Fly eggs and fly strike

Last week I found some fly eggs on my rabbit while grooming her and I removed them all and checked her thoroughly the following week and I'd been more cautious putting her in the garden while it was warm.

Came home from work this Wed 2pm and went out to put her in the run as I could keep an eye on her and found her collapsed in her hutch. Got her out to check her and she had fly strike. Luckily the vets is on the street behind mine so she was seen in 10 mins she had heatstroke as well which I feel terrible about as I'd purposely left her in thinking I was keeping her away from the flys (hutch is In the shade)
She was home in 3 hours and was lucky it has been caught early- the maggots were tiny.
I applied rear guard yesterday which she was fine with no reduced appetite, put her out after work this afternoon and kept checking her. Brought her in tonight and there was 1 clump of fly eggs. They all came off easily with a nit comb but I am completely freaking out. I've checked her over and groomed her and checked her again but I'm so worried.
She often gets a messy bottom so I wash and check her regularly. Her bottom was clean on Wed. Nothing there when I checked her Tue night.
All summer she has been out every day no problem with fly eggs.

Are any of you having problems at the min?
I'm going to check her again before bed. Really worried.

Did the vet suggest anything to help with the messy bottom?
Often, rabbits who eat too many pellets (or treats or fruit) and not enough grass / hay will get poo stuck to their bottom. In which case, I would slowly reduce the pellets, etc and make sure there is unlimited hay. She may also have eg a urinary tract infection or problems grooming properly - all of which will attract flies to the messy area.

Rearguard has to be reapplied if it is washed off - so if she's had another bum bath, she may not have the flystrike protection. If you are still doing regular bumbaths. F10 Germicidal Wound Spray with Insecticide may work better in this case. It does the same job as Rearguard but can be applied as needed (and is a lot cheaper and no reduced appetite).

Is there any way you can keep her inside while there is still a big risk of flystrike? Being indoors may not eliminate the risk completely, but will significantly reduce it.

I didn't speak the the vet for long (had planned to take her in for a winter check to ask about her bottom as it's so hard to manage when it's freezing so will book that soon)

The nurse saw her first and admitted her straight away for oxygen. The vet then came out to see me to say she had heatstroke and was very poorly. She phoned shortly after to say she had picked up a lot and then when I phoned again at 5pm I could pick her up and it was a nurse that brought her out to me.
They told me to keep her in the house that night somewhere cool which I did and then put her out again in the morning. She hardly ate inside if anything and perked right up when she was back inside.

Would I be best bringing her in during the daytime?
I'll have a look at the F10 thankyou!

I feel so deflated at the min. She is 5 1/2 and this is the first time this has happened. I dread it every time I go to check her at the min

She either goes out on the grass in the morning or gets fresh hay then at tea time she has a spring green leaf, a few pellets and more hay. Her poos are always best when she has been on the grass. I think I will try different hays and get some redigrass.

Is your Doe spayed ? I ask as I have known cases whereby Flystrike occurred when the doe was developing Uterine Adenocarcinoma.

Yes she is spayed.

baileycake said:

Yes she is spayed.

Click to expand...

That’s good. Does she have any mobility issues that could make self grooming difficult ? Arthritis for example ? Also, Rabbits with Dental problems cannot always keep themselves as clean as they should.

I've read that flys don't like mint so I've poured a jug of water with peppermint oil in all round her run and up the wood in the corners. It smells really strong.
She is happy this morning eating grass.

Citronella may offer a little protection, but it only takes a single fly to cause flystrike. In this weather, eggs can hatch in a few hours. It's not worth the risk. You have been incredibly lucky to catch it in time so far, but the fact it keeps happening means that she is at very high risk. Often, even in very early stages, flystrike is so painful for the rabbit that they die of the shock or are PTS before shock gets them. I've lost a rabbit to flystrike, caught it very early and lost them a few days later from shock. I'm not sure I would even attempt treatment again after that experience and would, reluctantly, just PTS to prevent suffering - and that's something I wouldn't normally consider as a first line of 'treatment'.

If you get whatever is causing the messy bum sorted out, it will (literally, in this case) save her life.