Day Four 02/09/13

This morning when mummy and daddy came home from work at 7:15 am, I was already snuffling around in my box and eager for some food.

Mummy weighed me this morning before my feed as well and I'd put on more weight! I now weighed 62 g!

Mummy brought me downstairs and I wolfed down 12 ml of food. After she'd toileted me, she settled me back down in my bed because I had visitors coming today!

Mummy did wake me up briefly so she could take some fun pictures with me, which was fun!

At 11 pm daddy came and got me and brought me downstairs, where I got to see the lovely people who first rescued me. I got lots of love and cuddles off them and they told me how well I looked, how much more alert I was and how my eyes were slowly starting to open.

I felt a little sad because they were all talking about how they hadn't thought I'd make it through the first night because I was so weak. I didn't want to scare them. But I'm glad I made them all proud by being so strong (and also with lots of help from my mummy and daddy)!

Soon after they arrived, everyone piled into the kitchen while I had my feed, it was daddy's turn (him and mummy often argue about who gets to feed me, I guess it's because I'm so cute)! I managed another 10 ml of milk, everyone joked that I was showing off for the guests, although I was still being fussy when feeding from the syringe.

Between feeds I had a little wander on the counter top, but I tend to squeak a lot when I'm not being held.

After I was fed and toileted daddy took me back through to the living room where I fell asleep in mummy's arms withing minutes of settling down, my nose tucked into the crook of her arm.

It wasn't long before the nice lady wanted to hold me, I like to be held so it was nice to have another person to cuddle me! And soon after I'd settled down I had them all laughing.

While being held, I let out such a squeaky trump that everyone found highly amusing. Apparently it was the first time they'd ever heard a hedgehog pass wind!

After cuddles, mummy took me back up to bed, and then they all went out. I don't like being alone, but I forgave them all when they came home with presents for me.

They bought me a carry case, a bottle, two new feeding syringes, lots more kitten milk (and food to wean me with) and some puppy training pads to line the carry case with.

Mummy tried me with the new syringes and bottles to start with, an it was obvious almost straight away that I preferred the bottle over the syringe.

                                          

Next it was the new ladies turn to feed me at about 2 pm. I tried out my new bottle. But only managed about 3 ml. I was being very fussy and I wasn't sure on being fed by someone new.

After my feed we all went outside and took some family pictures. I really like them, and all the news smells outside had me snuffling around like mad.

Nap time followed the pictures and then I had another feed at 6 pm. Mummy tried the new bottle again and this time I managed about 10 ml. I found it easier to feed from this, because it had a softer tip that I could chew on as I was drinking.

I had another sleep and then daddy fed me at 9 pm with my new bottle, where I managed 10 ml again. He put me to bed after he toileted me (though he brought me to see mummy before I went to sleep) and told me I had a big day coming up tomorrow! I wonder what is happening?

How I got my name!

I got the name Krushem as the day before my rescue, when my mummy had been walking to work at about 9pm, she had seen a fully grown adult hedgehog with their head stuck in the lid of a Krushem container from KFC (with the cup still attached to the lid). The poor thing was walking backwards trying to free himself - an impossible task as his spines were stuck inside, meaning he couldn't un-wedge himself.

Mummy went straight over and freed him, and he trotted away happily.

A few hours later at about 3am, while she was working she looked out the window and saw something moving in the car park, after watching for a few minutes she realized it was another hedgehog.... With it's head stuck... And you guessed it, in another Krushem container. This one seemed a little more confident, as he had master the forward motion with the container on his head.

She rushed outside to rescue this one as well, this time getting rid of the container in the bin. And wondering if it was the same hedgehog? Or two equally silly ones, it seemed too far a distance for it to be the same one, but you never know!. He was very snotty, and must have been trapped a while as their was a lot of condensation in the cup. After he was freed, she made sure he found his way into the grass so he didn't get run over!

The next morning she checked to see where she had left the first container, and it was missing. Do you think it was the same one?

Day Three 01/09/13

I was happy to see mummy and daddy when they got home at 7:30 pm and they brought me straight down for some food! Mummy was more worried because I was still being fussy and hardly taking any kitten milk. So she had an idea to heat the milk up a little in the microwave, and that was the trick, once it was a little warmer than body temperature I wolfed it down and had about 15 ml (not including what I dribbled all over mum and myself).

After mummy had toileted me, I calmed down and stopped wriggling around. It was obvious that my full belly had made me sleepy.

 She took me into the living room and we had another snuggle. This time I made my way down her top myself and found my favorite spot.

