June 2010

I cannot believe how time flies..... where do I start. June already. A call came in from Bev early in the morning 6.45 ish. Nigel had found a badly injured hedgehog.....he popped it straight down and this poor little hog came in dripping in blood. There really seemed no hope whatsoever, but we never give up. I wrapped a bandage as best I could around her stomach and put her straight into the Intensive Care Unit. She was in shock, lifeless but still dripping with blood. Once she was warm I gave her a syringe of Hills AD and she devoured it - we had a real fighter. Against all the odds, Belle survived quite bruised and battered, her eye half closed, but nevetheless a miraculous hedgeghog. Belle has now made a full recovery and has been released, after a course of antibiotics her eye is now fine.

Next Lucy poor little girl leg hanging behind her, covered in ticks. We removed all of her ticks and fed her up for the week so that she would be strong enough to endure an anaesthetic. Kirsten our vet x-rayed her and to her horror not only did the limp leg need amputating but her other leg had a serious break which had showed up clearly on the x-ray. Kirsten managed to cut the bone from her broken leg and somehow fuse the bone together. She amputated her lifeless leg and Lucy pulled through her massive operation. When I brought Lucy home I could not believe it she tucked into a bowl of meal worms and moved around her cage. 3 weeks on and Lucy has been released into a Secure Garden. She moves incredibly fast and no-one can believe that she is recovering from a broken leg and an amputation. We will never put down a hedgehog with a hind broken leg if we can mend or at worse amputate. Hedgehogs can live a relatively normal life in a large secure garden with minimum human intervention. We usually catch every 3 months where we de flea and de tick, we also suplement feeding, please do get in contact if you have a large secure garden - walled gardens are the best.

Bradley Boy came in from Paganhill - he had fallen in a drain - he stayed for a couple of weeks fattened up. spent a few nights with Lady Marmalade and now has been released back 250g heavier.

Then Horatio arrived our first Hoglet 90g dehydrated and starving. He had been attacked by a dog but was relatively unscathed. He was very slow to get going and had to be rehydrated and then fed very slowly initially. He was fed goats milk initially through night and then goats milk with AD meat - Harry then arrived with his sister who sadly we lost through fly strike. She ended up with maggots in her eyes and tummy so had to be put down. Harry and Horatio bonded like brothers and together were fed by syringe every 3/4 hours. After 2 weeks intensive care both hogs are now huge and eating on their own. A massive thanks to Julien and John for their amazing care.

Then came Eliza, Elle and Emma all between 80 - 85g. Two from the same litter (Tetbury)and another one dumped on a lawn in Malmesbury. The intensive feeding started again and the lack of sleep began to show........my house has never been so dirty, my meals are not usually as bad ...really my boys are so good putting up with hogs taking priority. My husband calls himself a hedgehog widow as I sleep downstairs on the settee for easy feeding. Thankfully they all pulled through and now are eating by themselves. It is such a wonderful feeling saving these lives.

Just ready for a good night sleep and Ben arrives 85g cold and dehydrated but again a little fighter. Well done Louie you have been brilliant. Ben has been fed for the last week and started eating on his own today. I wish he had a buddy - he just has a cuddly hog to snuggle upto in his bobble hat. We will pair him up soon so that he can learn proper hog behaviour.

Now - for me sleep deprivation is started to show. Another call..... Bev takes it this time Minnie comes in, closely followed by Daisy. Both hoglets are under 50g very dehydrated and completely starving. This is going to be really tough. It is very early days for our little girls but so far they are holding their own....... I will keep you posted. Massive thanks to Bev, Ellie, Sam and Nigel who is also a Hedgeghog Widow!! Please keep everything crossed.

Now another call a beautiful large Hedgehog comes in - he has fallen in a pond and is covered in pond weed. Bernard is so handsome, a week of tlc and observation and he will go back to his lovely garden a bit wiser we hope.

Then the daddy of all hedgehogs arrives - Beast. 1.25kg -he was found on the side of the road, he appears unharmed, but snuffly. He has been de ticked and now is recovering from his shock. He will spend a few more days under observation before his release.

Then our Wiltshire hedgehog - Kiara.......what will this outcome be. Kiara was found out in the day and after a careful examination she has discharge coming out which could indicated a womb infection......NOT good. Antibiotics for a week - still no change. Xray -nothing to report. We are awaiting a scan from Kirsten and we will have to decide our course of action. We may need a hysterectomy... will keep you posted..

Now another 2 girls and 1 boy hoglets Ariel, Tinker Bell and Pluto 150g 135g 145g all eating now they are piling on the weight and out of danger. Thank you to Claire, Izzy and Alice for your help.

