# Flystrike warning



## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

One of our members has e mailed to advise that her local vet has seen several cases of flystrike this week and has suggested that we send out a first alert.

The majority of experienced rabbit owners will already be very much aware of the dangers of flystrike, but new rabbit owners may not know of the condition, which is not only distressing for all concerned but is potentially fatal.

Prevention is better than cure

Check your rabbits twice daily to ensure that they are clean and dry.

Do not overfeed your bunnies or give them unhealthy treats as this may lead to sticky bottoms.

Discuss with your veterinary practice any preventative measures available (spot on treatments etc).

Clean and disinfect homes regularly.

There are many repellent seeds and plants that can be grown to repel insects and flies.

Also be aware that the green bottle may lay her eggs at the base of the spine which is often covered by the tail, so make careful checks. A member of our Facebook group reported yesterday that her vet had treated a rabbit with flystrike on the back of its neck.

Flies will strike any animal, healthy or otherwise.


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## Grace_Lily (Nov 28, 2010)

Thanks for this, I'm a new rabbit owner and while I was very much aware of fly strike it's good to have a reminder.


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

That's great to know that a new owner is so well prepared.

For others who may need more inforamtion these pdfs from our website should help
http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/leaflet_pdfs/flystrike_sep_05.pdf

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/Flystrikedontgetcaughtout.pdf


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## SophieCyde (Oct 24, 2010)

I know only too well :crying:

Please check your rabbits regularly!


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

and guinea pigs too!

one of my old boys had it a couple of months ago, noticed nothing on the morning, and saw on the afternoon. Took weeks of care before had all clear so were incredibly lucky! Had always thought it effected neglected animals.


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

If anybody here who has experienced it can give me any information about what they first noticed that alerted them to the condition, I'd be grateful. I've been asked for the first signs on another forum. I remember one person telling me she was alerted by the smell, another that her rabbit had collapsed, another that her rabbit was panting very hard. All had been fine before that and they were each shocked at the speedit had happened.

Has anybody seen the fly eggs, for example? I've seen bot fly eggs on a horse but never blowfly eggs on a rabbit. I imagine they'd be tiny dots that may well not be easily noticed. Botfly can cause an entirely different sort of flystrike in rabbits, though it's far less common in this country than it is in the States This HRS article lists Cuterebra, which is flystrike by bots Fly-Strike Emergency

The bots that attack horses are different. Their intention is for the maggot to live in the gut rather than in the skin and they stick a sprinkling of bright yellow eggs to the horse's legs and shoulders that will be swallowed when the horse scratches itself with its teeth. They cause awful damage to the gut and an infestation can often result in death. Horses suffer skin damage from warbles, also maggots. They are discussed here Warble fly? - Horse and Hound Forums

It can be quite confusing, all these different situations with similar names, and after having been a horse owner for over 30 years, to hear about 'bots' attacking rabbits in the way that warbles attack horses whle horse bots do somethig entirely different, had me very puzzled.


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

well, after googling I wasnt entirely convinced mine was flystrike, esp as mine have treatment, and it was a guinea pig but here is my experience and it does echo some others I know, so if it isnt vets are mis diagnosing.

Stevie was absolutely fine on the morning, normal happy self, tea time was a bit lethargic, but at the same time he is old and it was hot. Was cleaning out and moved him into the run, was also flystriking them (do it more frequently in hot weather) thank goodness as i may not have noticed anything actually on him!

so was cleaning out and where he was sitting in a pile of wee there was maggots!  sterilised area, felt sick, then checked all the other hutches. this was the only one with them.

Checked all the furbies over and couldnt see anything apart from on stevie it looked like he had a bit of poo stuck to him. When i went to pull it off though i realised it was struck IN him and wasnt poo but a maggot 

I got a couple of pics:



















brought him indoors and rang vets. Was told if I could to try and get what I could of the maggot out and clean it, and take him down. I did so, he had treatment from the vets, was on meds for 14 days just to be sure and was touch and go for a week or so but he has made a full recovery now.


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

Phew! He was so lucky you caught it so quickly with only one maggot attacking him. It certainly doesn't sound like a misdiagnosis to me, given what you've described.

One of my friends has a rabbit who had adhesions in her bladder and she was often incontinent (bladder has since been repaired), and she had to be checked several times a day as with even the greatest care, she'd have dribbled and the urine smell was likely to attract flies...and not two hours after last being checked, she was in a collapsed state, with maggots eating at her. They got her to the vet within 15 minutes and she had to be operated on to have them all removed and the wounds treated. She made a full recovery, though, because of the speed of treatment. 

It was soon after that that her bladder repair op was done.


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## mstori (May 22, 2009)

when i showed him the pictures he did think that the small white bits could have been small maggots (to be honest it made me feel so sick i didnt really inspect it too closely) but there was one very large which i pulled out with tweezers and the smell was revolting 

i do feel very lucky, especially considering his age.

Bless your friends bunny  glad she is ok. The speed that they can deteriorate is frightening.

We lost 2 bunnies and 2 piggies within 24 hours (2 sep incidents) not long ago, there just wasnt anything that could be done despite noticing quickly. 

My piggie comanche had an absess and had to be pts a few months back as vet couldnt find why. Kept getting it drained and within a few hours it had come back, but because of age and weight loss, couldnt operate.

Its a good job we love them, what we go through! :smilewinkgrin:


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

I'm so sorry you've had such distressing losses. It's so hard, isn't it/


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## Elles (Aug 15, 2011)

Thank you for the information! 

The warble fly has been eradicated in the UK btw. The H&H thread may have said this, but I couldn't get it to work.


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