It's a Hard Hedgehog Life

My human captors call me Cha-Cha, and Gummy Bear was once imprisoned here too (rest in peace). If I show you how hard and scary my life is, will you save me from being eaten? Questions? Check the FAQ page first!

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Memorial images created by my captors’ sister, given to them as gifts. The rainbow bridge drawing shows me grumpily crossing over to be with Gummy Bear, who is happily waiting there for me.

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If you are reading this post, it means that I have scheduled it to appear after I have departed this difficult life, and that I have crossed the rainbow bridge and finally reunited with Gummy Bear on the other side. The perk of having a friend who already knows the place is that he can show me where to find all the most delicious bugs! I will eat to my heart’s content in celebration, because at last I have escaped my life of captivity and am finally a wild hedgie!

Thank you all for listening to my ramblings and complaints through the years, and for sharing my life with me. When I was young and naive, I believed that my captors only wanted to raise me to become food for them. And maybe that is still true for some humans, but I was lucky in that as I grew, my humans lost the stench held by those who consume animals. I know now that I was truly loved just for being me, and that I was safe, and I hope more hedgehogs get to experience that feeling. I also felt so much love from all of you. Thank you.

This blog will remain a memorial to my life, as well as to Gummy Bear’s noble journey. There will probably be one more future scheduled post by me, of my urn. If any hedgehogs are taken captive in this house in the future, perhaps they will find this blog and pick up where I left off and tell their own story, as well as learn from mine.

Who knows what the future will hold?

It’s a hard life being a hedgehog.

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I'm tired. I'm hungry but I can't eat. I can no longer purr, or anoint, though I try. I'm just so thirsty. I am confused and can't see or find my food and water very well. I can't find my bed very well. I can't get comfortable to sleep. I am a shadow of the plump princess I once was. I dream of endless mealworms. I wonder if this was what it was like for Gummy Bear, and if he found relief. My captors have been spending many hours with me, even waking me in the daytime. I wonder why that is?

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Whisper sweet nothings in my ear

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I remember when being near a human face made me afraid that I would be eaten. But actually I find it quite comforting.

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Poor little critter

Misery loves company- wanna come set me free so that this old lady can live her last days wild and free?

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hey ive followed this blog for awhile and i just wanted to say from the bottom of my heart that i am so sorry about cha-cha and what youre going through. i lost my adopted hedgehog baby about a month ago to oral cancer, and now my little grumpy guy has developed bronchitis. i hope youre taking care of yourself and that everything clears up soon. best wishes! if you ever want to talk to someone im here

Thank you, and I'm sorry to hear about your hedgies. I am sneezing a lot too these days, but that's because my tumor is misshaping my nose! Best wishes that your little one recovers quickly!

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Hi there! Worried about your baby.😞 Was wondering if it's the tumor that came back or just the swelling after a week and a half?

The swelling went down. It is certainly the tumor coming back now, just as the vet said. It's expected.

[hardhedgehoglife]

Why you so fluffy?

I’m not very fluffy these days… I’m quite old and tattered and ragged. Like a velveteen rabbit who has been loved to bits and lived a long life. I’m still soft though.

[hardhedgehoglife]

I was weighed today at home because my eating has slowed again, and I have lost about another 30 grams since my tumor was removed. That's about 130 grams since I was first seen by the vet for my facial swelling. As you can see from the first picture, my face is very swollen again. The vet said it would come back worse and more aggressively, but even he thought it would take a month or two, not a week and a half. Well, on the bright side, I am the thinnest I have been in years! I can hardly fit into my quills!

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I hope you make it, Cha-Cha. you’ve come this far, don’t stop now!

I will escape this prison and be a wild hedgie yet! Just you wait and see!

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My biopsy results came back positive for cancer. So it's only a matter of time until I'm miserable again. I am pretty sure that I am safe from being eaten by my captors these days since they no longer have the smell of those who consume animal flesh, but I wonder if my suffering would be less if I was fated to be a quick meal instead of slowly deteriorating?

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The evil v-man removed the big lump inside my mouth last Thursday, as well as a couple teeth in the area that had come loose. Still waiting on biopsy results, but I am feeling a lot better and am able to eat normally again! As miserable as I have been, I've gotta admit, the pampering I have received is quite nice... I got to eat wax worms for the first time in YEARS! Those are my favorite but normally they're off-limits because they're so fattening for a curvaceous princess like me!

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Hello hedgehog 🦔! What are your favourite foods? Do u ever eat little flies?

I just like my cat food and bugs. I anoint with things like peas, greens, bananas and spirulina powder though. There aren't any little flies around me to eat, since I am imprisoned indoors!

[hardhedgehoglife]

Update: I have taken all of my antibiotics, but as I knew, they had no effect and the lump in my face has grown and is starting to distort my nose and eye. I am not eating much, have lost about 100 grams in the last two weeks, and am having the lump biopsied and removed tomorrow, as it is prominent on the inside of my mouth too. The evil v-man suspects cancer, which is doom for a little animal like myself. Removing the lump will ease my pain for a while, but if it's a cancerous tumor it will keep coming back faster and more severely each time. Please keep me in your thoughts.

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Exam time at the evil v-place.

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My face has been swollen and I wasn't interested in eating much over the weekend, even soft food. The evil v-man couldn't see me until today, but I have started eating again, even hard food. I am on eye drops to see if that helps first before a more vigorous examination is done. It's a hard old lady hedgehog life!