Last but not least Bashful arrives a hedgehog so snuffly but clear mucous. I have had to keep him in isolation away from other hogs incase it could be contagious. He is resonded well to treatment so far.

Last but not least - we also have a mother Lady who we have left undisturbed in our shed for 3 weeks now. We hope she has some baby hoglets as she has to be moved urgently from a haybarn.... we are waiting for news of the babies. Again I will keep you posted.

May 2010

What a busy month. After releasing the Autumn Juveniles I was expecting to have a quiet few weeks....... think again. Mrs Bradley came in - the largest hedgehog I have ever seen - her feet were huge. Lady Bradley was a very good weight, but very unwell lying on her side unable to get up. She went straight onto a heat pad wrapped in a blanket, I began to inject fluids as she was very dehydrated, but she would not let me syringe feed. She just lay motionless on her side. I noticed her back was really hot and wondered whether she had injured it in some way. I put a large dose of Aloe Vera Gel onto her back and Purple Aloe Vera Spray. The next morning I was expecting the worse, but there she was slightly improved. Great news she was on the mend. She started to eat a little Hills AD then live meal worms and quail eggs. Yes our hogs are really spoilt. Lady Bradley was released 2 weeks after, back to perfect health and minus about 100 ticks.... she went back to Cashes Green to her same garden....we wish her the best of luck.

Then the real story of the 3 - legged Hog. I read Hogalogue very briskly and saw they were looking for a home for a 3 legged hedgehog near Hereford!! with a airport nearby. I knew where that was - an hours drive. I emailed back saying we had a perfect garden for our 3 legged Spikey Friend and we wern't too far away. Lynne phoned me "Yes please. A perfect home - how far are you?" Not far - I had really messed up - it was Hertfordshire not Hereford and it was Stansted not Staverton. Oh dear, but I had already said I would get the Hog. Luckily Lynne, another Hedgehog Rescuer came up with a briliant idea, why don't we meet at Paddington Station. So off I went with my Cat Carrier like you do. I waited for the 1715 train and off I went to the Big Apple. When I arrived I immediatley saw a lsdy also carrying a Cat Carrier. It was very comical, we found a quiet location to transfer our Spikey Load and then I said Goodbye and caught the 1910 back to Stroud with a change at Swindon. After a change at Swindon I was safely on my way back home. The ticket Inspector asked "What you got in there love?" "You don't want to know" "Yes I do" "Well it's a 3 legged hedgehog" The ticket Inspector said nothing and walked away!

Next one.......our Lovely Gandolf woke up from hibernation from his hibernaculum.....what a terrible state. He had lost so much weight, it was hard to recognise him, he had gone from 1.3kg to 590g. Bless him, I looked closely and his ears had gone hard and black. We made a trip to the vets - Gandolf had frost bitten ears, he had to have antibiotics, ear drops and a collar. Poor chap. Two weeks later he is back to a healthy 1kg and his ears are slowly recovering. I have spoken to the Hedgehog Preservation Society and this is very rare indeed. I wonder how many other wild hedgehogs have experienced the same problem it was such a cold winter. Gandolf is now released back to 1.3kg and back to his lovely garden and house made by Deano.....thank you. He will hopefully be breeding shortly so needed to get the weight back on quickly.

Please please put out water in your garden and food for our hedgehogs. They are waking up, starving to death as due to the hot dry spell there are no insects, earthworms or slugs for them. Please help, a regular source of food and water is a life saver. We have had a few losses, due to poisoning, insecticides and starvation.

Lilly is doing brilliantly. Paddy our 3 legged Hog has been released, she has now been renamed Lady Marmalade and is a whooping 840g. Thank you Dawn. Tasker is nearly free of ring worm and looking very beautiful again. Also Daisy has re-appeared in her garden and Dusk is living in her hedgehog box. A huge thanks must go to Elizabeth Campbell who is looking after them so well. Also a massive thank you to Pam and Ken from Berkely who are also doing an amazing job. Pam has 11 hogs visiting her garden, she feeds them every night, de ticks them, marks them and is producing a DVD for our website. Well done indeed.

April 2010

I thought it would be quiet now that all my Autumn Juveniles had been released......... think again. Ellie came in - bless her 350g possibly the prettiest hedgehog I have ever seen. Poor thing she was stick thin - she was found in a garden in Wotton. She started on a heat pad and although I could get her eating she was still losing weight, everything we tried just failed. She started to be fed every four hours by syringe, but sadly she lost the fight. Please can I pass on my thanks to John and Julien Crowther and welcome them to Help A Hedgehog Hospital, their support was invaluable. After speaking to the Hedgehog Preservation Society Ellie had half a brown tongue this was caused by poisoning probably insecticides there was no hope for our spikey friend, but she fought so hard. Please be careful when you are putting down any poison in your garden, hedgerows are often sprayed by the council - how many poor Ellies have been poisoned and died already this year?

