Our story
The Hogspital is a small hedgehog rescue at Higher Lowton Farm, near Okehampton on the edge of Dartmoor. We take in sick, injured, orphaned and underweight hedgehogs, get them well, and put them back where they belong.
📝 Over to you: this is where the real story goes — who started the Hogspital and when, what made you do it, how many hogs you've had through, and anything you want people to know. A few honest paragraphs beat anything I could invent. [replace this box with the real story]
[Paragraph one — how it started. The first hedgehog, the phone call, the box in the kitchen.]
[Paragraph two — how it grew. The shed that became a ward, the first winter with twenty hogs in it.]
[Paragraph three — where you are now, and who helps.]
A day on the ward
Morning
Every patient is weighed and the numbers go on the board. A hog that's lost weight overnight moves to the top of the list. Bedding out, dishes washed, medication given.
All day
The phone. Someone's found one in a garden in Okehampton, someone else has a hoglet in a shoebox. Advice, collections, and the run to the vet.
Night
Feeds for the babies — every few hours, round the clock, for weeks. And the good bit: taking the fat, well ones back out to where they came from.
What happens to a hedgehog that comes in
Warmth first. A cold hedgehog can't digest food and can't fight infection. Nothing else happens until it's warm.
Fluids and a proper look. Most hogs arrive dehydrated. Then we check for wounds, ticks, fly eggs and the things you can't see — lungworm and other parasites are the quiet killers.
Food and time. Daily weigh-ins, medication where it's needed, and as much peace and quiet as we can give them.
Home. Once they're a healthy weight and behaving like a wild hedgehog again, they go back out — wherever possible to the exact spot they were found.
Where the money goes
We're not a big organisation. Everything donated goes on the animals.
The everyday
Food, bedding, heat pads, cleaning supplies, dishes, boxes, and the electricity to keep the ward warm all winter.
The serious stuff
Vet treatment, medication, wormers, syringes and formula for the hoglets, and incubators for the tiniest ones.