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question on fly strike

angieb

angieb

Mama Doe
I have read a lot about flystrike and i am now going to be really thick!:roll::? I think i know that its when a fly lays eggs in the rabbits bottom.
The reason i am so confussed and worried is that one of my rabbits miffy will only use the run area as a toilet and i clean this every other day and last night i saw a couple of maggots!!!:shock::shock:
I checked her bottom and she is clean but i wanted to know if i would know if she had flystrike and if they need to have a dirty soiled bottom?
Sorry for being so thick :?
Oh and now i clean this corner EVERY day
 
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flystrike does go through a few different stages, including eggs and maggots. I'd continue to check her very carefully. Have you given her a preventative treatment like Fly Guard? You can also get Rear Guard from your vet.
 
Many years ago I had a rabbit with flystrike and it is not something I wish to see again even to this day the moment of seeing all them maggots all over my bunnys bottom haunts me.

Flyguard is now available from petshops so is a lot easier to protect your bunnies.
 
As long as she has a nice clean bottom she hopefully won't attract any flies to that region. I usually check my rabbits bottoms every other day to see if they're clean. If they aren't i usually have to give them a bath, though rather mysteriously after telling them they'll be shortly having a bath they miraculously become clean lol. I guess they're not big fans of baths at all :D
I think your doing the right thing by keeping her run clean. But using a product like rear guard would give you extra peace of mind too.
Helen xx
 
When you check your bun you're looking for little clusters of eggs stuck to the fur around the rabbit's bottom. If these have hatched, they will initially be quite small wiggly cream coloured maggots. It's easy to spot these if you check the bun's rear end carefully. If the maggots have grown and started to burrow into the rabbit, you will definitely be able to notice your bunny is ill, it may be sitting awkwardly or seem quiet. I have read that flystrike can happen to rabbits with clean bottoms so best to be careful with all rabbits. Unfortunately I learned about flystrike the hard way so well done for learning about it beforehand!!
 
Just to add, i worried about my french lop a great deal, so after a trip to the vet he recommended we use rearguard just to be careful.

It puts your mind at ease...
x
 
just a warning ... buns can get flystrike in other places as well as their bottoms ... and they dont have to be dirty .. i know someone who recently lost a bun to flystrike and she was well , clean and lively . :?
 
jrn1310 said:
http://www.woolisbest.com/photo_gallery/images/large/the_culprits_med.jpg

If you notice tiny cigar shapped eggs on them do not try to wash them off, washing only makes them more difficult to get off, start picking them off with tweezers whilst you are arranging to get them to a vets ASAP.
Click to expand...

:shock: Eeew, just gavemy toast to dogs!! That looks dreadful :(

I check Oliver every day as flystrike scares me and thats 1st time ive seen a picture of it. Think I will be more scared now!

ETA, Can i ask. if there are eggs and your rabbit grooms themselves and indgests them is that dangouras also?
 
is flystrike mainly an outdoor bunny thing, or can indoor buns get it too?
Just wondering if i should rearguard kermit.
thanks (and sorry for hijacking the thread!)
 
Just to mention that some vets now recommend Xenex instead of Rearguard and my bun(and many others have had very bad reactions to Xenex(Xenox?)not sure of spelling.

..so please try the tiniest bit of Xenex and wait much more than half an hour to see if reaction before attempting any more.

We followed instructions but still ended up with a rabbit with a neck looking like burn wounds-awful. We now get the vet to specially order the Rearguard.-Sue:wave:
 
tomhighway said:
is flystrike mainly an outdoor bunny thing, or can indoor buns get it too?
Just wondering if i should rearguard kermit.
thanks (and sorry for hijacking the thread!)
Click to expand...

It would be more common in outdoor rabbits due to the easier access for the flies, however it's not impossible for them to get it indoors. Unless your rabbit has specific problems keeping clean I would use FlyGuard on him at the normal intervals.
 
tomhighway said:
is flystrike mainly an outdoor bunny thing, or can indoor buns get it too?
Just wondering if i should rearguard kermit.
thanks (and sorry for hijacking the thread!)
Click to expand...

Indoor buns can certainly get flystrike too - one of my friends buns did and he pulled through it.
 
Have just ordered some fro the vets - better to be safe i suppose.....its looks horrible!
 
Sorry I a bit late, but my friends bunny got flystrike and he's always been an indoor bun. He pullewd through too x
 
hi

I just want to state it does NOT just have to be around the bum. As they tell you to apply stuff up to the centre of back and belly. The reason I say this is an open wound attracts flies and they lay eggs hatch into maggotts. The only reason it seems people mention bums is because its usually caused by poor hygiene incontinence etc. So please check bellys etc too.
My girl Sweep died from flystrike. She had it once they caught it early so stripped a layer of skin off to check maggotts had not burrowed into her. That was from shoulder blades down to botty. Nasty horrible. She then caught it again a year later and we decide it wasn't fair to put her through anymore. She was rearguarded but was always smelly we had to wash her botty everyday and reapply. When I took her I remember seeing maggotts on her head as I kissed her goodbye. Its a terrible thing so please rearguard all buns even house buns. Better safe than sorry.
 
Yesterday I caught a fly laying egg on my fit, well, dry, rabbit. He was happily sitting in a patch of sunshine in clean dry grass.

The only thing my vet could guess at for the reason if that Sweet Pea is 10 years old and thus less active. he also has a slight eye infection which might have 'alerted' the flies to him, and they then laid on his lower back.

Fortunately they had literally just laid that moment at we got them all off as a clump at egg stage and gave him the ivermectin jab.

Tis morning we are rearguarding all of them again (last did it in June) - even the fit healthy active ones!!!

So watch out!!!

Before I have only had them try and lay on ill rabbits (typically at end stage with something like renal failure EC as they are then wet - Have always caught it at egg stage).
 
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