Update on Speedy. Sooo happy!!!

[luckies4me]

OMGoodness, I am so excited right now! It's been a month and a half since Speedy first got sick, and we are finally making REALLY good progress. I really thought I would have to euthanize him a few times but hesitated as he was still being his grouchy self. A lot of times I just cried at the site of him though, and prayed he would be OK. About two weeks ago his infection was so bad he lost a lot of his skin, down to the muscle. He had to have his skin "peeled" away so the infection underneath could be controlled. He lost fur, quills and some muscle tissue. He's been on antibiotics and topical meds for about two months now. He skin literally peeled off. But that is the great part, because after that his recovery has been so speedy (no pun intended) and he's shown remarkable recovery in just a week. Last week his quills were just falling out, he was bleeding constantly. The bleeding was a good sign though as that means he had healthy tissue. Well tonight I took him out and I almost fainted! Not only is his swelling completely gone, but the part on his body where he lost all his quills is healed, and we are now just fighting a tiny area around his genital region. He looks SOOOOO much better!

I will attach a before photo and then post some updated ones. I just wanted to update everyone in case you were all wondering how he was doing. I can't tell you how happy I am. And to think I almost euthanized him. He was really bad though. At one point he was barely moving, very dehydrated and wouldn't eat. :( This makes me feel so much better that I didn't give up on him and fought this through. It looks like he should be all cleared up in about a week, and once his mites are treated (all hedgehogs have mites, but they usually do not cause problems until they become sick) he will be reunited with his buddies Spike and Flower.

This picture isn't even the worse of what he went through. You should have seen him three weeks ago when he was all bloody and pussy,. :( This photo shows him with his meds on.

You can read his original thread here:

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?threadid=76021&highlight=speedy

[luckies4me]

Now, here are his updated pics. :)

This first picture shows his progress really well. I marked the areas on his body so you can see the differences between photos. As you can see, his penis is no longer swollen, but nice and pink now with no more infected tissue. We're still working on his tail a bit, but that's cleared up so well now. I really thought he was going to lose it! The part that says "loss of quills" is the area where he skin peeled off. He still has a couple quills in there, but I am unsure if he will grow anymore there again. He may just stay bald there. But the dark skin is all healthy tissue now, and completely healed! :D The areas marked "concern" are the places we need to get fully healed before he can go back with his friends. See all that nice new pink skin though? FANTASTIC!!! :D

I have to make sure he stays clean so everynight I pick up his dried poopies. Unfortunately I had to leave that big chunk this night because it was stuck so badly to his quills and I didn't want to injure him. Once the poop dries all the way, it will be easier to remove. The infected toenail is where the infection was really bad on his foot. The foot cleared up but his toenail was still bad. The scab actually fell off after I took the photos and it's nice and pink underneath, and there was no bleeding. The toenail most likely will not grow back, but at least his foot looks more normal now.

I'll post this pic first and then the other photos.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/luckies4mee/progress.jpg

[luckies4me]

Body shot showing how much his whole body has cleared up. :D Yes, he needs his nails trimmed but I'm trying to limit his stress as much as possible. So those will have to wait til next week. I actually just trimmed them a week ago. Their nails grow so fast! :eek:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/luckies4mee/progress2.jpg

Now, you can imagine how hard it is to medicate a prickly, grumpy hedgehog. Amazingly, scruffing a hedgehog works wonders when they need to be medicated! Here is Speedy getting his cheery flavored Trimethoprim Sulfa. :p He actually rather likes it. Heh.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/luckies4mee/medicating.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/luckies4mee/medicating2.jpg

The q-tips are what I use to clean his wounds out. I also use them to apply his topical meds.


Here is Onyx checking out Speedy.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y180/luckies4mee/onyxspeedy.jpg

Now, let me explain why he is in the bucket. :p The bucket is what I found my two hamsters in when they were abandoned. He was seperated from Spike and Flower and was in the Superpet cage. Originally he was on Carefesh, but that wasn't such a good idea as it kept sticking to his body making the whole thing worse. So I switched to Aspen shavings, but still I found the shavings would stick to his infection and it wasn't pleasent using tweezers to remove pierces of bedding from his sore areas. I also noticed that having a bigger area to move caused him many problems as he was so sensitive and tender that just walking over the bedding would cause him to bleed. So I stuck him in this bucket to limit his movement, and only allow him out at night (when he's awake) in the bathtub, with no towel as I don't want friction rubbing him raw again. So that's why he's in the bucket.

I've seen a considerable amount of progress since he's been in the bucket, as it limits his movement and therefor does not irritate his bottom. I also switched him to pellets, as they do not stick to his body and he stays much cleaner. His cage is cleaned and disenfected with bleach daily. He needs a super clean environment. He's now gaining weight again and drinking and eating very good.

I really am happy with his progress. I did not think he would make it. Sorry this was so long but I wanted to make sure I gave all the details about his condition and recovery process. Thanks to everyone who prayed and sent well wishes his way. It seems like it worked! :D

[jodi]

Wow:eek: It's amazing to see an animal go from being so sick and almost dead to recovering so fast. You must be doing a terific job with him!

[kittycats_delight]

good job helping Speedy get well. You are doing good. I am soo glad you didn't give up and him and I bet he is too. Good Luck Speedy on the rest of your recovery. Get Well Soon Little Buddy.

[PJ's Mom]

I'm so glad Speedy is getting better. You're a great mommy and you should be proud of yourself. ;)

[luckies4me]

Thanks everyone. :D

[luckies4me]

Bump.

[CagneyDog]

I'm so happy to hear he is getting better :)

[luckies4me]

Thank you. :)

[sandragonfly]

OH POOR YOU! yes you're getting better but look at what you have been going through... at least this is the another good news after I get back home!

I know this can be SO, so stressful..keep getting well, speedy! *smooching and walks away with a few quills in lips...* :D

[bckrazy]

yay Speedy!! He looks so much better now! It sounds like its been very hard, but you're doing so much for him :)