60 Days

It's been 2 months since we lost our pokey hedgie Nigel.  It's interesting - somethings in life feel like they happened yesterday and some feel like forever ago - many times the same event falls into both categories. With Nigel's passing - it feels like forever ago - far longer than 60 days.  Not sure why that is...

I miss him terribly and think about him every day.  I still haven't cleared out his cage - not sure why I am putting that off but I am.  Life here has a bit of a new normal but there are still a few tears now and then and we definitely haven't forgotten about our sweet boy...

One Month

It's been a month since we lost our sweet Nigel.  My how I miss that little pokey critter.  Life at the zoo is cranking along.  It feels wrong that we just keep on going - somehow disloyal to the impact that Nigel had on our world.  But, alas - I think that is the way we feel whenever we have a loss - human, furry or otherwise.

The critters seem to be okay after his passing.  I have put all of his blanket and toys out for the ferrets and cats to snuggle in and play with.  For the first couple of weeks they avoided, but now I am finding ferrets curled up and sleeping in his old stuff and I saw Finn playing with one of his old toys yesterday.  I would like to think that would make Nigel happy.

So - one month later there are still a few tears, lots of great memories captured in photos, blog posts and videos, and a bit of healing.

Miss you my sweet boy - I hope you and Isabel are having much fun at the rainbow bridge....

Here is a sweet video that was posted back in 2011 shortly after we got our little guy...enjoy:

This is why....

I am often asked why I blog...why I take the time every day to write something about the critters or something critter related.  This is why - situations like what happened yesterday with Nigel.

It was actually our sweet Isabel's passing that made me want to start blogging - when she left us I had so few pictures of her.  It inspired me to start documenting and it was truly the best gift of inspiration that I could have received.

As I awaken this morning with a great deal of sadness that my little critter menagerie is not complete I do take quite a bit of comfort in knowing that a vast majority of Nigel's time with us is documented with memories, experiences, photos and videos.  Nigel came to live with us in January of 2011 and I began blogging in March of that same year so we have almost all of his life on "film" or written down.  I also have some video of my boy - I am inspired by this event to capture even more of life with the gang on video in the future.

As fate had it - I took several picture of Mr Nigel Hedgehog just about 36 hours or so before he left us. Some of the photos are not so great - some of them show him interacting with his siblings - regardless - I have them and for that I am grateful:

Mr Nigel Hedgehog - November 26, 2010 - December 20, 2013

Our hearts are broken here at the zoo - its only been a short while since the animal hospital called to notify us of Nigel's passing.  Things happened so fast:

Yesterday he was fine - he didn't want to eat much but he was active and wiggly and he was playing with the ferrets and the cats.  This morning I checked on him and he was sleeping in his cage - all seemed well. Around 4:30 I went to get him for some cuddles and to see if I could get him to eat something for me.  He wasn't doing well - he was cold to the touch, very lethargic and not very mobile.  I knew he was in trouble...I had no idea how much trouble though.

We arrived at the vets office around 5:30 and they started assessing.  They never found a definitive issue. Around 9 pm we opted to leave him there for overnight care.  Things were progressing, he was eating and things seemed better and then suddenly for an undetermined reason he passed.  They think it was likely a blood clot - either to the brain or lungs.  He went very quickly and with no suffering - for that I am grateful.

I learned a lot from my prickly friend over the years - that hedgehogs are misunderstood and that if you are covered with pokey spines you can still be sweet and affectionate.  He taught me patience and together we learned about hedgehog tameness.  I like to think that he had a great life with us and that he was happy.  He was a well traveled hedgehog who had visited many states and many vacation homes over the years.  He conquered his fear of ferrets and became friends with Finnegan.  He was quite the gourmet taste tester and would try nearly anything he was offered at least once.  I will miss him so much.

Rest in peace my sweet boy - I hope you find Miss Isabel at the rainbow bridge and the two of you have much fun together.

Boys Boys Boys

The male critters are doing great these days - causing chaos but doing great...

Clooney is my happy boy - he wants to hang out with his peeps so he follows us to whatever room we end up hanging out in or working from and then he finds a comfy spot to curl up and snooze.  He has been very nice to the other ferrets for the last week or two - very minimal squabbles - not sure what that is about but it makes me happy.

Theo is my wild boy - he is so exuberant about everything.  He has turned into such a love bug with me - not so much with the hubs.  We are still battling biting at times - very frustrating for my husband as he gets munched on.  Hopefully as we move into holiday break they will have a bit of time together and we can establish that Theo may be one of the pack but the humans are not.

Finn is my sweet, lovey boy - he is happy to be held and loved on and carried around.  He has such a sweet disposition and is kind to all the critters.  He loves Theo and Oliver and his ferret girls.  He tries daily to encourage Clooney to be friends with him.  He loves the hedgehog and Nigel much prefers Finn over the other ferrets.

