With his cute muzzle and ditto photos, he grew into a real internet phenomenon: the German hedgehog Pokee. The animal gathered no fewer than 1.3 million followers on Instagram. Now the 3-year-old hedgehog has died, due to an infection.
Although ‘Petfluencer’ Mr. Pokee is not the only hedgehog who conquers hearts on Instagram, he does have the most followers. Preferably 1.3 million. “Between all the serious things in the world, I wanted to give people a reason to smile, even if it was just for a while,” his owner Litha said earlier about why she played her hedgehog in cute pictures. It will not have done the German from Wiesbaden anyway.
The African white belly cone was cut by an infection after an operation on its teeth. “The vet gave him antibiotics to heal, but suddenly felt very bad,” Litha writes on the Instagram page of the popular creature. “I took him to an emergency room at night because he did not move well anymore and showed other symptoms that frightened me
y did not find what was going on with him. Yesterday I went with him to his vet, where it appeared that he had a blood infection. fought all day and night, until the end.” But it did not work out well, eventually, the vet had to put the hedgehog to sleep. “He has no pain and can rest in peace. Dear , I love you dearly.”
She wrote:
“This is probably the hardest thing I ever had to do. Pokee was diagnosed with bacteria after his dental surgery. He had been active and doing okay and they weren’t able to find out what exact bacteria he had until 3 days ago. The vet gave him antibiotics to treat them, but all of a sudden Pokee was feeling much worse. I took him to an emergency clinic at 1 am, because he wasn’t able to properly move anymore along with other symptoms that scared me to pieces.
“They weren’t able to find out what was wrong with him. So yesterday morning I took him to his vet and it turns out he had a blood infection which was caused by another different kind of bacteria. This bacteria was able to multiply while the other kind died and released some toxins. The vet did everything he could, I did everything that was possible and Pokee fought the entire day and night 😔💔
“Our dear community, I want you all to know that you guys have given us so much strength yesterday with all your lovely messages. We have all united our strength and love to help Pokee fight until the very end. We gave him the power to do what was best for him and take this decision. Saying goodbye must have been so hard for him, because he was such a little warrior. But in the end, all that matters is that he is no longer in pain and able to rest in peace. He fell asleep and looked so peaceful and thankful this morning ❤️
“My dear Pokee, I love you with all of my heart, unconditionally and always. You’re forever in my heart, always remembered as the sweet little angel that you are. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the happy moments you’ve given me and for being here for me when I needed you the most. One part of me died with you, the other one will keep you in my heart for eternity ♾
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Let’s remember Pokee the way he would’ve wanted us to remember him: As the sweet little fellow he was. Let’s go out there today and celebrate him, let’s laugh, spend time with our loved ones and make him smile this time. Rest in peace, little angel”
