Hedgehog Cabin@HedgehogCabin
This post is mainly to help other rescues, but I know a lot of you will be interested as well.
This sweet boy is Merlin.
Merlin self admitted, but aside from his scabby nose from a bit of ringworm, he appeared fine.
But I knew by his behaviour that he was sick.
Healthy hedgehogs don't self admit to a hospital pen. Especially boys at this time of year - they are out chasing girls.🥰
I tested his poo in the lodge, where he booked himself into an open pen, and it was clear.
I admitted him into hospital where he stayed overnight and left me 6 lovely poo samples.
Every single one was clear.
And yet his behaviour, his aggitation, the way he dug the corners of the pen, even his smell, told me through years of experience that he was sick.
So I started treatment anyway.
And as his condition improved, as he became hydrated and nourished, and the first antiparasitic administered, just like magic the confirmation appeared!
A diagnosis needs to be made on observed behaviour and history (either your own or of the finders); the poo sample is *confirmation of the diagnosis*.
So a hedgehog making unhealthy breathing sounds but producing clear poo samples is still unhealthy.
You can't always rely on a sick hedgehog to produce parasite larvae or eggs in their poo sample, for several reasons, but the main reason is:
Parasites, like all living organisms, have to preserve energy in order to stay alive and thrive.
So when they find themselves in a hostile environment - a host who has become starving and dehydrated - they reduce their energy expenditure by temporarily shutting down systems that are not neccessary for life, like reproduction.
They stop laying eggs and go into a sort of stasis, until conditions become welcoming again.
Also of course, parasites don't constantly churn out eggs. They have a reproduction cycle. So not every sample will contain eggs.
It's so frustrating when people contact me saying they have been sent home with a hedgehog who is clearly in audible respiratory distress, because the poo sample the rescue took was clear.
As for sweet Merlin - at first it was a trickle; his poo showed just a few parasites, so microscope samples had to be very carefully scrutinised.
But very quickly it became apparent that this poor boy was in fact full of deadly fluke, lungworm, and roundworm.
He's only on day 3 of his treatment, so is still very sick, but clever Merlin got himself the help he needed just in time.
