my dog caught a hedgehog

rottie 11

Last night my father took the dog out for a run around in the green area of the estate and she ran up to the door of the house with a hedgehog.

My dad took it off her then and her gums were all cut and bleeding. The hedgehog was fine but could she get disease or anything from it?

sillysmiles

What is it with hedgehogs, my dog is obsessed with him. We now recognise the signs and know there must be one nearby from his body language and posture and have had to work really hard on his leave command because of them. Crazy loon.

Personally I would just check him for ticks but watching to see if anyone else says anything else!

Knine

My terriers have killed some. I had to remove spines from their mouth but no other issues. They do host a lot of fleas though.

rottie 11

Thanks for the replies

il get her a flea tablet tomorrow to be on the safe side.

My dog carried a hedgehog home when I was a kid! My dad was walking him (very rural area) using a torch and just assumed the dog had a big rock, he loved big rocks. Carried it into the kitchen and dropped it on the floor! He was a gundog so he knew not to get his teeth into it. My parents were worried about the hedgehog so they put it in a box and into a warm place in the house to make sure it was ok. It ended up living with us for a week. Became "tame". We put it outside and it hung around the house for a few months. Think it probably went off to hibernate in the end. I agree with the above posters though, hedgehogs are CRAWLING with fleas. We brought in an injured one another time and everyone, cats, dogs and humans ended up with fleas. They were jumping off your school jumper when you went to put it on in the morning, The feckers were playing Subbuteo with my older brother on the floor of the sitting room.

Allyall

http://www.hedgehog-rescue.org.uk/myths.php

I handle hundreds of hedgehogs a year. So far I've had 3 that were 'full of fleas' and they were sick. Yes hedgehogs get fleas. Dogs and cats get fleas, even people get fleas but you know what? Hedgehog Fleas are specific to Hedgehogs. They won't live on you, your dog, cat, gerbil or in your home. They are the wrong size for anything other than a hedgehog. So please, before you go telling me a hedgehog gave your dog fleas, try considering that maybe your dog already had the fleas and he's given them to the hedgehog.

Fleas that affect dogs, cats and humans can also live on hedgehogs too, though.

DerTierarzt

rottie 11 wrote: »

The hedgehog was fine but could she get disease or anything from it?

Yes, potentially a tapeworm (use a wormer with the active ingredient praziquantel in it) and various ectoparasites (scabies and fleas, use a product with imidacloprid or selamectin or fipronil - in that order, try and get imidacloprid first).

ghogie91

My dogs go absolutely mental over hedgehogs!

We asked the vet when in with the dogs for a check up as we thought they hurt their gums and nose. The vet said they are known to carry parasites and it is possible a dog could pick one up but unlikely at the same time.