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.
Monday, 10 May 2010
Monday, 19 April 2010
Monday, 12 April 2010
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.
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.
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!!!
Sunday, 14 February 2010
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.
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.
Monday, 4 January 2010
December 2009
What a busy December I have had. 12 Autumn Juveniles have arrived - all of them close to death, dehydrated and starving but thankfully I have managed to pull them all through with the help of my friends Dawn, Dean and Jess Worth who managed to save Simples who had lungworm and needed 24 hour attention, even down to emptying their compost bin of worms to get him eating again. Jackie and Alexandria again stepped in to look after this time Stone and Chip while I was away in Scotland and Judy who looked after everybody else. It certainly has been a busy December.
I am now planning a get together maybe a coffee and cake morning to help fundraise and plan some car boot sales which I think will be another good way of fundraising.
I must get together and finish my web site with Tania - there just isn't enough hours in a day, but I wouldn't swap it for anything. There is something so special about our Spikey Friends and I will do everything I can to secure them a future in and around the Five Valleys.
I am now planning a get together maybe a coffee and cake morning to help fundraise and plan some car boot sales which I think will be another good way of fundraising.
I must get together and finish my web site with Tania - there just isn't enough hours in a day, but I wouldn't swap it for anything. There is something so special about our Spikey Friends and I will do everything I can to secure them a future in and around the Five Valleys.
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