Mr Toffee's troubles

Mr Toffee my 3 year old male African pygmy hedgehog developed a fatty lump on his shoulder/behind his ear just before Christmas, he had some swelling and has also been behaving a bit strangely and not eating or running in his wheel as much as usual. My local vet - Claire - removed pus and gave him some antibiotics as it was slightly infected. Over the next week the bruising did go down but some swelling on the back of his neck increased and the lump returned.



This photo also shows the swelling on his chest and around his legs but doesn't show the swelling across the back of his neck. Claire our vet referred Mr Toffee to a specialist exotic vet in Warick and we found out the cause of Mr T's troubles....he is fat >_<> It was a surprise to me as he can still roll into a tight ball, which apparently means he is trim. How wrong! He weighs 682 grams, the average for a male his age is 500-600grams. I'm going to change his diet to one much lower in fat and no worms till he reaches his target of 580grams!

The specialist vet suggested a lot of expensive treatments for my middle aged hog, worrisomely the bill will nearly reach £400 . After seeking advice from our local vet, she Claire is going to remove the lump on Tuesday and send it off for testing for malignant or benign cells. She will also check his teeth and clean them if necessary and she'll do it all for a fraction of the price. Of course money is not the object, I'm glad our local vet can treat him, but it sure helps!

Everyone suffers from post christmas flubber and most try out a new years resolution healthy eating/diet plan, Mr Toffee is no exception

ps did you know Mr Toffee is the human equivalent of 53 years old?