Nigel - my pokey little dude is doing so well.  He is happy and healthy and generally go with the flow.  His health seems fantastic.  He loves his heated bed in his cage and is quite the sound sleeper.  Nigel has some new treats in his stocking - I am sure we will be reviewing those in an upcoming post.  One of the other things I am considering it creating a new enclosure for him downstairs so he can spend more time with the family while we are down there.  We will see how that goes....

Ollie - he is still taking antibiotics and is going back to the vet the day after Christmas.  He has done pretty well - I think he has thrown up 2 times since he started his meds.  Considering he was doing that multiple times a day - 2 times in 10 days is pretty darn good.  He seems happy as ever - causing chaos with his siblings - ornery boy....love him!!

There you have it - the latest skinny on the boys.  Tomorrow, the girls...

Nigel's Photo Shoot

Some days little dude is just happy and willing to get his picture taken.  I love those days!  Friday was one of those days.  Indulge me - there are lots of Nigel pics to share:

Nigel Update

Nigel - cute pokey dude is doing just great.  He has been away from his cage for a bit now - we did the flea bomb in his room and I haven't had time to open it back up - things around here have been crazy.  So, in the meantime he did a short stint in the hubs closet with the baby gate up - he seemed to like that.  Then when I sprayed the bedroom and closet he moved downstairs into the living room in his pen.  He seems quite happy down there in the middle of the household hustle and bustle.  I am hoping that in the next day or two I will have time to open up his room, vacuum, wash down all the surfaces of his cage and get him set up again. For today he seemed quite content to let me get him up and pose for some pictures:

Dog and the Hog

Today - a quick update on the resident pup and hedgehog:

Nigel:

Littlest critter is doing just great.  He was seen by the vet this week to make sure he didn't catch any ear mites from the ferrets and thankfully he did not.  The vet was commenting on how great his skin, furry parts and quills look.  All good stuff as Nigel prepares to turn 3 on the 26th of this month.  If you google there are a pretty wide variety of  opinions on the life expectancy of a domesticated hedgehog,  Some say 3 -5 and some say 4 - 6.  Some say 7 is the ideal lifespan for a hedgie - equating to 100 years old in human years.  I would love to see Mr. Nigel Hedgehog make it to 7 or even older.  For now - we will enjoy our time with him.  His room was one that was bombed for fleas.  No fleas were ever found on him but the ferrets brought them in and I decided it was worth exterminating that room.  As a result Nigel has been doing a guest stint in the master bedroom closet.  Its fairly large and with the baby gate up he has room to play and investigate but he is confined and I know where he is.  I think he enjoys these changes of scenery every now and then. Hopefully today will be the day I get in his room, vacuum, wipe down all the surfaces and put all new bedding and such in his cage.

Emma:

The pup has been doing very well.  She is enjoying our fall hiking - averaging 2 - 3 miles on the weekdays and 7 - 10 miles on the weekends.  Her health seems quite good - no tummy issues to report which is great. Tummy upset is the one thing that ails her.  She has been pretty good here lately about scratching at the carpet which has been a nice reprieve.  I have ordered some fun new toys and treats for her stocking...some of that stuff showed up yesterday and she was quite curious.  I think she can smell the treats so she sat waiting patiently while I opened the Amazon boxes.  Of course I indulged her....  All in all - I am quite pleased with the old girl - she is very sweet...

5 Critter Vet Visit

Yesterday little Finney went to the vet and they found ear mites.  These freaky little creatures look something like this:

They are very contagious - and usually species specific.  We decided it would be good to take all of the ferrets in to be checked and I wanted to check Nigel as well.  As for the kitties and the dog - we will keep a close eye on them to watch for ear ick or scratching.  So far they all seem okay.

Today we took in the four other ferrets and Nigel to get them checked out.  My dad went along as my lovely critter assistant.  The results of ear swabbing were as follows:  Nigel was in the clear - no treatment necessary.  Theo and Violet both tested positive, Clooney and Madison both tested negative but we went ahead and did the shots of antibiotics for all four of them as a preventative measure.  Theo also got his first physical.  I have all the pictures and info from his first vet visit and will share them with you tomorrow.  I took tons of pictures today so get ready:

Above - Miss Madison snoozing with her Grandpa while we waited for results from the ear swabs.

Here is one for cutie tootie Miss Violet playing in her carrier while she waited for her turn

Little Miss Madison posing for a picture

Maddie, Violet and Theo playing in their carrier

Violet hanging out

The little girls in the two shots above

Theo and Madison 

Mr. Nigel Hedgehog getting checking out

Clooney getting his ear checked

Maddie getting her ear swabbed

Violet getting her ear swabbed

Miss Madison 

Cute baby girls 

Clooney

Madison