#Bindi hedgie

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Well, we’re home. No surprises here - there’s an abdominal mass, likely on her uterus. Vet thought it felt a bit higher up, but it looked to be in the right spot on radiograph. So would have to do spay/exploratory surgery to be 100% sure that it’s on the uterus, only on the uterus, or if it’s started to spread. 

So the options are as expected - spay/surgery or keep comfortable & euthanize. Currently the surgery schedule is completely full next week. Vet said she can check with the other vets & see if anyone’s willing to add her to their schedule anyway, as it’d be better to get it done sooner rather than later. She’ll be contacting me on Monday to let me know if it can be done or not. I’ll also be getting an email by the end of the day to show me cost of surgery. So I’ll have the weekend to weigh pros/cons, then find out on Monday if they even can do it or if I’ll need to look elsewhere if we want to get it done. Bf & I are in agreement on not making her wait more than a week, with the bleeding & how quickly they can go downhill.

Also got antibiotics and pain meds to give her to help keep her more comfortable over the weekend. Just gave her both of them so that I don’t have to bother her again later tonight. She’s had a rough day, so I’d rather let her sleep & just do a quick check when I change her food later. She’s not currently bleeding, though there were spots on both the soft carrier & the fleece. And she was feeling well enough to walk up me & chew/anoint on my hair as usual. ♥

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We said goodbye to my Bindi. She wasn’t handling the meds well, wouldn’t eat or drink on her own, was dehydrated, and was continuing to bleed. She was in pain, even with the pain meds. Surgery couldn’t have happened for a minimum of 2-3 days. 2-3 days of forced feeding, being in pain, and bleeding. And by that point, her chances of making it through surgery wouldn’t have been very good. The vet agreed immediately with all of these points when I made them, which told me my answer. I wasn’t going to put her through all of that for a “maybe”.

Sleep well, my lil Potato. Tell Pancake and Lily I said hi. I love you all so very much. ♥

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Chewy keeps surprising me, even when I see similar things happen to others online. I used the customer chat to get an auto-order cancelled because I’d forgotten to change it & didn’t need almost any of it. It included Bindi’s food, so I mentioned that the pet who ate some of the food had just died. The person helping me gave condolences & cancelled the order for me & I changed my order & all was good there. And then today....flowers! ♥ Chewy is just such a nice company??

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The universe needs to fucking STOP for a while, jesus fuck.

I just took Bindi out of her cage & her entire back half was covered in blood. Confirmed that it’s vaginal, which means uterine or urinary.

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I got Bindi's paw prints back from the very yesterday 💙

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Thanks for all the comments & thoughts, everyone. ♥♥♥♥♥ I slept for 3+ hours, finally got food, and have barely been able to keep Ebony off me (finally had to, so I could let Ditto out). She was born to be an ESA, tbh. I’m sad, but the vet agreeing so immediately with my blunt assessment tells me I made the right decision. And knowing what I do about animal health and her likely course otherwise also helps. I’ve always had a far harder time being unable to do anything about an animal suffering than I have with actually making the decision and letting them go. A quick and painless death is honestly one of the best gifts we can give our pets. I will always firmly believe that. I already miss her though. I’m glad she was feeling good enough on Friday to chew on my hair one last time while we snuggled in my bed. ♥

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Bindi is at the vet for now, they’re going to work her in for an ultrasound in between scheduled surgeries. Vet agreed that it’s most likely uterine, given the bleeding-without-urinating, but a urinalysis is the backup procedure if they don’t find anything on ultrasound. But....they’ll probably see something on ultrasound.

Uterine = will need spayed. The only question there is if it’s too big of an issue for spaying to resolve it (cancer that’s already spreading) or if she’s too old/weak to be a good candidate for spaying. She’s going to be 4 at the end of this month. Will update once I hear back from the vet & know more.

Also, thank you to everyone who’s sent well wishes. ♥ And another big thank you to the two donations that have been sent on ko-fi. ♥♥♥ I appreciate you all a lot!

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And new on the Two Weeks of Total Bullshit for my family: I think Bindi is dragging her left hind leg. Bf is stopping by soon to take a look & offer second opinion.

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Bindi didn't touch either bowl of food last night. Calling the clinic when they open so I can see if I can stop by after work this morning for either carnivore care or hills a/d (preferably both). But unless she takes better to syringe feeding than taking her meds, I won't be able to syringe feed her enough during the work week. Monday is looking grimmer.

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Oh no! I really liked Bindi😢

♥ I did too. She was a very good, sweet girl & I was very lucky to have her for a few years. 

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If you wonder why I never post pictures of Bindi, it's partly bc Ditto makes it hard to get her out, and partly bc when I DO get her out, all of her pictures look like....this. The least photogenic hedgehog tbh.

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I haven't been v active on Tumblr so I've only been skimming my dash; I'm very sorry about Bindi :(

Thank you ♥♥♥

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Spiky love 💙

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Sigh. Home from Bindi’s vet appt.

Good - she actually cooperated?? for the first time in her life?? Way to make me look like a liar, Bindi. But also ty for not making them knock you out.

Bad - she got gross teeth & a couple gums pulling back. I’m gonna see if I can try to get her in for teeth cleaning & (probable) extractions later this summer, but gonna have to wait & see. It’s going to cost at least around $500 and insurance won’t do shit for it (the exotics plan is like, bare minimum). And I gotta see what’s going on with my car & if I’m gonna have to pay for that or if covered by warranty.

So. Yaaaaay.

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There’s a reason I call Bindi a stuffed animal hedgehog - I just woke her up, held her for maybe 2 minutes, then sat down to trim her nails. It took less than a minute for all four feet & she just sat in my lap with quills flat & hid her face in my shirt.

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I just went to collect the wet food bowls for the cats & Bindi so I could clean them. Bindi was already out in her cage & I accidentally surprised/scared her when I opened the door, but she froze instead of running, so I was able to pick her up. She was all quilly & upset when I scooped her up and put her against my chest - and in a matter of 5 seconds, she had jumped forward to shove herself under my chin (ow), realized it was me at the same time, and immediately started to relax until her quills were totally flat again. And then I stood there for another 5+ minutes, cradling her & quietly petting her quills while she snuggled under my chin. <3 

I love my girl, and this is one of my favorite things about hedgies - when the nervous little prickleball recognizes that you, the scary giant maybe-predator, is actually a Safe Good Thing and they can relax around you. Their trust is always amazing to me when they give it, all the more because of how painful they can be when they want to. XD