Next Hamish returned to the hospital my first ever rescued hedgehog. My son Louie would you believe it found him, disturbed from hibernation after some building work in the village. It was great to see Hamish, thin but 590g is not a bad weight to get through hibernation. Hamish had to go to the Vets where it looked like his abscess had returned he was put on a course of Baytril and his abscess was lanced.

Then Lilly came in...............what a sad sight a huge infested bite to her undercarriage it looked like this could be the end of the road for Lilly. After an amazing operation by Kirsty, thank you so much and a course of Baytril Lilly was on top of the world. She had to have a large part of her skin removed and stretched, but so far is making a good recovery.

Hamish lost his battle with his abscess and suffered a stroke. Poor Alexandria and Jackie were so distressed to have lost Hamish and my heartfelt thanks go to them for looking after the fort for me when I was away and for caring for Lilly and Hamish. I wish they hadn't had this horrible experience, but I think we were all so lucky to have met the nicest hedgehog ever and he will never be forgotten.

Brad came in .....absolutely stick thin starving to death Bev, Ellie and Sam did everything possible to help our little friend but sadly he was unable to pull through. It is so tough losing our Spikey Friends but when they are ill it is a really difficult fight. Some of them just are too weak to pull through, at least he was warm and comfortable. Poor Bev - it has been a difficult time and so frustrating when you lose a hedgehog.

March 2010

Hooray - all the hedgehogs have woken up - they have been checked all over and weighed and now need fattening up before their release. I am so relieved that they have got through their hibernation successfully. I have been concerned many a time and have had blankets around their cages.

I have had had a new hedgehog arrive called Tasker. She woke up in the middle of her hibernation and the reason for this - she has a severe case of Ringworm - she is completely bare underneath and covered in a white flakey skin. Her eyes are almost closed and I hope I have caught the ringworm in time, before it causes any damage to her eyes. I have bought some Imaverol from the Vets and now it is bath time for Tasker then drying out in a plastic cage on a heat pad. I have got to be very careful as ringworm is highly contagious and I dont want any of our other Spikey Friends coming down with this.

It is now the end of March and all the hedgehogs have been eating up so well and they all have put on sufficient weight ready for their release. They have been totally spoilt on a diet of Chicken IAMS, meal worms and Pedigree Chum Dog food. Daisy, Chip, Stone, Nibbles, Bramble, Henry, Snuffles, Adrienne, Simples, Milly, Miles, Diana, Deano and last but not least Charlie all back to the wild where they belong. Nearly all of the hedgehogs were picked up by their owners and taken back where they were found in their rightful homes. Most of the owners were surprised to see how much weight their Spikey friends had put on. When they came in between October and December they were between 200 - 350 g most of them have now reached between 700 - 800g which will ensure a really good start to their release. Good luck to all of them and please keep me posted on how they get on. Fingers crossed - they lead such a dangerous life and have so many problems to deal with all caused by us....... I am afraid.

Feburary 2010

February was extremely busy looking after our Spikey Friends, more dark mornings and dark nights. It has been a long winter and I can't wait for Spring to arrive - all the hedghogs hibernating seem to be doing fine, but it is scary for me playing the waiting game. I do hope they all get through their hibernation successfully. What amazing creatures though to go without food from November until March. I am studying a hedgehog in my neighbours garden. He is called Gandolf and has made a hibernaculum out of leaves. He does not appear to have moved at all, through the snow, frosts and extreme cold. I do not feel there is much protection in his nest but he vacated my expensive hedgehog Deluxe Box two days after release In October 2009. Before hibernation he got to 1.3 kg so I am hoping he will get through, he should have plenty of surplus weight. Hedgehogs are quite incredible, my sons and my husband can only go for an hour or two without feeding!!!

January 2010

January has been a very busy month. So much has happened and I feel Help A Hedgehog Hospital is really moving forwards. It has been hard getting through the snow and the dark mornings, but I already feel that Spring is in the air.

All the hedgehogs are doing well and I am looking forward greatly to their return back to the Wild. This has been such a successful year and all of my residents would have died during hibernation as they all were under 450g ( they would not have been able to sustain hibernation as they had not stored enough body fat)

I would like to welcome Bev Jones to Help A Hedgehog Hospital. Bev has come up with some brilliant fundraising ideas and her help is so appreciated. I think I may have run out of steam otherwise. Last thank you goes to Dawn who has sold enough car stickers to buy another cage. Thank you.

On the 6th March we are holding a fundraising coffee morning and cake sale and lots more at Bussage Village Hall to celebrate our first anniversary. Please come along and support us. All of this would not happen without your support.