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Raindog

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
355
Location
Chicagoland area
So everything with Luna fine, eating well, bathroom stuff is fine, she is acting herself, except she doesn't run anymore. She pretty much just runs enough to go to the bathroom(30 secs - 20 mins avg). I am up pretty late (2 to 3 am) so whenever I peek in at her she is under her blanket, I rarely see her out anymore. When I get her up for play/snuggle time she is fine, takes her a little bit to wake up (15 mins or so) but is her normal self. Her tummy is warm and her room is warm. I have been messing with the heat because I'm worried it might be too warm so I have her space heater completely off and turned down the heat lamps. I am worried about her and why she seem to want to just sleep.

If she needs the vet she's is going, but she has been there so much this past year and has been sedated at least five times and I don't want to put her through it again if I don't have too.
 
Awww. Miss Luna. You're such a tricky little girl. Glad to hear you're eating and pottying just fine.

Definitely is concerning that she has slowed down - slower to perk up and not running as much. Could be so many possibilities. And if you've ruled out all the obvious ones, it may be worth a trip back to the vet.

Double check on heat, light, humidity, ambient noises, having the "right" scent in the air and on her belongings, nails neatly trimmed... all those things.

You may be able to start non-invasively (ie, without sedation) if you can get some poop and pee in to analyze.
 
I thought I had it figured out. My bf double checkd her wheel and that night I closed the blinds in her room. I've never closed them before but I thought maybe the street lamp is bothering her. That night she ran over a mile! But back to not running the past two days. She has a vet appointment on Monday morning.
 
Inconclusive. The vet could find nothing wrong with her in the physical exam or in the blood test. She was looking at an X-ray from Feb (that a different vet took) and thought Luna's heart looked a little bit enlarged. She said that there isn't a "normal range" in hedgehogs like in cats or dogs, we just have to monitor it. It could be causing her running problem if it is causing her to get out of breath. She took another X-ray and Luna's heart looks the same as 6 months ago. So........

She has medicine, Ultra EFA, to help her heart and joints.

Since then she has not been consistently running. Well she runs everyday, just ranging from 0.02 miles to 1.3. The last few days not running much.

Vet said she could be slowing down, but she is just 1 and a half. I'm starting to wonder if maybe that is it though.

Next step is to try some anti-inflamatories in case she is hiding an injury. I'm going to call for that today I think. See if that helps.
 
At one and a half, I still see plenty of running from my kiddos... depending on the hedgie. As you might expect the smaller ones run more than the chubbier ones. It's probably one of those circular things where the ones who prefer running run more and stay svelte so they are in better shape to continue running. My more full-figured ladies tend to prefer running less, which leads to extra grams, then they're not in fine running figure, so they run less...

Miss Luna is the very, very best hedgie for keeping you on your toes at all times. She has definitely earned an award for that!
 
Ok, so anti-inflamitories did nothing. The vet put her on OL-Immune because I thought her nose was maybe a little runny. I got her a new wheel- flying saucer. I mixed the OL-Immunae and the Ultra-EFA in some wet food which she loves. She started running! Consistently and well! Yay!!!!!!!

BUT!!! She cut her foot. So now no wheel until it heals. I had to put her in jail. A collapsable dog kennel with mesh windows and a zipper door since she had a tendency to escape if she doesn't have a wheel.

Foot healed nicely and back in her cage with her wheel last night. Ran good! Yay!!!!!

BUT!!!! Her nose is red and irritated. I am hoping she might have irritated it looking though the mesh. Or a nervous habit? She was licking it, a lot. Here is a picture. Hopefully it will heal fast and there will be nothing to worry about.

Not to work on getting her to forgive me.
 

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Yippee for running. Though bummer that she may have run a touch too much and cut her foot.

Yes, it is possible to get an irritated spot on a nose due to running it along side of walls, mesh, etc... And that's certainly more likely to happen when there's no wheel to run on. She may have run laps around her substitute cage and allowed her little nose to lead the way... literally. Or she could have tried digging/nosing under things and going after any exposed seams. Or... or... or... Hedgies do become inventive when they don't have what they want. I could imagine a bit of a nose irritation might lead to her licking it because it feels funny.

Of course, the opposite could be true; ie, that she has a bug, so her nose has been running, so she's been licking it, and between the runny nose and licking, it's become irritated. Good to keep your eye on it. I'm going to hope for the former explanation.

A couple of mine loved Sunshine Factor as a supplement. I currently have one who is certain that "if it is not kibble or a mealie, it is poison!" so it's been a no-go here. But I'll toss that out, preemptively, as something to try if others cease working.
 
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