Hedgepigs and Hoglets Rescue

04/06/2026

Go on, vote for hedgehogs! You know you want to!!🦔🦔🦔

04/06/2026

Thursday 4th June, 2026

So my really good news which cannot be underestimated is that my right breast and lymph nodes have no evidence of disease and we have a new plan after several consultant opinions and a shorter regime than the original. I start 18 weeks of chemo every 3 weeks in 12th June. In terms of side effects however some women find it harder to tolerate this drug regime (sickness, diarrhoea, mouth ulcers, utter exhaustion etc). It is going to be shorter than originally anticipated but it could be brutal too. Or I may be OK, we just don't know yet. I then have surgery in November, HER2 treatment/s and radiotherapy.

I'm not going to be able to host a stall at the Great Ayton Summer Fete on 13th June, I'm waiting to hear from Sean if he wishes to do this on his own.

I have so many appointments I need to buy a planner, it really is like at least a part time job in itself. I hate not being open, and I miss not being of use and the loss of contact with creatures. But it is going to be shorter now and I do feel we are getting on with it at last.

There are lots I can do when I'm able to keep things ticking along for when we can open so please do check in on us every now and then and continue to follow us........because eventually we will have pages of hedgehogs, wood mice, bank voles, shrews, etc, and one day a leveret!

###

04/06/2026

4th June, 2026
This little historic reel came up from 2023 of 2 of the Potto Punks enjoying special milk formula. They were soft released back to the grounds of the stables in Potto when they reached independence 💕

03/06/2026

3rd June, 2026
Brief catch up.
We have some marvellous news as we have received a grant of £5k towards our phase 2 ICU/small mammal room from The Betty Phillips Trust for which we are so grateful as it will enable us to start inviting quotes for the work. We have also applied to The Big Give for match funding to launch a crowdfunder to fund our heating/air con system for the Posh Shed

I received a phone call from a lady in York who found our website. She came across a poor hedgehog trying to find shade out in the day and she was able to identify fly strike on his head near his eye from our description and photo. On our advice she is going to keep him quiet in a box with a fleece and ring the BHPS on 01584 890801 for her nearest rescue, I think there are at least 2 in York. It is difficult to advise when fly strike is present, as warmth is the first stage of rehabilitation, but warmth also hatches fly eggs out, pretty quickly, into maggots so it's always best to act quickly, to get them to a rescue to remove the eggs as soon as possible (they look like clumps of rice stuck together)

I'm off to buy rainbow food and see if our gazebo is salvageable for the Great Ayton Summer Fete on 13th June.
###
www.hedgepigsandhoglets.org

01/06/2026

Help! I've uncovered a nest of hoglets, what do I do?
🦔 carefully cover the nest and retreat
🦔 don't touch the hoglets
🦔 ring your local rescue or the British
Hedgehog Preservation Society for advice
🦔 watch from a safe distance to see if Mum
returns

The BHPS telephone number is 01584 890801 and they can give you your nearest rescue's contact

31/05/2026

Weekend 31st May, 2026
Update on the fox who visited Ingleby Barwick Golf Club, Maxine has been in touch and said it was euthanased which I'm not surprised about. He was struggling to eat with what looked like a blackened tongue. It's good news in so much as he won't have a painful lingering demise

I have been getting a lot of calls, people know we are closed but ring for advice which is good.

The hogambulance has a fault that means it won't start, the AA came out this morning but it needs a new ignition/housing🙄. I have one quote from a mobile mechanic for £360 and apparently I have to make sure the part isn't from China. I will have to ring round for more quotes in the morning. James my son will most likely have to do my hospital appointment tomorrow, so if anyone knows of a local mobile mechanic who can do this please let me know

I want to thank the International Hedgehog Community for all their support. I have posted on their private group and received such an amazing response with words of wisdom about my rehabilitation and the rescue, I am very pleased I reached out. Some people I met at the Conference, and others have had or are going through very similar experiences.

I have an ultrasound on my right breast tomorrow afternoon; start chemo in 10 days time.

Jenny brought over frozen meals for me to stock up with, 10-veg chillies! Perfect, I'm trying to eat the rainbow and avoid beige food. I don't know what I would do without my supportive family, they are making sure I do everything right and get to appointments etc ❤
###
P.S. Great Ayton Summer Family Weekend is on 13th June with Sean and I hosting the stall

30/05/2026

Our student Phoebe Roberts is 18 today! 😊 🥳🎂🍾 Happy 18th Birthday Phoebe's ###

I am rather hopeful she will come back to do one of her EMS Veterinary Science placements with us one day,. Here are some memories from last year. Have a fabulous day

27/05/2026

Wednesday 27th May, 2026

I have received a phone call from a lady about this poorly fox who is in a bad way, near Ingleby Barwick golf course. It looks rather mangey and has a potential broken jaw but she feeds it fresh chicken. I have contacted Alan Lilley to see if he is able to catch it, he's rather good at that.

Yesterday my meeting at James Cook with my Oncologist was rather full on. My good news is that it hasn't mastesised into other areas, particularly in a suspicious lymph node area and my heart is good. This is really good news as you can imagine. However, my breast cancer is quite complex to treat because there are 2 areas and one is Triple Negative and one is HER2 Positive. This makes planning the treatment a tough decision (I had to be difficult didn't I!) because a choice has to be made about which one to target initially.

The drugs in the chemotherapy-immunotherapy are different for triple negative breast cancer vs HER2 positive breast cancer. In the end, (i know I have said it before but I was so very lucky to have my daughter there), we asked for a second opinion from the team and so Jenny and I are both receiving phone calls with their decision on Friday. Our Oncologist was struggling to make that decision so she is going to 'take a beat' and gain a concensus of opinion from the rest of the Oncology team. It will be 8 weeks of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (which is primary treatment given before surgery to shrink the tumour) initially (one week on, one week off) then more scans and then surgery.

Jenny was describing how cancer cells are so sneaky as they attempt to hide away or camouflage their structure from our healthy immune cells who would target and kill them if they could only identify them. Our immune system is so important. Its fascinating isn't it, like another world going on in our bodies?!😮

So that is where we are at and I'm reflecting on whether we can advertise for carers, give induction and Vale or Secret World training while all this is going on. The lady who feeds the fox is interested in volunteering 🤔
###

24/05/2026

24/05/2026

Weekend 24th May, 2026
Sorry for lack of post's. I'm preparing for chemo by getting jobs done and cooking home made meals to freeze.

In hot weather like this I always put out a bowl of water for dogs (& foxes overnight) and I went to top the bowl up this morning only to find someone had smashed it, bits were near my front door. My neighbour told me it happened at midnight, when I will have been deep in Dormouse mode. So, I did my research and ordered security cameras and a doorbell with solar charger. I also decided I needed to remove all of the rubble bags from when the lads did the rescue drains as I'm impatient and couldn't wait for them to be.picked up, it was such an eye sore! Thankfully my neighbour John helped me put them in the car and the guys at the recycling centre helped me at that end and I'm very grateful. I did that very British Bank Holiday thing of visiting a garden centre and bought 2 huge plant pots to go in the front garden for trees that are happy living in big pots (Rowan, etc) to attract the birds.

We have a new Volunteer Fundraiser, Sean approached us through Reach Volunteering and is coming over to meet me on June 13th to see the rescue and co host our stall at Great Ayton Summer Fair. I look forward to meeting him and I'm very grateful for support right now

Apologies for my very boring posts! It won't always be this way but it does feel like the pause button has been pressed right now 😑
###