Hospital Stay = Day 3

I called the hospital this morning to find out how Razzle did overnight. They said that he was doing fine, though he didn't eat much. They did attempt to syringe feed him and got a little food in him, but he was so stressed out that they had to stop. At least he did eat some when I visited. He did eat mealworms this morning though. He is spoiled rotten with the mealworms now, and I'm sure Mr. Smarty-Quills has figured out that if he refuses his regular food and holds out long enough, he will be given wormies by the dozens.

This afternoon he had his blood levels checked again and good news: the kidney/liver functions that were much too high have gone down by 1/3. His poos are still green, but more formed. Unfortunately, they want to keep him at least another night to continue with the sub-q fluids (fluids injected just under the skin and then absorbed by the body). But he is doing well overall!! So we'll be going up tonight to visit. I'm going to bring some of his crunchies too in hopes he'll eat a familiar food.

I've been reading about kidney disease, and while there isn't a lot of information about kidney disease in hedgehogs (okay...there's NOTHING on kidney disease in hedgehogs) at least in people I've read that the blood tests determine the amount of urea nitrogen in the blood. This is called BUN (blood urea nitrogen) level. If this is too high (like Razzle's) it indicates that the kidneys are not properly doing their function of removing urea from the blood. It could be kidney failure. But other reasons why the BUN level would increase are: heart failure (yup); dehydration (yup again); and a diet high in protein. HOLD ON?? Perhaps this is different in people as opposed to hedgies, but I thought hedgies were SUPPOSED to have a high protein/low fat diet? Something else to ask the doctor. It's frustrating to know that the "ideal" hedgehog diet has not really been determined yet since hedgie domestication is a relatively recent thing, so it's really all a bit of a guessing game. Jeez, I hope I've been giving Razzle the right foods. What a sickening thought to think someday when more research is done that they determine we had it all wrong. Uggh...I can't think about that right now.