Many hedgehogs are injured by dogs in private gardens and in parks and countryside when out on walks. Over the years I’ve treated a number of wild hedgehogs with bite wounds and abscesses from gardens on the edge of city parks where people love to walk their dogs. Hedgehogs love to live in the piles of leaves that dogs love sniffing through.
The problem is that the dog’s canine teeth bite deep into the hedgehog. The wound then quickly seals over and can be hard to spot. Many people let the hedgehog go again thinking that it will be okay or they don’t want to admit what has happened to someone who could treat the hedgehog. Then, up to several weeks later, abscesses appear when the deep wounds get infected.
A hedgehog with an abscess will struggle due to the infection. A weakened immune system can then lead to other problems, such as an increased parasite burden and it starts a downward spiral, ending up with the hedgehog struggling and then being seen in daylight (when they are nocturnal).
There is also usually more than one infected wound – all four canines will normally puncture and injure the hedgehog.
Treating abscesses requires a lot of TLC. The abscesses will have to be cleaned daily. Deep abscesses may also have to be drained by a vet. The hedgehog will have to be put on a strong antibiotic.
Although dogs are a major cause of bite wounds, there are also other animals that can attack them, including foxes and rats, although rat attacks are rare. Cats don’t tend to cause problems for hedgehogs.
Preventing dogs attacking hedgehogs
The best way to prevent dog attacks and dog bite wounds in your garden is to ideally keep the dog out of the garden at night. If you do need to let it out, then keep it on a lead. Always check for hedgehogs first. Turn an outside light on before you go out, which will also help to encourage any hedgehogs to move away.
You need to be particularly vigilant if your dog has attacked a hedgehog before. It will likely do so again.
If your dog does pick up a hedgehog when you are out on a walk, it is always best to get the hedgehog checked over by a rescue, particularly if you see any blood on the dog or hedgehog.
As well as attacking adult hedgehogs, dogs can also disturb hedgehog nests so it is particularly important to be vigilant around the breeding season from May to September. You may have a hedgehog nest in the garden or your favourite dog walking park that may be disturbed by a dog even during the daytime….
Treating dog bites on hedgehogs
If you are a hedgehog rescue, please read my basic advice for treating abscesses in hedgehogs. Often abscesses do not show up until they burst. Over the years I’ve admitted several cases of large male hedgehogs out in the day where I could not identify any issues until, a couple of weeks later, an abscess erupted from deep under the skin. Always look for more wounds where you find one and remember that the bite could have caused damage to tissue and nerves that might not become apparent until after the abscess clears.
Learning more about helping hedgehogs
If you’d like to learn more about first aid for wild hedgehogs, I run online hedgehog courses for all levels of knowledge and experience.
About me
I’m busy transforming an acre of land in the Yorkshire Wolds into a wildlife haven and have many years experience of running a hedgehog hospital. If you’ve found the information on my website useful, I’d be so grateful if you would consider making a donation to help me continue my awareness work.
You might also like my handmade wildlife jewellery. It comes with a rescue hedgehog postcard and information about helping hedgehogs and I also make many other wildlife and nature designs.
Little Silver Hedgehog 
3 thoughts on “Dogs attacking hedgehogs”
Comments are closed.