Pete Doherty has been hospitalised following an injury sustained from a hedgehog spine.

The Libertines songwriter, who is gearing up to release an album with his band the Puta Madres, had been walking his dogs when the incident happened. He tweeted that the dogs had the hedgehog “in their gobs and I wrapped my hand in a T-shirt and freed the wee bugger and got a tiny cut. Cue three days in a van with a carefree attitude to potentially infected forefingers”. The wound later became infected.

Doherty shared pictures of his subsequent hospitalisation on social media. “Thank you to the wonderful men and women who work within the NHS . What absolute angels and a million times they deserve our respect and thanks.”

The injury forced him to cancel an appearance on BBC Radio 5 Live with Nihal Arthanayake.

In November 2018, Doherty’s dogs were accused of killing a pet cat in Margate, where he lives.

Doherty recently spoke to the Guardian about the drug addiction that has dogged him since the Libertines found fame in the early 2000s: “Why am I wasting my time and money and friendship and love and energy and creativity on some grotty dessert? … There are so many people in my life who deserve better. It really is a mental deficiency.”