Well, we have come to the end of another VERY busy week, with lots of new intakes, a few going out for release and LOTS of trips to the vet!
A couple of days ago we posted photos of xrays on two adult hedgehogs – one male and one female. Our vet had hoped to pin their broken legs, but sadly both had complications which prevented this.
Saffron is an adult female – so named because she is literally covered in yellow paint! It’s on her head, back, sides and rump. She has been attacked by a fox or dog. Perhaps yet another victim of being painted, which alerts predators to them?
Tom is an elderly male, who appeared to have got his leg trapped in something and broken it in his efforts to escape.
Saffron’s bones had been broken for some time and had started to form calcification and scar tissue. This meant the decision was made during surgery to amputate her leg. She is recovering well and the photo below shows her blissfully asleep during her operation.
Tom’s leg was not as cleanly broken as had appeared on the xray, so again the decision was made to amputate his leg. During surgery he suffered some complications and stopped breathing. He initially recovered and his surgery went well, but sadly he died overnight.
It’s been a week of highs and lows and it’s never nice to have one of our hedgehogs die, but as he was very elderly, it is hoped he had lived a good life and has helped produce lots of babies over the years
