hoggle update...
here's what is going on:
1) the urinalysis came back after our last visit and they called and let me know that hoggle definitely had a UTI. the last couple times he's peed not in the litterbox, there has been no blood. yay! however, he has a kidney stone he's trying to pass. that's why he looks like he's straining.
2) i am a little frustrated with that since we approved an ultrasound when the vet (not the hedgehog specialist) first came in, but they did another x-ray that she said it looked like he still had a mass and then came in and said we'd need to do an ultrasound, but that we'd have to come in later for that. after explaining that it was very hard for us to do this on week days (saturdays fill up far in advance), she checked and they were able to do it right then. that's when they saw that the "mass" was really just fat.
3) in 2 weeks we are going in to get that ball in his cheek removed that has abnormal cells in it. even when it's removed, it could come back, but that it'll be good to mail the sample off to find out what we were dealing with. to help with this cheek ball thing, we are giving him ip-6 in a suspension they made to hopefully reduce the size or it from growing more before the operation.
4) because he's overweight, it's causing his heart to beat slightly irregularly?, and it could lead to heart disease if he doesn't lose weight. our goal is to bring his weight down considerably and try to figure out how to monitor how much he's running (there are ways to hook up an odometer to the wheel - i am going to research that). if we can get him to lose a suitable amount of weight then he won't need to go on heart medication. if we can't, he will.
5) the estimate/quote for the surgery is $490 (that's with everything including a 2 day stay there to make sure they can monitor him after surgery). i can't even IMAGINE him not being around for 2 days. $228 i spent + $200something (what z spent yesterday) + $490 = $______________. i have no idea what our pet insurance pays on surgeries.
i feel some kind of relief that hoggle is doing much better than we thought he was a couple weeks back, but now a new can of worms has been opened and we have a ways to go until he's feeling 100% again. my mind is sightly at ease, but the stress will come and go. i am really glad i stayed home this weekend rather than going to seattle, because i have been feeling sickly again.
1) the urinalysis came back after our last visit and they called and let me know that hoggle definitely had a UTI. the last couple times he's peed not in the litterbox, there has been no blood. yay! however, he has a kidney stone he's trying to pass. that's why he looks like he's straining.
2) i am a little frustrated with that since we approved an ultrasound when the vet (not the hedgehog specialist) first came in, but they did another x-ray that she said it looked like he still had a mass and then came in and said we'd need to do an ultrasound, but that we'd have to come in later for that. after explaining that it was very hard for us to do this on week days (saturdays fill up far in advance), she checked and they were able to do it right then. that's when they saw that the "mass" was really just fat.
3) in 2 weeks we are going in to get that ball in his cheek removed that has abnormal cells in it. even when it's removed, it could come back, but that it'll be good to mail the sample off to find out what we were dealing with. to help with this cheek ball thing, we are giving him ip-6 in a suspension they made to hopefully reduce the size or it from growing more before the operation.
4) because he's overweight, it's causing his heart to beat slightly irregularly?, and it could lead to heart disease if he doesn't lose weight. our goal is to bring his weight down considerably and try to figure out how to monitor how much he's running (there are ways to hook up an odometer to the wheel - i am going to research that). if we can get him to lose a suitable amount of weight then he won't need to go on heart medication. if we can't, he will.
5) the estimate/quote for the surgery is $490 (that's with everything including a 2 day stay there to make sure they can monitor him after surgery). i can't even IMAGINE him not being around for 2 days. $228 i spent + $200something (what z spent yesterday) + $490 = $______________. i have no idea what our pet insurance pays on surgeries.
i feel some kind of relief that hoggle is doing much better than we thought he was a couple weeks back, but now a new can of worms has been opened and we have a ways to go until he's feeling 100% again. my mind is sightly at ease, but the stress will come and go. i am really glad i stayed home this weekend rather than going to seattle, because i have been feeling sickly again.