some spinal cord damage, the outcome may not be good.

The female skewered with the garden fork is doing extremely well. Both entry and exit wounds are clean and healing, she's eating like a horse and has put on 100g since she arrived.

The female RTA head injury that came in 3 weeks ago is up and down. One night she seems to be making progress, the next night two steps backwards. She is still unable to maintain any balance and I think it's now time to take the hard decisions. She is an elderly hog and the stress of trying to stay upright all the time will probably kill her eventually so I'll let my vet take the final decision.

All other remaining hogs are doing well and will be booted out ASAP apart from a blonde with a front leg issue and a boy with a back leg issue and a deformed hog with a teddy bear face. Decisions to be made about their futures.

And of course Piglet the APH who is going nowhere.

Three hogs put to sleep today due to awful injuries. One Newbury, one Old Windsor and one Didcot. All three were sent straight to the nearest vet rather than dragging them here. Seems so sad that they make it through hibernation and then some ruddy idiot brings them to a grinding halt.

Binfield female is in a bad way, another dog attack but this one has a whiff of fox about it. Foxes don't normally attack a healthy hog so I suspect she was already in trouble.

Very cold, blood everywhere and this time it is hers. Cleaned, medicated and now waiting to see if she'll perk up.

Phone not stopped this morning. One hog referred to Harper Asprey. Two sent to vets.

Taken in dog attacked juvenile female in from Twyford, blood everywhere but very little of it is hers. One small wound apparent, cleaned, medicated and recovering from the shock on a heatpad.

Another one on the way from Binfield, not sure yet what's going on with this one.

And another female in. Found in the middle of the road, very thin but all appears to be in working order. Wants to eat but doesn't seem to be able to. No sign of any mouth problems so Lord knows what's going on with this one.

AND....

another one in. Large boy from a garden where they monitor their hogs, feed and water them. Straight out of hibernation with a heavy worm infestation. Finally one I have good chance with. His name is Kevin. Why? No idea, finders named him but probably a similar reason that a very large wood pigeon in my garden is called Malion.

(Pidge Malion) get it?

The dog attack female from yesterday died at 9pm. The puncture wound had gone very deep into her head.

The female found in the middle of the road died overnight. There was a tooth wound in the fold over her eyelid.

Had a call first thing for a hog with a massive slice wound, sent straight to the vet to be PTS.

I loathe this time of year.

Laney, Loopy Lou, Shipley and Gainsborough have all gone off to be free. I hope they all stay out of trouble.

there are alot of bittersweet in these updates especially for the rescuers.

Boy just in with rear leg fracture and possibly a hip fracture too. Infected. I need a conveyor belt that goes to my vet.

your so right Gem I do like these posts .. keep learning everyday x

Youngster just in with an eye gone. Smells of fox.

The little one that arrived earlier may not lose her eye. I've had a chance to clean it up a bit more and although there is a small amount of blood it looks like the eye is intact. It's possible the tooth went to the side of it. Fingers crossed.... but you'll have to do that for me for reasons that will become clear.

People often ask me "do hedgehogs bite?" my stock answer to which is - some do, usually because you're annoying them but if they do, don't worry. As long as you don't pull your finger away you won't get anything more than a few dents. To make them let go just give a short puff up their nose.

Now the rules about hedgehogs are... there are no rules and funnily enough that's the only rule you can be certain of.

Consequently I have just met the exception to the rule. He bit me, hard.

He clamped his jaws round my knuckle and every time I puffed up his nose, he clamped down harder. By this time it was really starting to hurt as his teeth were right on the bone so I tried a couple of other tricks that make them relax. Go back and read the rules again.

Instead of letting go he curled himself into a tight ball with my finger still clamped between his teeth, no nose to blow up and just to really ram the point home, spines sticking in my hand.

Now there is one rule about hedgehogs which always applies. If you make a loud noise they will curl up as tight as they possibly can soooo, mustering every ounce of teeth gritting I could without letting out a loud howl of pain, I finally managed to dislodge him by letting go of him completely so he was just dangling and when he relaxed he just dropped onto the floor.

Far from a few dents, I have a hugely swollen knuckle that is throbbing like billy-o but you will be delighted to know that as I didn't pull my finger away I have no wounds.

Just severe crush injuries.

Ouch.

Aww. Hope the hoggie keeps her eye

One out, one in. Shandy has gone to the big wide world and a boy has arrived with head trauma that's making him run round and round in tight circles to the point he's making his feet bleed.

Medicated and in the ICU but he spent 2 hours circling before he finally laid down. I'm hoping that's the result of the meds rather than exhaustion but if he starts again then that's another one off to the vet.

aww he is running around so much his feet are bleeding :O(

I had a WHOO HOOO moment this morning.

The hog that arrived yesterday, spinning in tight circles with a bulging eye, continued to spin in tight circles for several hours. Feet were bleeding and the ICU was slowly turning red. I really didn't have a lot of hope but hit him with some fairly heavy duty meds and kept my fingers crossed. (yes the swelling has gone down).

Late last night he was laid out flat, legs out at all four corners and I wasn't sure if he was sleeping or dying.

This morning he's tucking in to a large dish of puppy meat!

YAY go hoggy!

Here he is, the spinning hog. I've named him now he has a chance, called him Twizzle. Apologies for the blurries, used my phone quick before he walked off.

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Never count your chickens. Twizzle was sent to the vet as he started spinning again randomly and running round and round the edge of his cage, feet bleeding like crazy from all the running.

A little one that arrived with bubbles coming out of his nose was medicated but soon developed froth coming out of his mouth as well. Sent to the vet where he died overnight.

Just had a little boy in. He was trying to cross a busy road at 11am. Seems to be fine, one tiny tick on his leg, runs like the clappers, no sign of any injuries. Very slight thinning round rear end. Bright eyes, inquisitive. 300g and definitely a juvenile so born very early this year.

I hesitate to say anything else about him for at least 4 days in case I invoke the law of sod.

We desperately need to raise at least £500 to get an oxygen generator. So many hogs are coming in now with breathing difficulties, we've had another two today.

Listening to then gasping for breath is one of the worst parts of this job.

If all of our supporters donated £1 we'd be able to get a couple plus another ICU in no time. I don't like to ask for money in these tough times but these little ones are heartbreaking.

Our donations page is here or you can use the link on our web site. Thank you

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We've had another little one in this morning which is so upsetting. He's in beautiful condition but was found running in circles in a garden. He was covered in ticks but otherwise didn't appear to have any injuries until I got a good look at his face.

Both his eyes have blown presumably from a bash on the head. The finders say that a tree came down so it looks like he may have been underneath it. He was starving hungry but unable to feed himself so he's had a syringe feed along with medications and is now sleeping.

Twizzle, the other spinning hog who is at the vets is responding to different steroids so there is hope he will pull through.

The breathing issue hogs that went in to the vet are mixed results I'm afraid. One died overnight, one is being put to sleep and the other is improving.

Stumpy (son of) who arrived with severe breathing issues and was struggling badly has improved no end. He still has bubbles coming out of his nose but he's no longer straining to breathe and is eating and drinking well.

A massive massive thank you to all our supporters. I am truly humbled and gobsmacked by your generosity. We have sufficient funds now to get the Oxygen Concentrator.

I was fully intending to have a big funding drive at the Wolf Trust open day on Monday to get enough money to complete the purchase but you've done it.

All of us at the rescue are stunned and amazed. Thank you thank you thank you. It will make such a difference to some of these animals.

I'll be on the phone first thing on Tuesday to put in the order.

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that's fantastic and what a brilliant photo .x