my 3 hedgehogs now have diarrhea and one has a cough

[jo125]

i rescued 3 male baby hedgehogs on the 20th and 21st october they are all putting on loads of weight
start weight now weighing
100g 325g (rescued 21st october)
115g 320g (rescued 20th october)
130g 395g (rescued 20th october)

as you can see the one that weighed 115g is now the smallest, Unfortuantly one has developed a cough and all 3 have just finished a course of lungworm treatment on tuesday but the cough hasnt improved so the vet has given antibiotics for all 3 hogs which i started this morning.

Last night all 3 had very pale diarrhea which is slightly firmer now, none of them are settling this morning and they just want to eat. All that i have put in their cage is dried mileworms, dry cat food and water. I'm thinking about not putting any tinned food in their tonight to settle their stomachs

The vet i'm not too happy with as he dont have any ideas when i took it first for its cough and i cant get there either as i dont drive and public transport outta the village is every hour then oncein town i have to catch another bus so it takes about an hr in total and i have to pick my daughter up at 3.30 from school. when i phone them i can only talk to the vet that is treating them and no other will give advise over the phone. I'm annoyed as all my familys animals are seen there (goats, horse, pony, dogs and iguana) and they're fantastic but i feel you get a totally differant service from them with pets. The hogs are under the RSPCA

Any advise will be great as i'm worried about "staving" them from "wet" food over night for the diarrhea but thats esacly what i'd do if it was one of my pets or even myself or my daughter

Many Thanks
Jo

[pattie may]

I don't want to offer advice but check the British Hedgehog Preservation Society web site. They have carers all over the coutnry that can help you.

There are some people on this site who will be able to offer you advice so it's a waiting game I'm afraid.

[valleyforge]

Hi Jo125,

If your hogs have just been treated for lungworm, then that in itself may have induced coughing ... any dead worms may have to be coughed-up.

Antibiotics are going to upset the digestive system for a while too, so your plan to feed only dry food for a day or two sounds reasonable.

[jo125]

thank you, the poor little hogs have been through so much what with mum squashed on the road, mums dogs finding them and making it this far with such a good weight gain, when i talk to the vets the 1st thing he says is how are the pigs today

but then they do get fed a tin of cat food, dried and live mileworms and cat biscuts everyday, When i 1st got them i was advise by British Hedgehog Preservation Society to expect them not to make it throgh the 1st night,

When they reach 500g or 600g they will be over wintered in dads shed (he dont know that yet, mum said he wont even notice so its hush lol) atm they live in my living room.

I wondered how the dead lung worm (if any) would be rejected by the hedgehog, i now understand why the cough got worse on day 4 of the 5 day treatment.

They're clever things as when i handle them they dont roll up in a ball (i wear thick rubber gloves) but when someone else holds em eg my bf or the vet they refuse to open even when they are wearing my thick rubber gloves.

[posie]

Hello, How are your babies getting on, have they all survived, I do hope so, but if not it's not for the want of tender loving care on your part. Please let me know. Posie...

[ronscams]

Autumn youngsters are very prone for getting lungworms, which are given to them from the food they eat, (slugs), when worming these hogs we always give antibiotics (batril) at the same time, and after a week give a second dose of wormer as any worms that have been missed or any eggs that have hatched will be caught. The hedgehogs will cough these worms up and will swallow them, antibiotics will upset the hogs tummy and cause diarhea.

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