Rescue
Have you ever seen a hedgehog with balloon syndrome?
We only see cases like this a handful of times in a year, however, this chap was certainly the largest yet!
Balloon syndrome usually occurs due to an injury or infection, which allows a build-up of air under the hedgehog’s skin. In this case, the hog had what looked to be a ruptured left eye and a small fracture in the nasal area.
Rehabilitation
It took a little while for Tim, one of our vets, to deflate the poor hog, and it's safe to say the difference was remarkable! This process occasionally needs to be repeated until injuries heal, however, it was not necessary for this hog.
Sadly though, the hog’s eye needed to be removed once it was stable enough for surgery – it’s proven that they can lead a full life with only one eye.
Release
After a little rehabilitation to recover from the surgery, this hedgehog was released, back to the same area that it was found.