dog and hedgehog incident

Gemmy_2

I've been a dog owner now for almost a year, we've never had any major problems with our dog.

Our dog has just been pulled in from the garden.
He attacked a hedgehog and the hedgehog is now definetly dead.
Please don't slander me for that i feel well and truley awful enough.

Of course my next worry is my dog.
I've checked him over for any wounds or blood (i'm pretty sure the only blood i can see was from the hedgehog).
Anyone know what i should be looking out for in my dogs behaviour incase hes hurt?
Should i take him to the vets??

thanks in advance.

Mupette

don't be so hard on yourself, your dog killed the hedgehog not you.

Have you checked his paws for spikes/ limping?

Not sure what else to suggest, if you are at all worried then do take him to the vets.

olias

Hedgehogs suffer badly with flea infestations, check and treat him for fleas. If you have had one hedgehog, then it;s likely there will be others, if not now, then in the future. Keep an eye out for the signs an dremove any to a safe place if you find any in the future.

Olias

Gemmy_2

Thanks so much, i thought someone was going to judge me by it. I did a couple of google searches and it came up with people blasting people about the hedgehog.

I did check all of his paws, now its the morning he seems ok still (being his usual cheeky self).

Olias i didn't think about fleas so thank you very much for that. I must get some flea treatments today.

YorkiePud_3

Don't feel so bad ... these things happen, and whilst it is very sad, there probably wasn't much you could have done.

Do check your dog over for ticks though .... if you find one, smother it in vaseline. They breathe through their skin so if you put lots of vaseline on it, it will suffocate and drop off.

Do NOT try and burn it off with a lighter or try detaching it yourself because sometimes the body comes away and the head stays latched onto the dog.

lisawood78

I agree with the other posters, fleas and ticks are your biggest worry.
Get him treated and all should be well.
And I wouldn't worry about anyone blaming you for hedgeys demise, it's not like you encouraged the dog or even knew it was there i'm sure! One of mine killed a rabbit the other day, a young one at that (wild) There was nothing I could do and just took it as a fact of lfe.

jaybee

I'm not certain . . . but I think I read somewhere that hedgehog fleas don't transfer to dogs (or cats).

My dog used to bring rolled up hedgehogs home - very gently in his mouth. The hedgehogs were always fine but the dog used to sometimes get his mouth cut.

starrystarry

Mine killed a rabbit when we were on holiday in Scotland last year, by accident. He spent the week chasing them and never getting anywhere near, then on the last day he trod on one by accident. He spent the next ten minutes nudging it, as if it was going to wake up and play with him. It was quite comical really.

No sensible person is going to blame your dog Gemmy. Dogs don't play by our rules.

skiTTish

I would give him a frontline dose to be on the safe side
I have been on the receiving end of a tick and its not nice
As for tales of dogs and live squeaky toys ....

Whilst on a camping holiday by the sea ,we were taking a stroll along the cliff tops when our big dopey Labrador came lolloping up to us with something small black and squeaking in his mouth ,with a big cheeky grin on his face that said
" Look mum ,someone left THE best toy in the middle of this field ,it just ace and it squeaks too !! "
Luckily ,being a Labrador and from a long line of field champions ,he has a very soft mouth and the rabbit was unharmed ( he used to fetch me dried leaves as pup without damaging them ,even though he never had any soft mouth training )
I have to admit I panicked a bit and smacked him to make him let go and out dropped a baby rabbit who proceeded to leap to impending doom, straight over the cliff !!! :eek:
My youngest son ,who unfortunately saw the whole thing, burst out crying and screaming that the poor rabbit had plunged to its death so I dared myself to look over the cliff, just in time to see the rabbit ,about 12 foot down , ducking under a piece of rock ..
Well we spent the next 12 hours dodging the tide and trying to climb down and then up to the last known whereabouts of the rabbit but never found it ,hopefully it found its way back up:o

starrystarry

SkiTTish, I know I shouldn't laugh.....but :rotfl:

skiTTish

:rotfl:I know ,we did too .
All I could think as it leaped over the cliff was 'you stooopid creature !! ' It was obviously so panicked poor thing .
The rest of the campsite must have though we were mad to spend the rest of the day risking certain death trying to get down the cliff then when the tide went out we went down to the beach to try to climb up .
We fibbed and told youngest in the end that we had found it and took it back to his home:o