I slept down there for about an hour, and mummy even managed to get a snap of me yawning. I didn't want to come out. Eventually she coaxed me out, and got a few snaps of me helping her edit the blog.

After that it was time to go upstairs to settle me down until my next feed.

                                         


It was daddy's turn at 11 am and now we knew that warming my feed helped I was eager to have more. And I wasn't as nervous of him as before and didn't ball up once! I managed another 10 ml! Mummy came down to watch and it was nice to hear them giggling at how messy I was!

Again at 2 pm it was daddy's turn to feed me, but I decide to scare him. I burrowed to the very bottom of my box and hid under all the bedding and blankets, so he thought I'd escaped! He went and woke mummy up to help look for me, but she found me straight away... I need to get better at this hide and seek business. A this feed I managed about 10 ml again.

My final feed was at 8:30 pm and it was mummy's turn. I was a bit fussy at this point and only managed about 6-8 ml of feed. I was much more interested in exploring the kitchen counter tops.

After my feed, mummy noticed that my eyes were starting to open up more and you could see them peeping out from behind the lids.

Then mummy took me back upstairs and let me have a little wander round before popping me in my box where I snuggled back down for the night, and I fell asleep almost straight away!

I weighed 59 g today, which means I'm slowly gaining weight - A good sign because everyone was so scared I wouldn't survive the first night. But I am a fighter (and a wriggler)!

Day Two 31/08/09

Mummy and Daddy returned from work at about 7:30 am and they were anxious to see me. All night at work they had worried if I'd make it though the night... Which I did! They were very happy when they checked under my blanket and saw me snuffling away. Snuggled in the corner and feeling a lot warmer than the previous day. Though they were still concerned because I'm so small - it's difficult for me to regulate my temperature, something they wanted to keep an eye on.

I was however a lot more active today and kept wriggling around in between their hands and fingers, getting to know my new surroundings, I was really hungry by the time they got home and had a lot more energy than the day before. I just needed to fuel up the tank before continuing to be my wiggly self!

I also showed them that I was learning how to scratch my own belly, even if my balance wasn't the best in the world, I could hear mummy and daddy giggling at me as I wobbled about!

They took me into the Kitchen at about 8 am to feed me. When mummy put me down for a little bit as she made up my milk, I began to squeak, because I didn't like being left on my own in new surroundings. So she picked me up to calm me down, and after one stray squeak because I was hungry, I settled down ready for my feed.

I managed to gobble down 10 ml of kitten milk, covering myself in the process. I really am a messy eater! Mummy was soaked as well, but she didn't mind, as long as some of it was going into my mouth and filling my belly. I heard her saying that once they had a day off they'd buy me a proper feeding bottle or syringe, because the one they had was a bit to hard for me to chew as I fed and I was struggling to drink from it properly.

Once I had a full belly and mummy had helped me go to the toilet, I fell asleep down my mummy's top as it's very warm and snugly down there - it reminded me of my hedgehog mummy. It was just so cozy.

During this time I also manged to go to the toilet on my own without aid, which is good progress according to mummy and means that there are no problems inside my tummy!

A few hours passed where I slept soundly and then my belly started to rumble and I went on the search for a teat, nuzzling and nudging mummy and the blanket she had over us. Tickling her with my spines till she got up to feed me.

In the kitchen while mummy made up some kitten milk for me, I began to squeak again, my way of telling her I wanted food and attention, daddy heard my squeak all the way in the other room and came running to check I was OK. While mummy was preparing my milk, I also got to meet one of her cats... I think his name is Mac. He didn't seem too bothered by me. As soon as she settled me in for my feed though I calmed down again and gulped down another 15 ml, this was at about 11 am.

After my feed and toileting, mummy put me to bed in my box for a few hours, and then it was daddy's turn to feed me at 3 pm. He had a bit of trouble and I was a bit stubborn because I'm not so used to him yet. But he got me to have 5 ml and managed to toilet me as well.

Then it was mummy's turn again at 5:30 pm. Before I got fed, mummy weighed me and I weighed 58 g. I'd put on 3 g! I was very fussy this time, and just wouldn't sit still! I only managed abut 3-5 ml because I just didn't want to take my feed. At this time mum noticed my eyes had opened ever so slightly, and with a bit of research she was able to say I was between 2 and 3 weeks old... Meaning my teeth should be coming through any day now! She also decided my birthday was probably around the 14th of August.

At 9 pm I had my last feed, I was still very fussy and wriggly and only took another 6 ml. I think mummy was a bit worried about me not eating enough to keep my stable overnight again. After they had toileted me they settled me down for the night in my box with the blankets and heating pad.