We collected this male adult late yesterday afternoon after we received a phone call from a vet in Shaftesbury.
He was found on a rugby pitch cold, hungry and weak by a lady yesterday early evening after he collapsed on her boot as she stood on the edge of the pitch having just played a game of rugby.
She took him home, warmed him on a heat pad and gave him food, before taking him to the nearest veterinary surgery the following morning.
He has breathing difficulties which we suspect is due to lungworm. He was given fluids, a warm bed and food, and we will check a poo sample and treat him for whatever parasites he has including lungworm.
His condition of weakness and extreme thirst are very common in hedgehogs who have just woken from hibernation, so it is essential for us all to help them during those first few days by providing food and water for them. There is not enough insect life available to them this early in the spring, so without supplement feeding many will starve or die of thirst.
We have named him Jonny (Wilkinson). Here he is in the isolation room tucking into his supper. He has a hearty appetite!
