Hedgehog recovered and then died

[Mari'a]

Two weeks ago while walking to the shops I saw a small (11-12 cm) hedgehog on the payment, he was heading for the road. It was early evening when they are not supposed to be out. I picked him up, his face was all one big wound with white dots all over (ringworm most likely). I took him home, put him in the box with a warm cardigan and a bowl of water. He buried himself under the cardigan and went quiet. We took him to the vets next morning and the vet suggested putting him to sleep straight away but after discussion we decided to give him a chance. Hedgie received an injection of antibiotics, his wounds dealt with, and I was given instructions on how to treat his wounds. I had little hope but how happy we were to see him first drinking and then eating a little, then more and more... His wounds healing I took him for another visit to the vet and was told that hedgie was doing fine, but too small to be let out in the wild yet, I would probably have to look after him till spring and then release. I didn't mind, I was happy to care for him. Hedgie was quickly recovering, had a good appetite and lots of energy. And now looking back I realise I made a stupid mistake, I decided to let him out at night to the unused cat run in the garden which is quite large: 2m x 7m. There is a tree in it, some logs, a rabbit hatch, grass and soil. I made it secure by reinforcing the borders with bricks and wood and let him out one evening leaving food and water there for him. I found him next morning fast asleep in the little nest he made for himself under the log. I treated his face wounds which were almost non existent by then just the traces and put him to his box for the day to sleep inside the house. In the evening I placed him in the cat run again, and again the next night. Hedgie looked recovered and I was planning to find out how to look after him during the winter months when he hibernates. Yesterday I decided to leave him outside a bit longer into the day as he hated to be taken inside. When I entered the run in the early afternoon he was lying on his side breathing heavily and was cold (and it was pretty cold outside), there was also a small injury - his front paw was cut near the shoulder and bleeding a little but that stopped soon after I treated it. I picked him up and put him in a warm blanket, he could not move but spasms and convulsions began. I had to wait for an hour for my husband to return as I don't drive and during this time things turned for the worse, any movement stopped, he was breathing heavily and was making little crying noises which was heartbreaking! The nearest vet hospital that looks after wild animals is in Wanstead, they just took him away and put him to sleep immediately saying he was too badly injured... We did not even have a chance to speak to the vet, this message was sent through the receptionist. I know now that I should not have let him in the run too early and may be not at all but it seemed so safe there!
I know that given to an experienced carer from the start, the hedgie would have had a better chance but I became overprotective when originally it was suggested by the vet to put him down.

I am planning to get involved with hedgehogs' well-being now and have already bought a box to be used as a feeding station in the garden. But it is so important for me to know what happened to our hedgie! No other animal, a fox or a cat, could possibly have got in, as it is very secure! Did he manage to injure himself and die from this injury? Unlikely again. He could have injured his paw by the small blackberry growing in the corner or maybe he found a sharp wire edge, but this could not have been life threatening! Did he climb on top of the rabbit hatch and fall from it? But the hatch is not high! The logs are small and not heavy. Lungworm? But there were no symptoms, no running nose and no cough. Pneumonia would not have been so sudden, I think...

I can only think of poisoning however unlikely as it sounds! Outside the cat run, along its border there are small Acer trees, some of them favoured by slugs.
Hedgie might had eaten a slug and probably one which had some chemical poison in its system (although we did not put any slug poison out this summer). Convulsions and crying from pain suggest poisoning, but I would be grateful for any opinions!

It is worth mentioning that his food was half eaten. As if he started his usual "night life" and then it happened. I saw his poo left in the far end of the run, it suggests him moving around at first. And he also managed to return to his "nest" which means that at first he was not so poorly and could move.

I should have let him just run around in the bathroom at night, he would have been safe there, but I wanted him to have fun outside!
And of course I should have checked on him first thing in the morning! But I thought he was happily asleep in his nest as usual.

I am feeling absolutely dreadful!

I would be very grateful for all your suggestions and opinions!

[Cowgirl]

Aaaw poor hedgie.

Don't despair Maria, I'm sure you did everthing you could. I'm no expert (or even an amatuer) so can't begin to offer suggestions as to what happened, it may be that we'll never know. But your cat run sounded an ideal halfway house between indoors & outside freedom.

Don't lose heart, the next one you may save.

[healfdan]

Hello
When an animal dies suddenly you are bound to question your actions but in your case I think you went well beyond the call of duty. I have rescued quite a few animals over the years and occasionly, despite my best efforts the creature gives up the ghost. I rekon you should console yourself in the belief that the trauma of the hedgehogs earlier ordeal on an already weakened body, was what led to its premature death.
The white spots you mentioned may have been mites or caused by mites as hedgehogs carry quite a burden of external as well as internal parasites. This leads to distress and often results in open wounds caused by scratching, biting or rubbing the site of the problem.
As both your vet and the sanctuary were not slow in suggesting putting the hedgehog down, it would appear they held little hope for its recovery.

Well done for trying
Healfdan

[cara pace]

Hello Mari'a.

My first impression when I read your message was that the hedgie was suffering from flystrike - tiny little white bits around the wound. These are much smaller than the maggots you would expect to see.

Please don't be too downhearted about the hedgehog, you did your best. Perhaps you could put your caring nature to good use and volunteer at your local sanctuary? It would be a great way of helping and the perfect way to gain experience and they are always desperately in need of extra people.

[Littlesparrow]

Little animals can go down hill very quickly, without much warning and you don,t always know why. over the years we have had various small pets, rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters, most of them live to a ripe old age, but there has been the odd one that dies suddenly.

[Mari'a]

Thank you all for your kind replies! I closely examined the run and found a very small length (5 cm) of uncovered sharp wire mesh at the bottom and a very small space it formed through which he could have tried to escape and injured his leg. Some small rodents might have come through and definitely slugs attracted to the food I left for him. I thought about foxes and cats (the run is covered at the top) but forgot about the very small animals.
I will probably never know for certain, how his terrible internal injuries were inflicted, it these were injuries and not the poison or his old internal infection.
I would very much want to be involved with care for hedgehogs and will start with feeding them in my garden, hopefully my feeding box will attract them as they are certainly in the area.