Sickness
Hedgehogs are prone to many diseases including cancer, which spreads quickly in hedgehogs, and wobbly hedgehog syndrome. Some symptoms of wobbly hedgehog syndrome resemble those of multiple sclerosis (MS) in humans, therefore the condition the animal experiences can be compared with what MS patients experience. A possible cause of WHS is a genetic flaw allowing a virus to attack the hedgehog's nervous system. The nose can display a variety of symptoms of a troubled hedgehog, especially respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia. In many cases, the form of pneumonia that affects hedgehogs is bacterial in nature. If acted upon quickly, antibiotics can have a very positive effect. Signs to watch for include bubbles, excessive dripping, or constant sneezing.
Hedgehogs usually react to stress with temporary digestive disorders that include vomiting and green feces.
Read more about this topic: Domesticated Hedgehog
Famous quotes containing the word sickness:
“Racism as a form of skin worship, and as a sickness and a pathological anxiety for America, is so great, until the poor whites—rather than fighting for jobs or education—fight to remain pink and fight to remain white. And therefore they cannot see an alliance with people that they feel to be inherently inferior.”
—Jesse Jackson (b. 1941)
“Autumn hath all the summer’s fruitful treasure;
Gone is our sport, fled is poor Croydon’s pleasure.
Short days, sharp days, long nights come on apace,
Ah! who shall hide us from the winter’s face?
Cold doth increase, the sickness will not cease,
And here we lie, God knows, with little ease.
From winter, plague, and pestilence, good Lord, deliver us!”
—Thomas Nashe (1567–1601)
“Tempered, gradual animation, the methodical restrain of sensations and energies, the equilibrium of sickness and health in each creature—this is nature’s essence, its immutable law, this is what it’s based on and what it adheres to.”
—Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818–1883)