fly strike

hi guys sorry to bombard with this but im really concerned, yesterday 31st august at roughly 3 pm i put my rabbits out into their run before i put them out i always check them, my male is always clean but i have to bath my female in the summer at least every other day as she has bad hygiene ever since i got her i have always had to do this. she is now 5 years old and have never had issues with fly strike, i also use the preventive sprays after bathing, so i bathed her on Thursday evening she even lets me use the hairdryer to dry her off so i dried her off, checked her Friday and was fairly clean i just used rabbit wet wipes to remove any poop that was on her as i normally do on the day in between baths. so back to Saturday at 3pm my husband got her from her hutch and i checked her before putting into her run and saw her back end was crawling with very tiny maggots... i panicked and started rinsing them off her i lost count of the amount that were rinsing off her so while rinsing her i rang my vets who were closed, so then i tried another vets my friend recommended, they were 40 minutes away but they were open and said to bring her straight in, so i finished rinsing and wrapped her in a towel and drove the 40 mins to the vets. we arrived at 3.55pm and they were shutting at 4pm so i am not sure if they just couldn't be bothered but here is what happened... someone took my rabbits in another room while i filled out all there info on them both, then someone came out and said you did a good job of cleaning them we cant find any maggots on her... so they then brought them both back out and told me to bathe her with hibi scrub daily, then dry her and twice a day give her baytril oral 2.5 (1ml twice a day) and also gave me metacam liquid to give her 0.4mls once a day for pain relief. my problem is we left there by 4.05pm and that was with me paying as well when i got back i got her out to bathe her in the hibi scrub and she still had all her fur intact and when i started rinsing her before bathing i found another 6 maggots. i rinsed and rinsed for an hour and no more came out... i found 2 sores where they have been eating her one that seems to go deeper into her skin but cannot see any maggots in there they told me once bathed and dried to cover the area in Vaseline. Im worried as ive googled info on fly strike and it says that the vets will shave the area and then bathe and remove maggots and then if there are any under the skin unfortunately the only move would be to put the rabbit to sleep now, also the antibiotic (baytril) is the same stuff my male bunny got prescribed when he apparently had snuffles (which turned out to be an allergy to the dust in the hay) today she has eaten a small amount but hasn't pooped anywhere near as much as she normally would but she has urinated though. i really hope you guys can give me advice, i'm so scared ill lose her she is my baby and i don't want any harm coming to her i feel to sick to sleep. i think i have remembered everything but will answer anything i can. Thankyou x

Emergency appointment at out of hours vet! Surely if you ring your regular vets number they will give you instructions! Since tomorrow is Monday ring first thing and take her into your usual vets. Poor little girl

they probaby would have had instructions but i paniced and there voicemail message was going so slow i just rung the number my friend gave me and they were open so just drove straight there. thankyou xx

how awful. sounds like they have covered all bases medication wise but i think you're right that they should have checked her more and shaved her to check her skin. i think they normally admit them aswell if they skin has been affected. i am not sure though but i would ring the emergency vets now and ask their advice. she may need to be admitted.

baytril can cause a dodgy tum sometimes, but i think it is more likely to be the stress of it all that has slowed her guts down.

i'm sorry i can't be anymore help. i hope others see this and can advise.

lots of love to your lovely girl. x

I think what Princess meant was ring your usual vets and ask them what they suggest because the friend's vets seemed to be inadequate. I think.

I agree with biscandmatt, it's stressful for bunnies to go to the vets so her poos may be reflecting this, as well as the medication although I'm no expert.

I'd get her there asap in the morning, stress to the vet that you feel its an emergency after receiving slightly inadequate help the night before. You can always check on her in the night, set an alarm or two, just to be 100%, for peace of mind and to see if she's pooped and still eating as normal?

I hope you manage to get it sorted, I'm a complete worrier and know it must be tough. Fingers crossed!

