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:
“The conservative assumes sickness as a necessity, and his social frame is a hospital, his total legislation is for the present distress, a universe in slippers and flannels, with bib and papspoon, swallowing pills and herb-tea.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“One sickness of the body and the soul.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“You would not have thought, if you had seen him lying about thus, that he was the proprietor of so many acres in that neighborhood, was worth six thousand dollars, and had been to Washington. It seemed to me that, like the Irish, he made a greater ado about his sickness than a Yankee does, and was more alarmed about himself.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)