Yesterday I noticed that my sweet and delightful pet hedgehog was having a bit of trouble walking. She’d been a little lazy so I’d been extra scrutinizing. This morning she’s worse and is wobbling while standing, which is the symptom of Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome. She’s about 2.5 years old which is in the range when the issue tends to appear. Fuck. It’s a genetic issue since there was too much inbreeding when they were first starting breeding in the US. There’s no treatment, just a steadily progressing paralysis. Have to go to the vet to confirm, and my wife’s out of town, so it’s more of a pain to get to the vet, and I’m alone on top of it, and not sure if I want to mention it until she gets back since she’s on the road for a long drive and might be better off not dwelling on it for hours alone in a car. If confirmed, the recommendation is to euthanize since there’s no treatment and it’s a progressive neurodegenerative disease that ends in paralysis. Maybe it’s some kind of injury or something, but things look dismal. I’m dying inside.
