Hedgehog poop advice (small animal advice works!)

[Deleted]

So I know most (if not all) of you don't really know anything about hedgehogs, but I'm not really looking for hedgehog-specific advice (already have gone that route with hedgehog forums and the hedgehog vet to no avail) just general small-animal knowledge that can be applied.

My hedgehog Puff has been having lots of issues lately, but the most baffling one that the vet can't figure out or hasn't been able to treat is her GI issues.

Healthy hedgehog poop is supposed to be the width and consistency of toothpaste (lovely thought I know ;D) but for the past month, and getting worse over the past few days, Puff's poop has been SUPER skinny and tiny. It looked more like mini rabbit poop the past few nights, small and round or super skinny and stringy.

Now in ferrets, this would indicate a blockage, but hedgehogs don't really eat stuff and there's nothing for her to get into in her cage and she doesn't get a lot of time out the cage because of her mobility (she has a permanent head tilt from a possible tumour/old ear infection/neurological disorder but that's a different story and she's doing MUCH better).

She had a stool sample done and it showed white blood cells in the stool (she was treated with sulcrate for ulcers and with bene-bac because her stools were also green and mucousy). Her bloodwork also showed that she was recovering from anemia. So she clearly had some kind of ulcers/intestinal bleeding going on at one point.

The vet wants to recheck her bloodwork but for $100 + the $80 exam fee + the $50 taxi ride cost since I don't have someone to drive me at the moment, I can't relly afford it with everything that's going on with Olivia. Especially since the last 5 vet checkups with Puff have brought no answers.

The vet says short of a intestinal biopsy to check for IBD (not very safe for a hedgehog who can't handle anaesthetic well as it is) or a "trial" run of steroids (which she doesn't reccommend) she doesn't have a clue what's going on.

Has anyone experienced any thing similar in other small animals? Hedgehogs are insectivores and don't have a short digestive tract like ferrets, and I'm not sure how similar they'd be to other small animals, but still any advice is appreciated!

I've tried giving canned pumpkin but it doesn't seem to help much. She doesn't have diarrhea either at all so it doesn't seem like IBD.

Is there any other "hollistic" remedies I could try to help get her digestive tract moving? (I'll double check with the vet to make sure they are hedgehog safe).

Thanks!

[goingpostal]

I don't really know what you are feeding, but if it's varied, is the poo the same no matter what she eats? She's eating normally and enough?

[Deleted]

Hmm I am glad you mentioned that.

She's been on the same mix of high quality cat food (6 different kinds) for the time that I've had her, but I totally forgot that I've been also feeding her a food called Royal Canin Babycat (super tiny kibbles with lots of fat for when they are sick and losing weight) because she's been having trouble chewing the regular sized kibbles with her head tilt (and she's super finicky and won't touch her normal kibble if I break it, crush it, soften it or alter it in any way, shape or form )

She's still eating enough and isn't losing weight, but she's mostly eating the Babycat food which is so tiny and nutrient packed that maybe she just doesn't have a lot to poop out anymore.

Also that food contains corn, which they can't digest very well which could be contributing to it a little bit, but it's the only thing she'll eat enough of so it's kind of like a pick the better of two evils situation.

Still I don't think her poops should be this small, and this has never happened to this extreme when she was on the food the last time she was sick, so I still suspect something else might be going on.

[shilohismygirl]

I know nothing about hedgies, but I hope you find a solution. *moral support* It's stressful not knowing what's going on with your baby!

[Deleted]

Thanks!

[Deleted]

Hmmm, I've never had a hedgehog and know absolutely nothing about what they can and can't eat, but I have to assume the kitten food is the problem. Insects which she would be eating in the wild are very high protein and really no fat (and no corn). I would think the easiest (and cheapest in the long run) would be to start at diet changes and get her eating BUGS... Is she not eating insects because she wont eat them?

[Deleted]

Hedgehogs can't live on just bugs, they aren't reptiles The best diet for them is a mix of organic no-grain cat foods with 30% protein and less than 15% fat, supplemented with bugs, cooked meat, fruits and veggies, which is what my hedgehogs are on. Any hedgehog I ever heard of eating just bugs has been really sick and malnourished, doesn't quite work the same way as the ferret natural diet ;D

Yes the kitten food has too much fat and the corn is bad but it's the only thing she'll eat when she's sick besides the bugs. She won't touch anything else so it's kind of like she starves or she eats this. I'm trying to get her back on her regular food but she's old and stubborn as h*ll.

[joclyn]

all i know about hedgies is they're pretty darned cute and they're not legal to own here

so, i googled...

found some info and found your post on the hedgie central site...

what kind of hedgie do you have? from what little i just read, different ones have different food requirements.

modifying the diet to mimic the natural diet, as much as possible, would really be the best thing to do. so, i'm suggesting adding in the appropriate fruits, vegy's and insects as well as cutting out the high-fat kitten food.

i see that you say being a picky eater is an issue - and i'm sure they're a bit like ferrets in that they 'imprint' on certain foods and making switches can be difficult.

at the least, start weaning off the high-fat food - mix some of the usual food-mix in with that stuff to re-introduce it and hopefully he'll start taking to it again after a couple days. to help with that, take some of both (the mix and the canin stuff) and mix them together and store in a closed container for a couple/few days - that'll help 'blend' the smells and hopefully puff will eat it all with no balking. 20/80 % initially and then increase the % of the usual mix by 10-15% every few weeks (or every week if that would be appropriate for hedgies - i have no idea about how quickly/slowly their digestive system works) until you've got him fully back on the usual foodstuff.

adding in fruits & vegy's, etc, would really seem to be a good idea, too. if the mix you usually feed does cover all nutritional needs, then, adding in fresh stuff may not be all that big a deal (especially if he's being a bugger & being really picky/stubborn). although, it does pay to be persistant and keep working on getting them onto what IS their natural diet.

i would think the main issue, right now, is that high-fat food - if the initial crisis is over and he's no longer losing weight, he doesn't need that food any longer - seems to me that it's overloading his system.

and that would be comparable to how ferrets who've been on a kibble with a ton of fillerjunk in it (which means lower meat-based protein and tons of indigestible matter) are switched too quickly to something like evo (which has a high quantity of meat-based protein and little, if any fillerjunk in it) react...their systems can't deal with the better food, even though it's appropriate for them, because the system is used to dealing with the junk and ends up being overloaded and diarrhea is the result until the body adjusts.

his initial issue/illness is resolved and the extra fats that were needed to help get him over the hump aren't needed now and are 'bogging' his system down.

[Deleted]

Wow, Thanks Jocyln!
I'm a regular member on the Hedgehog Central site haha, but yeah I'm working really hard now to get the higher fat kibble out of Puff's diet. She is a picky one, always have been, but hopefully the poop improves once she's off of the baby cat food.

That being said, she did show signs of previous internal bleeding (anemia) and white blood cells in her stool so the vet says it's possible she has ulcerative colitiis in her bowels or a tumor or something along those lines, so the food may really have nothing to do with it.

Thanks for the advice, though.

[joclyn]

if ibd or uc is possible/likely, then i would stick with using the sulcrafate - it's a wonder drug (i take it myself, so, know just how effective it really is). even once all symtoms disappear and blood work comes back normal i'd still keep using it as precaution and to avoid a recurrance of the issue you've just dealt with.

adding fiber to the diet will definitely help the stool become it's more usual form - again, lol, i know that from personal experience; as well as seeing what my ibd ferrets have gone through.