RSPCA centres inundated with prickly patients

[catbasket]

Is there any particular wet cat food you'd recommend?

[Piggle]

I used to use telmin as it's got a bit more ooomf - nowadays it's injectibles all the way where possible as it's easier to get the dosage right.

Keep up the good work - and as march says wet cat food is great. I tried to keep mine off mealworms as some of them get addicted .

[marchogaeth]

Have you tried fresh cat food?

[catbasket]

New Year's Eve morning weigh-in: 737g and 761g.

They are both still eating mostly mealworms but they seem to enjoy a little dry cat food, sunflower hearts, peanuts and sultanas on the side.

[catbasket]

Maybe 'prescribed' was the word I was looking for

Underdosing is a real problem.

These two are absolutely crazy about mealworms and there is very little wasted. Also the vet prescribed (yes, much better ) a slightly larger dose (by my calculations) and recommended five doses rather than the standard three. Hopefully with that combination the worms didn't stand a chance.

I just wouldn't feel confident handling a hog and attempting to feed it worming paste unless I had been shown how to do it properly. Might have to do one of the hog carer training courses ...

Xmas morning weigh-in: 626g and 643g.

Appreciate all the tips and encouragement, btw. Thanks!

[marchogaeth]

Panacur paste syringe for cat/dog/puppies as dispensed by the wildlife vet who worked out the dosage for us - they had their fifth and final dose this morning in their mealworms.

That is a disgusting image! (Mostly because we feed live meal worms to our dragons.) Seriously, if you do them again do try to get it in their mouths so you can be precise. Underdosing is a real problem.

[catbasket]

Panacur paste syringe for cat/dog/puppies as dispensed by the wildlife vet who worked out the dosage for us - they had their fifth and final dose this morning in their mealworms.

[Piggle]

Which wormer are you using?

[marchogaeth]

We had a little scare as both hogs had a bit of a reaction the first day or two after being given the first dose of wormer, but they have both recovered and are getting heavier.

The previously heavier hog was the worst affected but is now up to 604g this morning.

The hog which at first was the smaller wasn't as badly affected and is 626g this morning.

They were both making a chuntering kind of noise to each other late yesterday when I checked on them so I grabbed the video camera ...

This is normal. The big one could even have weighed more because of the worm burden! One of our heaviest little ones had a big healthy stomach on it and it was all worms! She looked really rough after after worming. I think I remember being told their stomachs can be quite sore after the purge, too. They will bounce back - be prepared for mega food consumption.

Without wishing to sound patronising, brilliant work.

[catbasket]

We had a little scare as both hogs had a bit of a reaction the first day or two after being given the first dose of wormer, but they have both recovered and are getting heavier.

The previously heavier hog was the worst affected but is now up to 604g this morning.

The hog which at first was the smaller wasn't as badly affected and is 626g this morning.

They were both making a chuntering kind of noise to each other late yesterday when I checked on them so I grabbed the video camera ...



And on YouTube.

[Piggle]

Really glad I could assist - and those hogs look pretty healthy to me and nearly upto weight as well.

For anyone that is interested Vale Wildlife Rescue run a brilliant basic wildlife course which covers all the basics of how to look after sick hedgehogs, the risks involved to yourself and the animal, how to treat basic injuries ( worms/tics etc), how to give sub cut fluids via injection.

Caroline Gould runs the centre and is always really helpful at dispensing her expertise even if you can't get to Gloucester to get on a course.

If I can help anyone else - even if it is just to get their local centre then please please PM me.

Good luck all you current and future hog carers.

[catbasket]

Thanks again Gill for the help via PM

We've contacted our local rescue for further advice and two hogs are now sleeping in separate boxes in the spare room.

The larger weighed 552g yesterday evening and was a whopping 580g when weighed at cleaning out time this morning -
and

The smaller was 502g, now 512g this morning -


They are both back in the nest section of their boxes with fresh food, water and bedding.

There was no sign of further hog activity at the garden feeding station overnight but we'll be leaving food out for a while in case any other hogs need help.

[catbasket]

Thanks for the info Gill.

The hog weighed-in at 511g yesterday evening, and we'd like to foster it if possible but we don't have a shed or greenhouse.

Would this garden storage box be suitable to put a home-made wooden hog nestbox in?



It's well sheltered, especially on the north, east and south sides and keeps the inside dry even in torrential rain - but there'll be almost no light inside especially at night.

[marchogaeth]

Our local rescue is looking for foster parents, I must give them a ring. I'm just concerned about ticks and fleas though (we have a dog) ~ the hoglet I rescued in the summer was infested

That depends who you ask.


"Hedgehog Flea (Archaeopsyllus erinacei)
They are generally associated with hedgehogs, but occasionally brought indoors by dogs, cats and humans; also found in gardens and outbuildings" http://www.pestcontrolonline.com/ins...hog%20flea.pdf

I'd go with Piggle on this TS, my experience is that the fleas only jump if the hedgehog is unwell. As people know from another thread my cats share their shed with hedgehogs and they really don't have 'pig fleas as far as I'm concerned only ever a few very obviously cat ones. I've always understood that the fleas can't last on anything that isn't their species past one or two bites (ditto ticks although they are horrible while they hang around.)

When we hand reared the baby hedgehogs we never had a bite and they were handled all the time.

For anyone else with undeweight hedgehogs, I would advise finding a way to worm them as well as feed them. They are riddled with worms almost from their first suckle. Our vets were brilliant they worked out the dose and we used a dog wormer. It might be possible for you to mix a liquid one in with the feed you put out.

Our barns all have two or three in them, in the cat's shed there are at least two who have squeezed into an old hay bale. I would have beleived they would go for anything so close packed if I hadn't spotted them coming in and out to tuck in with the cats. They have been firmly asleep for about six weeks now, even with their food supply they were late hibernating (see.)
From your point of view, I suppose you have to assess how often you and your animals would come in direct contact with the hedgehogs.

(It's taken about three hours to finish writing this so I hope it's not totally out of date now! (Had to rush out and move sheep/trim sheep's feet/move electric fences.) not just very slow typing.)

[Two_Sheds]

don't worry bout the fleas they are hedgehog specific

That depends who you ask.


"Hedgehog Flea (Archaeopsyllus erinacei)
They are generally associated with hedgehogs, but occasionally brought indoors by dogs, cats and humans; also found in gardens and outbuildings" http://www.pestcontrolonline.com/ins...hog%20flea.pdf