Vette is afraid of her own shadow.

Vette is my elderly resident and she hails from an Edmonton-based rescue. Her exact age is unknown, but I've given her a birth date of January 1, 2006. From what I understand, Vette had been shuttled to a few new homes and eventually dumped for someone else to deal with. My fiance and I adopted her and she traveled to Saskatchewan to live in a home where she would be cared for properly.

However, it appeared she had a slight mistrust of men and never really opened up to him. She wasn't mean-tempered, just completely terrified of everything around her. When he moved to Edmonton, it was decided that I would be her primary caregiver since she seemed to relax more readily with me. She has been living with me since September 2007 and has made incredible progress. She will always be skittish, but she is growing more tolerant of strange or sudden noises, and human contact.

While she was living in Saskatchewan, she was very withdrawn and timid. She refused to eat or wheel unless it was completely dark and quiet, and panicked if someone dared pick her up. With lots of patience, she's becoming almost outgoing and wheels whenever the mood strikes her. She'll creep out for a snack and allow me to stroke her. If I pick her up, she'll settle against my chest and relax her quills while she looks around the room. She loves her new variety of kibble, even though it has to be broken up into smaller pieces because she is missing some teeth and large kibbles pose a significant risk to her health. We joke that she gets a four-course meal every night because she'll eat kibble by variety. She eats her favorite first, and slowly works her way to her least favorite.

Because of her age, Vette is missing some teeth. One of her fangs has been absent since she was younger, but I think a few others have fallen out in the last year. We have to be extremely careful when feeding her because she can't chew the whole kibble anymore; she simply swallows it whole and chokes. She nearly lost her life during one incident when she choked on a kibble and it got lodged in her throat. I noticed when I was doing a late night check on the cages and I still shudder to think what would have happened had I not noticed.

For anyone who keeps hedgehogs and has experienced a choking scare, it's a terrifying experience. Poor Vette was gasping for air and her eyes were bulging as she tried to dislodge the kibble herself. She was foaming at the mouth and gagging, as I started to panic. I tried to dislodge it myself with the end of a feeding syringe (minus the needle), but that only served to further panic her. Thinking quickly, I held her with her head toward my finger tips and swung her downwards from above my head. This movement is supposed to dislodge anything caught in their throat. It didn't work the first time, so I attempted to dislodge it again using the feeding syringe. I could feel the kibble move a bit, so I swung her downward again. Setting her upright on my lap, she made a coughing type noise and a whole kibble popped out on my lap.

After that incident, I've been extremely protective of her. I break up her kibbles for her and check on her compulsively. She glares each and every time, but it helps me sleep better at night. I'm constantly listening for even the smallest hint of panic in the cage. However, it seems that this episode helped prove to her that I wasn't trying to harm her. She's actually willing to take treats from me now and will greet me if I put my hand in her bag rather than hissing. The change may not be noticeable to most people, but it's quite apparent to me; she's much calmer around me and I think it opened the door for a closer bond with her.