Speakers
Friday, October 13, 2006
Dawn Wrobel has been wrapped around
the paws of her hedgehogs for 15 years. She has been a member of all the
major hedgehog groups, serving as a board member on two of them and as a judge
for two of them, as well as a USDA licensed hedgehog breeder. Her book, The
Hedgehog, An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet (with
Dr. Susan Brown) remains popular among hedgehog slaves. She is the
sponsor of the IHOG program, published the Hedgehog Herald newsletter and ran
the popular Go Hog Wild!! Hedgehog events until her retirement from her
hedgehog based business, Ain't No Creek Ranch, in
2005. Dawn still shares her home with the "Ranch hedgies"
and continues to work with rescued hedgehogs.
TALK
What Else Can I Do?
There are a number of supportive modalities that are of benefit to hedgehogs
in addition to proper veterinary care. Dawn will discuss her use of
animal communication, massage, sound therapy, color therapy and other practices
to complement veterinary care.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Donnasue Graesser, Ph.D.
Dr. Graesser has been a member of the hedgehog
community since 1995. She is a founding
member and board member of the Hedgehog Welfare Society. Through the HWS Donnasue
organizes numerous fundraisers, educational seminars, and other programs in the
community.
Donnasue holds a Ph.D. in immunology and experimental
pathology from Yale University School of Medicine. During graduate school, her dissertation
project focused on the process by which demyelination
occurs in animal models of the disease multiple sclerosis. At the time, several of her hedgehogs were
afflicted with Wobbly Hedgehog Syndrome.
Thus, she was able to use her scientific resources to identify WHS
lesions. Her work on Wobbly Hedgehog
Syndrome has been presented at several conferences, as well as incorporated
into an exotic veterinary textbook. Dr. Graesser and her colleagues (Drs. Spraker,
Garner, and Dressen) have published their research on
WHS in the Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine.
Dr. Graesser lives in Connecticut, with her husband
Carl, son Simon, and much loved animals including their dog Ginger, Gray Cat,
six sheep (Pete, Phil, Speckly, Pinky, Naomi, and
Marilyn), and, of course, three hedgehogs (Darla, Frogger,
and Little Frogger).
She currently works as a research and patent analyst.
TALK
Dr. Graesser will be speaking about ongoing research projects
in the hedgehog community. These include
the WHS project, Mortality and Longevity database, jaw tumor studies, and
others. The discussion will include the
rationale, goals, and progress of each of these projects, as well as how you
and your hedgehog can contribute to the knowledge-base of hedgie
health and illness.
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