Hi guys,

Thankyou for all your help so i rang my normal vets on the Monday and the lady they normally see was away until mid week... and they were short staffed and said they couldn't fit her in... also she ran out of her anti biotics so i thought i would go back to the vets i originally went to and make sure i stood my ground and checked her thoroughly, luckily i got to see the senior vet who couldn't apologise enough... and checked her thoroughly and assured me that the tunnel that i found had gone into the skin but not penetrated muscle so there is no maggots in her

Fab news then they dropped the bomb shell on me that i couldnt have run out of the anti biotics because they drew up the exact amount i would need for the 5 days... so i showed her the bottles and explained that i was given 1 ml syringes so there was no possible way of me overdosing her as she had 1ml in morning and 1ml in eve. The vet then noticed that the pain relief (metacam) was clear and she said its normally a cloudy milk colour which i told her the anti biotic was... NOPE THE VETS NURSE MIXED UP THE LABELS. So my poor bunny was being overdosed by 5 times her reccomended her dosage and not getting the proper dose of anti biotics! then she said they didnt have any anti biotic left but she would give her an anti biotic injection she ran out the room quick and heard her yelling at someone saying are you bloody stupid. That rabbit had been overdosed with pain meds. She then comes back and apologising says they dont even have that left! I couldnt believe a vets didnt have either the liquid or the injection!
So i just grabbed Flopsy and went to walk out she then told me i still had to pay... i dont care about the money i care about the fact that they had messed up and still couldnt help her so went straight to my original vets and explained it was an emergency we had to wait a while to be seen but they managed to squeeze her in they have now put her on a higher dosage of metacam to wean her off the overdose and i got the anti biotic. They are happy that her bites are healing and since the lower dosage of pain relief she is now pooping properly and eating alot more... and also being her stroppy self again when shes not in the mood. So fingers crossed were going in the right direction, and we wont be using that vets again.

my husband has spoken with the regional manager for the vets and they are discusted with the way my rabbit was treated. Apparently they will be dealing with it and giving us a refund, also they wanted to re assure us that this has never happened before and hope we will continue to go... but my hubby put them straight that we would never trust our animals in there care.

Oh my goodness what a terrible time for you and poor Flopsy, I can't believe what a stupid mistake :shock: Thank goodness you found out what had happened and that she is now doing much better.

oh my goodness, how scary for you. i would be so angry and upset aswell if that happened. :evil:

such good news that there are no maggots though and i hope she continues to make a full recovery.

well done on your prompt action and care when you checked her over. xxx

Thanks, i was so upset as she is 5 and have never had a prob as so strict on cleaning her, i felt like such a bad owner but my original vet had assured me with the ridiculous heat we have had its happened more this year. i love my bunnies i cant imagine being without them xxxx

sarahw64, I'm so sorry to hear about the dreadful way you and Flopsy have been treated. Thank goodness though that you acted so swiftly and have no doubt saved Flopsy's life.


It might be worth considering changing your vets, but the choice is entirely up to you.


My lady Estelle, has had two separate and minor bouts of flystrike this year and it has been caused by her suffering from cystitis and lying awkwardly and leaving her bottom more accessible to the bleeping flies!!!


We are both lucky in the fact that we sprang into action when we discovered the maggots and that both our bunnies are now on the road to recovery.

Take care.

sarahw64 said:

Thanks, i was so upset as she is 5 and have never had a prob as so strict on cleaning her, i felt like such a bad owner but my original vet had assured me with the ridiculous heat we have had its happened more this year. i love my bunnies i cant imagine being without them xxxx

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you're so far from being a bad owner!! she's lucky to have you and that you checked her regularly and spotted a problem so quickly. things happen so quickly sometimes don't they. x

what dreadful vets!!!

Out of interest what food do you have her on? a lot of owners find excell pellets over rich and result in messy bums - especially with rabbits that do not eat as much hay as they should do and end up eating too many pellets. have you tries a different pellet or less so she eats more hay? (just trying to think about avoiding the situation again)

What awful vets and glad she is on the road to recovery. You are definitely not a terrible owner, we cannot keep an eye on our bunnies every second of the day no matter how much we would like to. My Ash is prone to dirty bum now and again because she has dental problems (and now liver problems ) and I was so worried about going away in the summer this year as it was so hot, even though my in laws (who look after her) are vigilant.

Agreed that her dirty bum issues are probably a sign of something else, if it is too many cecotrophs (you can read more on what they look like on the bunny poop thread) that you are having to clean it is often a sign of too much protein.